Are You A Criminal? City Sends Out Private Company To Rifle Through Your Garbage To Find Out
By Robert Gehl, January 28, 2015.
Americans are concerned about their government spying on them. Tapping their phones, hijacking their wi-fi and mining their medical records are not just theoretical concerns – they’re actually happening right now.
And while attention is turned to President Obama and his insatiable desire to sacrifice your personal liberties for national security, in the alley behind your house, a private company’s been digging through your garbage looking for incriminating evidence.
Go check. They’re not? They will soon.
The city of Seattle has hired a private company to rifle through people’s garbage cans looking for “food waste.” If your trash container contains more than 10 percent of the offensive trash – and even “food-stained” garbage like soiled napkins – your curbside garbage bin will be tagged with a bright red sticker intended to shame you and you’ll be fined $1 on your next bill.
It’s an effort to reduce the amount of food waste in landfills – which is expensive and heavy to haul around, fills up our city dumps and gives off the scary global-warming gas methane.
In an NPR article, they claim the private contractors “don’t have to comb through the trash,” because they can see violations. But unless these folks have X-Ray vision, they’re not really enforcing the law.
So while they’re scrounging for banana peels and your half-eaten Hungry Man, what else will these authorized government monitors find? An edition of Barely Legal? A copy of The Anarchist Cookbook? Maybe a Home Depot receipt showing you bought some fertilizer? Because I’ll bet you that these private contractors are either encouraged – or required – to report “suspicious” garbage to the city.
Other cities ban disposing of food waste in garbage cans too. Portland, San Francisco and New York all have similar laws – so it’s an idea whose time has come.
And while Americans are closing their curtains to prying eyes on the street, the government is digging through your trash in the back – seeing what they can find.
http://downtrend.com/robertgehl/are-you-a-criminal-city-sends-out-private-company-to-rifle-through-your-garbage-to-find-out