note, we didn't get into this exactly to support divers, or others, but, recycling in general......

letter into bee and city council, the meeting is tonight on new ordinance.

I think they should penalize improper disposal, be it haz mat waste, personal id in commercial dumpsters, as dumpster management a big component on this issue, or, you can learn a whole lot, just walking a site and how they keep their dumpster, or alley, what's strewn about, thrown out, how wasteful or anti recycling they are, by the dumpster...

Today's Modesto Bee letters on Recycling is reason for
the follow up to prior note on the dumpster diver
ordinance. The anti-diver letters note to me, usual
characters, including Stanford.

When we did the Dumpster Diver Union component of the
Graceada Park Peformance Art Project, the real purpose
had to do with Recycling, not so much homeless rights.
Messy dumpsters one thing we were working to correct.
A few comments, pertinent to today's citizen opinions.

Ordinances, and market considerations have made it
such, your policies on the vendors such as Modesto
Junk, have made it more difficult for the SUV driving
recycler to recycle at any one business. Convenience
in going green, is impeded.

Homeless comprised of 25 percent veterans, and same
group we worked with 15 years ago, these guys often
off construction crews, even those recruited on the
copper theft, have hazmat training, either through
military, or job site safety meetings. Newspaper
carriers involved, came up with the use the plastic
newspaper bags for cheap, found item hazmat gloves,
cited in the Bees story.

At that time, national issue on homeless, and the idea
of ad hoc "training" to be safer, included "rules" to
make less mess, safer health wise, as in needle
handling, far more prevalent than I've seen on the
streets past few years, a real problem with diving
crank house totes, as obvious hep c or hiv
transmission. Crackdown on source of those needles,
is what prevents transmission among divers, many of
whom are not addicts, though obviously among homeless
they exist.

Many of the non homeless dumpster divers were going
after things like toys, musical instruments, computer
parts, stereos or furniture, for resale or furnish at
low end of affordable housing. This is still an issue
for bulk pickup.

Food, this is not common now, due to things like the
prevalence and growth of Food Not Bombs, Salvation
Army lunch room, more churches doing feeds, but like
those more specialized in canning, or bottles, you
have to know where, and places that rotate, and
package, food still warm, sealed so not contaminated,
and due to liability, many of your fast food places
package this way, so as not get sued by some dumpster
diver.

Apartment and motel dumpsters, when not individual
totes, like construction sites, or office industrial,
and hazmat like DMC, require effective management of
landlord or property and facility managers, to prevent
over filling, access, and good managers have fewer
problems. This includes id theft, but also improper
use of green can vs black can, concrete in a tote, or
standard dumpster vs. specialized rock hauler, and due
to costs, renter of salvage dumpster fails to call in
for load pick up.

Salvage operators provide rules of use, also in short
supply often in building boom times, so debris piles
up, considered free pickings and no entry to dumpster
required, so idea everyone jumps in one is incorrect.

Industry, clean up in Haz Mat, for bio hazard, meth
houses, but also the junk companies and recycling
industry, do exist, and also site clearance, site
clean up of construction sites, so folks in this
hazard misdemeanor ordinance status, have skills that
can be channelled into greener more acceptable
industry needed in our community.

One of the things we proposed, as things like road
kill tobacco, if not rerolled, or smoked as is, can
lead to hep C transmission, ten percent chance if
repeated user, were important, so suggested divers get
first aid training, even haz mat update.

I do homeless outreach at times, have not been there
myself, landlord for some, with attendant not so great
experiences, including the id theft from mail box, how
to monitor my alley via neighborhood watch, but have
noted in our area at least, cleaner area most of the
time, where had been worse problem when we started
working on this fifteen years ago.

jim christiansen,
artist