Garbage goes in the chute, not on the floor and walls
October 2, 2010 4:55 PM Subscribe
Any tips on how to improve cleanliness of garbage rooms in NYC co-op?
In addition to large cans for garbage and recycling in our laundry room on the main floor, each floor of our 6 floor building has a small garbage room with a chute leading to the incinerator. There is a constant problem with residents who apparently just open the door to the garbage room and toss their garbage in, rather than placing it in the chute. And by toss, I mean garbage ends up all over the room -- on the floor, the walls, etc. They also toss bottles, newspapers, and other random items into the rooms. This leads to filth, roaches and bad smells.
There are signs posted on the doors to each room asking people to use the chutes but (surprise, surprise) they have no effect. The board has passed a house rule that anyone caught doing this will be assessed a fine, but we have yet to come up with a way to catch anyone in the act. We don't have money in our budget to install cameras in each room (the cameras themselves aren't that expensive, but wiring them into our existing security system is).
A large portion of our apartments are occupied by tenants, not shareholders. (We are working on this issue, but it's not an overnight fix.) That may be contributing to the problem -- lack of pride in ownership -- but because we don't have proof of who the repeat offenders are, we can't be sure.
Have any co-op dwelling mefites successfully addressed this problem? Any ideas on strategy? Thanks in advance.
In addition to large cans for garbage and recycling in our laundry room on the main floor, each floor of our 6 floor building has a small garbage room with a chute leading to the incinerator. There is a constant problem with residents who apparently just open the door to the garbage room and toss their garbage in, rather than placing it in the chute. And by toss, I mean garbage ends up all over the room -- on the floor, the walls, etc. They also toss bottles, newspapers, and other random items into the rooms. This leads to filth, roaches and bad smells.
There are signs posted on the doors to each room asking people to use the chutes but (surprise, surprise) they have no effect. The board has passed a house rule that anyone caught doing this will be assessed a fine, but we have yet to come up with a way to catch anyone in the act. We don't have money in our budget to install cameras in each room (the cameras themselves aren't that expensive, but wiring them into our existing security system is).
A large portion of our apartments are occupied by tenants, not shareholders. (We are working on this issue, but it's not an overnight fix.) That may be contributing to the problem -- lack of pride in ownership -- but because we don't have proof of who the repeat offenders are, we can't be sure.
Have any co-op dwelling mefites successfully addressed this problem? Any ideas on strategy? Thanks in advance.
Maybe fake cameras as a deterrent?
posted by coupdefoudre at 5:24 PM on October 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by coupdefoudre at 5:24 PM on October 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
A study done at Newcastle University indicated that a drawing of a pair of eyes, when posted in a break room, deterred dishonest behavior. According to the press release, the findings indicated that "people behave differently when they believe they are being watched because they are worried what others will think of them."
It might be worth a shot.
posted by easy, lucky, free at 6:37 PM on October 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
It might be worth a shot.
posted by easy, lucky, free at 6:37 PM on October 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
I think you are overestimating your shareholders' sense of responsibility. I am one of those lowly "tenants" who lives in a newly converted luxury condo. I came home to find the person who bought the apartment across the hall from mine (for $2.5m) clipping his fingernails directly onto the floor in the hallway. I don't doubt that there is a trash problem, but I think you may be misdirecting your suspicion. I assume that many of the tenants who live there have lived there a long time. Was there a problem before it became a co-op? People who have the money to buy may also have the idea that there is someone who will clean up after them.
Anyway, maybe a poster with eyes would help.
posted by kimdog at 6:43 PM on October 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
Anyway, maybe a poster with eyes would help.
posted by kimdog at 6:43 PM on October 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
Maybe a note warning about a hefty fine if they're caught? Especially paired with the webcams or fake surveillance.
Or a close-up photo of a couple roaches and a line asking to help keep those creatures out?
posted by addelburgh at 7:51 PM on October 2, 2010
Or a close-up photo of a couple roaches and a line asking to help keep those creatures out?
posted by addelburgh at 7:51 PM on October 2, 2010
fshgrl has it: open a bag, find an envelope or magazine, and publicly shame the owner. Leave the garbage in front of their apartment door, and put a big note for all to see saying "Tom in apt. 1C: do not leave your garbage in the chute room. You have been fined $NNN, payable with your next [rent|maintenance]." You will probably only have to do this to one tenant to solve the problem; certainly only to one tenant per floor.
posted by nicwolff at 8:28 PM on October 2, 2010
posted by nicwolff at 8:28 PM on October 2, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
Taking the doors off the garbage rooms and reconfiguring it as an alcove would probably help quite a bit in the long run because I bet people are a lot less likely to toss their trash if there's no door to toss it through.
posted by fshgrl at 5:09 PM on October 2, 2010