Bureau of Sanitation Gets Site on Internet

Now Internet surfers can tap into a resource that will finally answer all those troubling trash questions:

“When is my garbage being picked up?”

“Why did the city change the collection spot?”

“Why won’t the city take all kinds of plastics in the yellow recycling containers?”

Since Earth Day, April 22, the Los Angeles City Bureau of Sanitation has been on-line with the Internet, through the Earth Spirit Online computer network.

“People now have another avenue to get to us rather than writing a letter or calling our 800 number,” said Roland Silva, a spokesman for the bureau.

Earth Spirit Online is a computer resource already used by most Los Angeles-area environmentalist groups. The network, which recently got access to the Internet, has created a site for Bureau of Sanitation use.

Silva said the bureau hopes to set up a system sophisticated enough within the next couple of months that the public will be able to send electronic mail directly to the sanitation bureau. It may be possible for someone in Van Nuys to send a message to the bureau requesting that an old refrigerator be picked up, Silva said.

Meanwhile, users can still post questions on bulletin boards and get general information about recycling, garbage collection and what yard trimmings are used for.

To connect to Earth Spirit, call its general modem access number at (310) 264-4785 and download its free software. Once logged into the system, double-clicking on the Eco-Information Center icon brings up the Los Angeles Resource Program area where the Bureau of Sanitation is posted.

The Earth Spirit network is free to use for up to half an hour a day. The bureau is trying to get everything it has available in publications on-line. Silva said it planned to use the network as an educational tool for schoolchildren.

Windows software is required.