“For that which is common (shared) to the greatest number has the least care bestowed upon it. Every one thinks chiefly of his own, hardly at all of the common interest; and only when he is himself concerned as an individual. For besides other considerations, everybody is more inclined to neglect something which he expects another to fulfil…”
Aristotle, Politics
Alley dumpsters, whether they are for trash, recycling or yard waste in the City of St. Louis, are officially a failure. Maybe at some point in the past, like the first couple of years I lived in the City, they worked. But they don’t anymore. As great philosophers figured out years ago in a premise known as the “Tragedy of the Commons,” that if even one jerk is given the opportunity to abuse the common good, they will take it. So it doesn’t matter that 19 of the 20 people on this alley didn’t overfill these two yard waste dumpsters, because since they didn’t, it allowed the one jerk to sweep in and overfill both of them.
Bonus fact for those who don’t live in the City: did you know these dumpsters require special trash trucks that literally no one else in the entire region use? So if too many of the special trucks break down, there is no way to pick up the trash? Or if too many of the drivers quit out of disgust (or for ubiquitous higher pay elsewhere in the region), there are no other drivers with the skills to step in and operate them? I’ve lived in many other cities and towns in America, and visited dozens of cities around North America and Europe, and none of them use this system. What does that tell you?
The alley dumpsters are a failure. It’s time for them to go.
Post Script: On the day this post went live, the Post-Dispatch reported only a third of all recycling in the City is usable due to contamination in the blue recycling alley dumpsters.
Update: The City gave up on alley dumpster recycling due to it actually costing St. Louis money to pick up all of the useless material placed in the bins. Now all recycling is collected at dozen central locations, and usable material for recycling has increased.