TRASH

Call us old fashioned and generally tidy (or Midwestern), but we have this horrible tendency to follow the rules - particularly when they are clearly stated. You could call it a clash of the cultures. Case in point: disposal of trash and garbage. There is very limited space in the disposal area to support all the occupants of the building, and trash is picked up twice a week. We've had packing "peanuts" fly all over the courtyard and into our garden, huge boxes left opened and filled with rain water (the mosquitoes love it), and large pieces of furniture dumped in this small area.  And oftentimes there are trails of coffee and peripheral trash from the elevator along the first floor leading out to the disposal area. The recycling containers are commonly filled with garbage. When we first moved here, the cleaning crew would have to move all the garbage from the designated spaces inside the building to the disposal area. To cut back on cleaning expenses, but more importantly, to create needed storeroom space, it was deemed appropriate for each occupant to move their own trash. "I might slip on the ice" and "It's dangerous to go out back at night to empty trash" was rationale used to maintain the expensive trash disposal service. At our private residence, we always took our trash and recycling to the curb ourselves. Is this what community living is all about? All new owners and occupants receive the guidelines handbook and bylaws. Doesn't seem like everyone reads them, even when they are plastered in front of their faces.

The "rules" are clearly written and  posted by the disposal area

The rules are rarely followed or enforced
"break down large boxes; if it doesn't fit in a garbage bag,
the crew does not have to take it- and they might not."