Chicago's Recycling Blues

Ald. Joe Moore (49th Ward) is calling for an end to the Chicago Blue Bag recycling program. Doesn't this guy like nature? The Blue Bag recycling program works, right? It saves the environment all the time. "Chicago's got it in the bag!" (cue dramatic blues hit)

Under Allied [Waste Transportation], the city's recycling rate has fallen to about 8 percent.

That's according to Dan Mihalopoulos and Laurie Cohen of the Chicago Tribune. So it's not working! Now, we're no experts at The Ubiquitous Observer, but 8 percent sounds like a very weak participation rate. It sounds like we should fire these guys, even if we're going to keep the Blue Bag program. So what is Allied and to whom are they allied?

The city recently extended Allied Waste Transportation's deal to run the blue-bag program for another two years. Allied and its blue-bag subcontractors are important campaign donors to the pro-Daley Hispanic Democratic Organization, which federal prosecutors recently described as part of an illegal patronage-hiring scheme at City Hall.

Oh.

So why isn't Ald. Moore attacking the city's contract with Allied? Let's hear from former Cleveland city councilman and Seventh-Worst Mayor of all time (Holli, Melvin G., The American Mayor: The Best & The Worst Big-City Leaders, The Pennsylvania State University Press), Dennis Kucinich (as told to Chicago's own Studs Turkel):

When I started stepping on toes, I didn't know I was stepping on toes. I was just representing the people who sent me to the City Council. I didn't know I was offending somebody else. I found out very quickly there were a number of special-interest groups who made city hall their private warren. There are thirty-two councilmen. Thirty-one to one was usually the score.

Sounds like Ald. Moore is trying to please his constituents without "stepping on toes." Even if those toes are committing felonies and giving millions of dollars in tax-payer money to connected pals. Bad toes!

And what does Streets and San have to say about all this?

"We have no revenue source to pay for separate collection in the 2006 budget," Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Michael Picardi said in a statement Monday. "While we can't predict the exact cost, it would be a significant cost."

Like maybe as much as the $40-million-a-year Hired Truck Program. Or maybe the $1.83 billion the city recently acquired in leasing the Chicago Skyway for 99 years. Or maybe as much as the city can save by laying off some civil servants (and replacing them with a smaller, less-experienced work force of part-time employees who have no benefits, thereby making it more difficult to carry out city services in schools, parks, etc.) and raising some taxes and fees. Probably the latter.

To his credit, Ald. Moore has proposed separate collection bins for sorted and cleaned recyclables with the ever-popular three-year phase-in. (Want a smoke free environment, want an effective recycling program? Come to Chicago, the green city--in three years!) The Alderman's proposal is based on a pilot program in Beverly with an 80 percent participation rate. We always suspected Beverly was full of hippies.

But you can recycle today, Chicago. While you're waiting for the political will to coalesce like so much hot bacon fat, try recycling at these locations on the North Side:

The North Park Village Recycling Center

5801 North Pulaski, Chicago
Open 24 hours / 7 days a week

Glossy magazines and catalogs; Office paper: computer, copy & ledger paper; Newspapers & their inserts; Mixed paper: cardboard, junk mail, phone books, brown paper, cereal boxes, books, etc.; Glass: brown green, and clear; Tin & aluminum cans, foil, containers; Plastics (#1 or #2), including laundry containers.

Uptown Recycling Center

4716 N. Sheridan Rd.
(south of Lawrence on south side of street).
Call 312-769-4488 to verify hours and materials accepted

Aluminum: clans, foil, pie plates, frozen food trays; Glass (separated by color); High grade office paper: white bond, computer, and colored (staples and paper clips OK, but no coated or glossy paper mailing labels); Newspapers and inserts; Tin cans; Scrap metals; Glossy magazines and catalogs, other glossy paper, paper bags, and chipboard (cereal boxes)

Wrightwood Recycling Center

7-11 parking lot at intersection of Wrightwood, Sheffield, and Lincoln.
Call 312-821-1351.
Open for drop-off at 7 AM to 9 PM 7 days a week

Newspapers, magazines, telephone books, corrugated cardboard, paperboard (cereal boxes), all paper (except wax coated), aluminum, steel and tin cans, and glass (clear, green & brown).

Democracy = City run by Democrats

So Chicago passed a smoking ban last week in what could be called a victory for all sides, unless you're on the side of participatory democracy. Just before two separate ordinances were to go up for vote, Mayor Daley intervened to make sure the Aldermen had only one law for which they could vote.

The Sun-Times' Fran Spielman explains:

But over the weekend, the mayor reportedly concluded that he needed to step in to forge a compromise and end months of City Council acrimony that threatened to carry over to other issues.

Apparently convinced that the bar and tavern exemption would not pass — and that Smith may well have the 26 votes he needs for the all-inclusive ban — Daley reportedly came around to the idea of a total ban with a longer phase-in. If the anti-smoking train was about to leave the station, the mayor wanted to be on the engine, not the caboose, sources said.

“There is an indication that the administration would be accepting of something along these [phase-in] lines, which, I think, helped break the logjam,” said Ald. Pat O’Connor (40th), the mayor’s unofficial City Council floor leader who favors Smith’s no-exceptions ban.

So, Ald. Smith probably had the votes for the total ban to pass, and Mayor Daley intervened to break the logjam? What log did he break and where was it jammed? God forbid a law passes in this town by less than a total majority. And if God won't forbid it, Daley will.