‘Sidecars’ Aim to Steer Recyclers to Cans, Bottles, Glass Without Making a Mess

It’s not official yet, but the plan seems to be working.

In an attempt to stop people in search of recyclable cans, bottles and glass from rifling the bins--and making a mess in the process--the city has attached “sidecars” to them.

“It’s an anti-litter program,” said Marlene Mariani, public-information officer for the city’s Department of Waste Management.

About 280 of the blue metal boxes have been bolted to bins in the city’s downtown area since November, Mariani said, adding that city trash collectors have found very little recyclable material in the bins or sidecars since then.

“We knew we weren’t going to get that much,” Mariani said, referring to the blue box collections. “The purpose is to get the recyclables out of the trash so the scavengers can get to them.”

The pilot program was funded with a $42,000 grant from the state Department of Conservation.

This is the first time the department has funded sidecars, said Susan Eddy, manager of the department’s grants program. She added that, if the sidecars reduce litter, money may be available for other communities to put them in.

Out on the street, opinions varied.

“I thought it was kind of strange,” said a city worker, who asked not to be identified. “I don’t understand the intent.”

But one man who has to clean the downtown streets each morning welcomed them.

“It’s a good idea if you educate people what it’s for,” said Donald Davis, a custodian on the city’s cleanup team. He said the sidecars have not been around long enough for him to see a difference.

But one homeless man, Gregory Ericson, 24, called them “useless.”

Ericson is earning his living right now by making Christmas wreaths on C Street and 3rd Avenue. He said he sometimes goes “canning.”

“I look in (the blue boxes), and there’s nothin’ but crumpled paper. Then I look in the trash, and I see five or six bottles or cans in the trash. I ask myself, ‘What’s goin’ on, Slick?’ ”

That is one detail the city is trying to work out: how to stop people from throwing their cigarette butts, bottle caps, candy wrappers, peanut shells and other sundries into the recycling boxes.

To spread the word, the city hired I Love a Clean San Diego County Inc. When the sidecars were introduced Nov. 17 at the City Concourse, volunteers for the Clairemont-based group handed out buttons, balloons, bookmarks and recycling information.

Gaye Soroka, executive director of the organization, said volunteers go out two or three times a week to tell people what the sidecars are for and to see how much litter is near the trash bins. She said the volunteers will conduct a survey at the end of January to see how the program is working and how many people in the downtown area know about the sidecars.

“We’re trying to change behavior,” she said. “We’re trying to get people to look at this not as trash, but as a resource.”