A bit of history
It was interesting to see the stories this week about the trash pickups and the green vs. orange bag controversy — I just had to write. Let’s dive into a little bit of history — perhaps our esteemed historian Dan Shine could confirm this part.
When I was growing up, 50-60 years ago or so, I remember that there was this interesting metal cover in the ground near the back of the house (sort of near the milk box — remember those?). It was a double metal lid. If you stepped on the inner handle, a small lid would open up and you’d drop your leftover food scraps and peels and such down that hole, and it would land in a bucket. If you pressed the lever on the outer ring, it would uncover the whole hole, and you’d be able to reach in and pull out the bucket with all of the scraps. At least once a week someone would come by and pick up all of those scraps — what they did with them, I don’t know. Maybe fed them to pigs or something.
After a while there was this great invention, and over time, probably most houses in the city got one. It was called a Garbage Disposal, and you’d put those same scraps down your drain, turn it on, and it would grind them up fine and let them go down the drain with all the other waste. About the only things I don’t think I’d put down the disposal are banana peels and the string from celery. As more and more people got these nifty devices, they stopped the scrap collections, and everyone dug up and junked their scrap buckets.
Enter 2022. Someone comes up with the genius proposal — we can collect those food scraps and turn them into energy! Wow, what a way to save the planet. So, all we have to do is get everyone to stop using their garbage disposals and collect those scraps, and after they’ve sat for a week in this nifty green bag, they can put them out with the trash, and we can collect them separately and somehow turn them into energy. (I’m reminded of the Mr. Fusion device that was on the “Back to the Future” DeLorean Time Machine.) Note that you have to figure out some place to stash this bag where it’s handy to use, but also can be closed quickly after you put something in it, for as the food rots for a week it may generate flies and all sorts of funky odors. But never mind that, everyone can figure that out themselves.
Oh, wait a minute — we can’t trust that our citizens are smart enough to figure out that they should only put scraps in the Green bag, and not regular trash. Let’s make another bag, orange this time, so we can print the rules on it too, that they should not put food scraps in it, but only regular trash. Never mind that everyone for years has been using the white or black or whatever color plastic trash bags they get from the local store into their trash cans. We want them to put trash in this nifty Orange bag and food scraps in the nifty Green bag.
Alas, it doesn’t take a genius, just a person with some common sense, to realize that there was never a need of any kind for this orange bag. If they’re really bound and determined to make us use these green bags instead of using our garbage disposals, they only needed to give us the green bags. All the remaining trash could have continued to go into the usual white or other plastic bags already in use. In doing so — they could have saved Half of the grant money, by only printing and distributing the green bags. Or if in their bureaucratic mind, they had to spend all of the money, they could have gotten double the number of green bags. One hopes that the person(s) behind this idea have a “D’oh!” moment and facepalm themselves, only one wishes they do it with such force that they give themselves concussions. (They probably won’t. Sigh.)
Scott Tietjen
Be responsible
The countdown to kickoff has begun! Football fans everywhere are coming together to watch one of the most highly anticipated games of the year. And of course, this beloved American tradition isn’t complete without a winning lineup of game day snacks and a few cold beers with friends and family. Anheuser-Busch and Dichello Distributors Inc. are honored to be a part of these moments and are committed to helping ensure that communities celebrate safely.
If you’re planning to enjoy a beer or two, make sure you also plan for a way to get home safely. Remember, drunk driving is never the right call and when it comes to keeping our roads safe – we’re all on the same team.
Over the last 35 years, Anheuser-Busch and its wholesaler partners have invested more than $1 billion in responsible drinking initiatives and community-based programs to prevent underage drinking, impaired driving and other harmful uses of alcohol. All of us at Dichello Distributors are once again teaming up with Anheuser-Busch, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and Uber to encourage everyone to Decide To Ride by planning ahead for a safe ride if you are drinking. You can’t drive drunk if you leave your keys at home, and by focusing on planning ahead, it makes it easier for you to make smart decisions at the end of the night.
So whether you’re an avid football fan or just there for the snacks and commercials, we can all work together to put an end to drunk driving – once and for all. No matter who you’re cheering for in the big game, thank you for helping us end the night with a win. Cheers!
Tony Lota
Alcohol Awareness and Education Coordinator
Dichello Distributors, Inc.
Orange, CT