Animals in Tahoe trash a continual problem
By Kathryn Reed
Mattresses continue to be the No. 1 large bulk item that Clean Tahoe picks up. Televisions are a close second.
Catherine Cecchi, executive director of the nonprofit, updated the South Lake Tahoe City Council on Tuesday about what her organization has been up to.
“We have a number of problem properties where a bear or other animals are in Dumpsters every night,” Cecchi said. “We’ve posted signs on Dumpsters. Some don’t have lock bars or a clip.”
Eventually, repeat offenders get referred to the city’s code enforcement officers. Cecchi said improvement comes when code enforcement gets involved.
In the past year, the two Clean Tahoe crewmembers have gone to 1,657 illegal dumpsites in the city. Between the city and in the basin portion of El Dorado County 583 cubic yards of trash have been picked up.
Earlier in the Dec. 10 meeting, South Tahoe Refuse President Jeff Tillman said that starting March 3 trash pick up will start at 7am.
“We hope residents will no longer put garbage out the night before,” Tillman said.
This is designed to cut down on the number of animals getting into garbage and creating a mess.
Clean Tahoe is looking at getting a grant for bear resistant containers to help with the chronic garbage problems.
Spray ammonia around trash. Always worked for us up there.
Strict enforcement and heavy fines are the only way to get people to secure their garbage.
“We have a number of problem properties where a bear or other animals are in Dumpsters every night,”
That is a ridiculous statement! Code enforcement should be called after the 2nd incident and heavy fines levied each time. Taking money out of people’s pockets is what works!
Don’t forget, YOUR TAX DOLLARS ARE PAYING TO PICK UP THIS GARBAGE
As a South Shore resident since 1980 and homeowner here since 1982, I worked around the obvious for years. I’d drag my garbage cans to the street side at 5AM in a blizzard wearing boxer shorts and flip-flops figuring that’d be a better sight than having my garbage strewn down the street. The answer was a bear proof metal structure. I had one installed. Problem solved. That home was on Tahoe Mountain, now I’ve bought a home at the “Y”. I installed a bear box. Today is garbage day, there is garbage strewn up and down this street. Tahoe Refuse collectors scramble to pick this litter up. I don’t feel that’s their job. I shouldn’t have to pay for them not doing their job. I ask my neighboring homeowners why don’t they buy a bear box. The answers are, because they cost money and I don’t have to. So garbage is strewn down this and neighboring streets. What I ask is that South Tahoe Refuse give a discounted rate to homeowners who install bear boxes.
Bob just a heads up ammonia is bad for the guys collecting your trash, Pinesol works just as good.
We had friends who lived here many years ago who always had bears get into their trash. Pine Sol and/or ammonia was not a deterrent – simply caused the bears to vomit. Disgusting for the bears and the trash collectors. We’ve lived here for three decades and have never had a metal bear container, and have never had animals get into our trash. We put the trash out the morning it is collected. Obviously that isn’t possible for everyone.
people, it’s absolutely simple: put your trash out in the morning, an uncomplicated and responsible routine that eliminates completely this brainless discussion.
Yes, the problem is selfish/uninformed visitors and residents who create this problem. Many people have good results with the screw top garbage cans and the bear boxes are foolproof. Why can’t we make it possible for people to add the cost of a bear box to their property taxes and pay them off incrementally? If the County can buy back outdated wood burning stoves why can’t there be a similar program for bear boxes? Dumpster violations should not be tolerated at all past the first warning. There’s no excuse for it.
Clean Tahoe is a great program and we are fortunate to have it.
The Clean Tahoe program is great. If the apathetic neighbors would report the garbage offenders to Clean Tahoe (can do without name attached), Clean Tahoe will give them a warning with an educational piece. They would be informed of Code
Enforcement fines & remediation requirements if garbage problem not corrected. The neighbors who don’t do this, are a part of the problem! My neighbors have blinders on and thus, become part of the problem.
I have never had a bear or animal in my simple rubbermaid garbage can, because I practice good garbage behavior – which information should be included on the bill on how to avoid animal invasion. My one neighbor who violated the garbage behavior, finally got warnings and purchased a screw-top can. No problems now…