Garbage is such a marvelous topic! It is something that we normally don’t think about. In our modern era in the United States, we normally have garbage cans at various places in our house – the bathrooms, the kitchen or the office. When they are full, we take them and put them in a larger container somewhere outside. Then, once each week, we place this container at the curb and a large truck comes and empties it for us.
Voila! Like magic!
All of our refuse and waste is gone. Our cans are empty. We put them back in place and life goes on.
Except when we have things that the magical garbage trucks won’t take.
Or except when we have things that are too large and bulky to fit in the cans.
Then, we have to make a trip to the “dump.”
When you go to the dump, there is always a line. A long line of trucks and trailers mostly. Cars are rarely seen at the dump. Some vehicles don’t have to wait in line, though. There is a “fast track” for the large garbage trucks that collect our garbage each day. They have some sort of electronic pass in a different lane so that they can get in and out without being weighed and without having to pay at the window.
And, yes, everyone has to pay to use the dump. Garbage is big business. But I digress.
The rest of us get in line. The line is especially bad on Saturdays and holidays. Everybody goes to the dump on Saturday and the line of trucks and trailers can extend for almost a half mile from the entrance. The line is there because everybody that doesn’t have a fast pass has to be weighed and pay. And that takes time. Lots and lots of time.
You see this sign?
“Speed Limit 15 7/8”
This sign is along the road as you are going to the dump. The road is sort of a long drive way. You start along this road far away from the dump and travel along it to get to the dump. It doesn’t go anywhere else but to the dump and goes on for about a mile before you enter the dump proper.
The sign isn’t at the entrance, nor is it inside the dump. It is along the road, about in the middle. It is there to tell you that the speed limit is 15 7/8 mph.
What?
That’s right. The speed limit for this particular stretch of road is 15 7/8
???
What do you do with that information?
Why in the world is the speed limit so . . . weird?
As I sit in the line of trucks waiting to enter the dump, there is usually a good 10-15 minutes where this sign is clearly visible. (At these times, I wish that I COULD be going 15 7/8 mph!) There isn’t much else to look at. The truck’s bumper in front of you. The occasional truck exiting the dump. And this sign.
With so long to look at it, one starts to really wonder about it. Why is it there? What does it mean – really? Surely, the person who placed it didn’t really mean for it to hold any legal significance, did he? But, why go to all the trouble? Somebody had to have come up with the idea. Somebody went to the trouble of creating it and then somebody had to install it.
Would a police officer write you a ticket for going 9 1/8 over the speed limit if you were going, say, 25mph?
It looks so official. In fact, for all intents and purposes, it IS official.
But, why 15 7/8?
Sorry, dear reader, I don’t have any answers for you, only more questions for the creator.
But, it does give me pause. . .
And I think about garbage.
Say, what?
That’s right. This sign is forever linked in my mind with the garbage dump. Just this morning, I had to go to the dump, and I was looking for it. The sign, I mean. I was actively seeking it out. I knew it was there. Or, at least, I thought that I remembered that it was there.
Partly out of curiosity as to whether or not it was still there. Partly to assure myself that I really am not crazy and that I do remember that there really IS a 15 7/8mph sign. It is a novelty.
And, yup, it was still there this morning.
This morning I had an old water heater that I needed to get rid of. It quit working yesterday. (It’s OK. I was expecting it and was prepared.) So, I replaced it and needed to get rid of the old one.
The packaging was significant, but I was able to find a cardboard recycling dumpster at the local elementary school. It made me feel good to recycle. As a people, we go through so much cardboard. Just think about the Amazon boxes that you receive around Christmas time for example. And most of it winds up in landfills. So I am very happy to recycle.
Many people don’t want to pay the $9 per trip to take things to the dump. So, they take large things and hazardous material and building supplies and go around neighborhoods looking for large dumpsters where they can surreptitiously get rid of those things in the middle of the night. Around here that means church dumpsters or at the city park. (In fact, I saw 2 water heaters in a dumpster at the city park – about a week apart from each other. You can bet they were furtively dumped in the middle of the night!) Nobody wants to pay the $500 fine for illegal dumping. And many don’t want to pay the $9 for legal dumping either.
However, I wanted to do the right thing, so I went to the dump.
And they said that I couldn’t do it.
Dump my water heater there, that is.
You see, my city has contracted with ANOTHER dump for this kind of waste. I could pay double, or I could go to the other dump, about 3 miles away.
A bit dumbfounded, I shrugged my shoulders and took it to the other dump.
And you know what? They didn’t want it either.
Why not?
Because there is a recycling place right next door that takes things like water heaters. This particular dump would rather I recycle it.
Really?
So, I went to the other place – the recycling place – and you know what? Not only did they WANT my water heater, they were willing to PAY ME for my old water heater!!
Not much, mind you. She said it was only worth “a couple of bucks.”
But, always the magnanimous me, I said, “No, thank you. I don’t want to be paid for it. I just want to get rid of it.”
And she was HAPPY to tell me where to put it!
So, in several fell swoops I went from having to pay double – to being rejected – to being welcomed with open arms for my water heater.
Water Heater at Recycling Center
I was a little saddened to have to leave my water heater there at the recycling place. She has been ever constant for the past 12 years. But, I was glad that I wasn’t going to add to the landfill today. My faithful water heater would have a new life.
And I whistled a happy tune as I drove back home.
At 15 7/8 miles per hour.