I see what you did there.

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September 21st, 2015 · 55 comments

In one Nova Scotia office kitchen, frustration with this…

Led to this…

Meanwhile, in Boca Raton…

And then, of course, there’s the MIT approach:

related: STAHP!

FILED UNDER: note wars

55 responses so far ↓

#1 The Beast Among Us

I think someone needs to relay those messages at the bottom to the Crips Gang.

Sep 21, 2015 at 12:06 pm rating: 91

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#2 Jozo

People throwing anything in the recycling bin is frustrating when you empty it out though. People don’t care since they’re not the one to do it, so they’ll throw half empty drinks, food, etc. in there.

Sep 21, 2015 at 4:20 pm rating: 91

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- #2.1 Chris Baker
  
  The thing that drives me bonkers at work is to open up the trash can drawer and see a cup half-full of water that was carefully placed into the trash can so it doesn’t spill–in a trash can an arm’s length away from the kitchen sink!
  
  99% of the people in my office are college graduates, probably toward the top of their class. But some without enough common sense to pour the water in the sink before putting the cup into the trash can.
  
  I probably should make a sign…
  
  Sep 22, 2015 at 2:11 pm rating: 92
- #2.2 The Beast Among Us
  
  ^ Blame the 1%. It seems to work.
  
  Sep 22, 2015 at 2:47 pm rating: 91
- #2.3 Stella3
  
  Yep. The signs are funny, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a point.
  
  Sep 22, 2015 at 10:21 pm rating: 91
- #2.4 santas
  
  @ChrisBaker
  
  It could be melted ice.
  
  It’s surprising how many people don’t realize that ice melts, even after you’ve thrown it away…
  
  Sep 30, 2015 at 6:50 pm rating: 91
- #2.5 FeRD
  
  I’m now the super for my (9-unit) apartment building, which means I get to deal with the other tenants’ trash-disposal habits. It’s been… enlightening.
  
  I realize I live #InDaGhetoooooo and fully accept that there are going to be some people who just plain don’t give a shit and never will, but the heights and breadths of apathy/ignorance displayed still blow my mind.
  
  I’m constantly digging recyclables out of the trash, which is to be expected. The recycling bin is also constantly laden with “tainted” recyclables: aluminum pans caked with thick layers of last night’s casserole, the persistent stench of stale beer from unfinished bottles being thrown in, food tins still dripping thick globs of whatever soup or beans or such they were haphazardly relieved of. That, too, is to be expected.
  
  But then there’s the tenant who insists on throwing things like banana peels and corn husks into the recycling bin, because apparently they cannot grasp the difference between “recyclable” and “compostable”.
  
  Or the one responsible for the mind-blowing number of empty cardboard shoeboxes (something you’d think would be a no-brainer for recycling) that I find in the trash cans, because OMG you guys, Imelda Marcos is fucking alive and well and living in a small apartment building in the South Bronx, and she can not be bothered with such trivial undertakings as recycling! (Kids, if you don’t know who Imelda Marcos is, ask your grandparents. Or Google it.)
  
  …I’ve been assuming that those last two aren’t the SAME tenant, anyway. I don’t think I could deal with a world where that wasn’t true.
  
  All of this occurs despite the fact that I ordered free recycling-information materials from NYC (they’re cool like that) and delivered them to each apartment, and the detailed recycling rules are also POSTED RIGHT ON THE BIN with a big sticker also courtesy of NYC Recycles. Because, as I said, some people just plain DGAS.
  
  Oct 27, 2015 at 6:27 pm rating: 92
- #2.6 The Beast Among Us
  
  You know those free recycling information materials just end up in the trash, right?
  
  Oct 28, 2015 at 8:01 pm rating: 90
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#3 Poltergeist

Does that topmost sign seriously insist that people wash their *garbage* before throwing it in the trash?

Look, I try to reuse the good containers, I rinse out the really dirty stuff before I throw it in the recycling bin, but I am not washing my garbage. My apologies to the environment, but I have enough shit to do.

Sep 21, 2015 at 11:51 pm rating: 90

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- #3.1 havingfitz
  
  I’ll wash your garbage for you, but you have to buy me dinner, pay for my crippling video game addiction, and refer to me as “Mittens” at furry conventions. (I will not be wearing a costume. You will.)
  
  Sep 22, 2015 at 10:11 am rating: 91
- #3.2 Jami
  
  People are weird when it comes to being “green.”
  
  Our sanitation department forced these green cans for “biowaste” upon us. A lot of people are complaining about them. First complaint is the fact they want us to throw stuff in there that’s “not compostable.” They’re completely ignorant of the fact that this waste isn’t for compost – it’s to make biofuel for the garbage trucks. (I try to tell them but they won’t listen.)
  
  Another is how badly they stink – to which people reply “Oh, just bag up your trash and put it in the freezer until trash day.” To which I say – my freezer is for food I will eat, NOT garbage. Which is where the weirdness about being green comes in. They keep insisting that trash belongs in the freezer, I keep saying it doesn’t.
  
  My complaint is that we haven’t had a new contract since WWII and Costa Mesa pays more than Newport Beach for trash pick up – and now they want us to do their work for them by pre-sorting our trash to make fuel for their trucks without even a discount? Screw that. They want my meat scraps and dog poop in a separate container to make biofuel? Then I want a new contract so we pay less for trash pickup.
  
  Sep 22, 2015 at 10:25 am rating: 90
- #3.3 Tesselara
  
  It’s weird that they ask you to put it in the freezer. It would be easier if they gave you those green compostable bio bags to put those items into, and then tie them shut, to reduce stinkiness. I mean, ultimately, if that stuff was going into the trash bin to sit for a week, and now is instead going into the “compost” bin to sit for a week, then the only actual difference in disposal must be whether it was wrapped in a bag. The freezer is definitely a bad option and way too weird and glib.
  
  Sep 22, 2015 at 1:12 pm rating: 90
- #3.4 Chris Baker
  
  I wash out my recyclable stuff (plastic yogurt cups, etc.) at home. Sometimes its just a rinse. But not at work.
  
  Sep 22, 2015 at 2:13 pm rating: 90
- #3.5 Jami
  
  Oh, if we want those bags we’re expected to buy them ourselves. They won’t provide them for us at all.
  
  Sep 22, 2015 at 2:59 pm rating: 90
- #3.6 DaveS
  
  The washing of the food from containers before putting them in the garbage or recycling isn’t for the environment. It’s to prevent it from stinking up the place and attracting vermin while it sits waiting to be picked up.
  
  Sep 22, 2015 at 4:56 pm rating: 90
- #3.7 Poltergeist
  
  DaveS, that still doesn’t make any sense. Even if you washed out the non-recyclable containers destined for the trash, people are still going to throw food in there anyway. Where else are people supposed to put that moldy bread or the expired milk?
  
  Sep 22, 2015 at 6:10 pm rating: 90
- #3.8 Stella3
  
  If the garbage doesn’t get taken out frequently, unnecessary food leads to some pretty nasty smells. As for the recycling bin-people who are using it are trying to be responsible anyway, so they can take the extra step.
  
  Sep 22, 2015 at 10:23 pm rating: 90
- #3.9 assiveProgressive
  
  If a raccoon can wash its garbage, so can you.
  
  Sep 23, 2015 at 10:15 am rating: 90
- #3.10 Dave S
  
  Poltergeist, in my office we’re told not to put any food waste in our office wastebaskets, and instead use the restroom bins for that. That way we don’t have smells in the office.
  
  The restrooms have better ventilation anyway, in order to clear out other smells specific to those rooms. Plus they are cleaned, including having their trash removed, every day. Our office trash is only picked up a couple times a week.
  
  I’m not arguing that these are not PAN signs. Just pointing out that asking people to wash out any food containers before putting them in those trash/recycling containers probably has more to do with preventing smells/vermin in the office than protecting the environment.
  
  Sep 23, 2015 at 3:40 pm rating: 90
- #3.11 Poltergeist
  
  The garbage can in the picture above is stated to be in the office kitchen. I have never in my life heard of people not being allowed to throw out their food scraps in the kitchen garbage. That is beyond ridiculous.
  
  Sep 23, 2015 at 9:45 pm rating: 90
- #3.12 Jami
  
  Breakroom trash would be taken out every day. There’s no reason to wash one’s garbage in that situation unless their name is Adrian Monk.
  
  Sep 24, 2015 at 10:41 pm rating: 90
- #3.13 FeRD
  
  Yeah, the reason it makes a difference between trash and recycling is that, at least here in NYC, trash is picked up three times a week, but recycling only once.
  
  So, the contents of your trash bin never has to sit/smell more than two or three days. But the recycling bin sits there for a full week, which is more than enough time for any food waste tossed into it to become quite nasty indeed.
  
  Oct 27, 2015 at 4:24 pm rating: 90
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#4 labdude

Hmmm. I just re-read the MIT thread, and have to add my $.02.
The ‘Why’ clearly does not refer to the period; it refers to the underline. As in “WHY underline a period?”
But what do I know? I’m just a college drop-out, although I do work around the corner from MIT…

Sep 22, 2015 at 8:18 am rating: 90

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- #4.1 assiveProgressive
  
  Perhaps it means, “That’s it, period.”
  
  Sep 23, 2015 at 10:18 am rating: 90
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#5 The Elf

YOU get a comment! AND YOU get a comment! EVERYONE gets a comment!

Sep 22, 2015 at 12:44 pm rating: 90

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- #5.1 Lita
  
  Oprah Elfrey.
  
  Sep 22, 2015 at 6:45 pm rating: 90
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#6 The Elf

Wait, no capital letters or unnecessary underlining? That’s taking all the fun out of it! Why not just outlaw Comic Sans too?!

Okay, fine. You can have my capital letters and unnecessary underlining, and my comic sans, but you will never take my interrobang!

Sep 22, 2015 at 12:48 pm rating: 90

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- #6.1 Stella3
  
  Comic Sans isn’t as good as pre-third grade handwriting.
  
  Sep 22, 2015 at 10:24 pm rating: 90
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#7 Lita

Please the sponge? Oh…if I must.

Sep 22, 2015 at 6:46 pm rating: 90

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- #7.1 assiveProgressive
  
  Lita’s Amazon bestseller: Ten Ways to Please Your Sponge in Bed.
  
  Sep 23, 2015 at 10:21 am rating: 90
- #7.2 Lita
  
  And its not-so-bestselling sequel, Ten Ways to Please Your Sponge Out of Bed.
  
  Sep 23, 2015 at 11:56 am rating: 90
- #7.3 The Sponge
  
  I’m ready when you are.
  
  *acts like a sponge*
  
  Sep 24, 2015 at 7:07 pm rating: 90
- #7.4 Lita
  
  *dips in water*
  
  *squeezes*
  
  That’s right. Suck it up. Suck it all up.
  
  Sep 25, 2015 at 5:09 pm rating: 90
- #7.5 Poltergeist
  
  There are so manly holes to fill. Where should I start?
  
  Sep 25, 2015 at 10:40 pm rating: 90
- #7.6 Lita
  
  Manly holes? Well, whatever floats your sponge…
  
  Sep 26, 2015 at 7:33 pm rating: 90
- #7.7 Jami
  
  Go look up the blog Kindle Cover Disasters. There are comic erotic stories about gay biker rainbows, sentient toasters, and even a book called “Pounded In The Butt By My Own Butt.” (Meanwhile most women are getting banged by dinosaurs.) I’m sure someone will eventually or already has written one about a sponge.
  
  Makes me wonder though how I could go about getting stories published for the Kindle – not under my real name – to earn a few extra cents.
  
  Sep 26, 2015 at 10:54 pm rating: 90
- #7.8 Lita
  
  I’m almost tempted to check the Nifty archives…but then I remember the one horrible thing I read with all the food references, and “groaning like a pissed-off zombie”, and the feeling of having one’s cock sucked being compared to a caterpillar (?!?!), and I decide it’s better for my brain if I don’t.
  
  Sep 27, 2015 at 1:18 am rating: 90
- #7.9 Poltergeist
  
  I love it when typos end up making posts even better. Even if I could edit it, I wouldn’t.
  
  Bring on the manly sponge holes.
  
  Sep 27, 2015 at 4:24 am rating: 90
- #7.10 The Sponge
  
  Oh, yes! I’m getting so wet!
  
  Sep 28, 2015 at 1:24 pm rating: 90
- #7.11 Lita
  
  Now scrub those plates! Scrub them good!
  
  Sep 29, 2015 at 2:33 pm rating: 90
- #7.12 The Sponge
  
  Oh, you are so dirty!
  
  Sep 29, 2015 at 4:18 pm rating: 90
- #7.13 Lita
  
  You gotta get dirty to make things clean~ ;D
  
  Sep 29, 2015 at 4:57 pm rating: 90
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#8 mutzali

Wash out my recyclables when we have $500 penalties for going over our water allotment (which is barely 1/5 of our conservative usage)?
Right.

Sep 23, 2015 at 5:32 pm rating: 90

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- #8.1 assiveProgressive
  
  One could pack it out, like you’re forced to do on a long hike. Eat your lunch and then take all your trash home with you. Or… let’s just not eat or drink at work. It will cut down on garbage, recycled matter, bathroom breaks and life itself. When Donald Trump becomes president and master of the universe, it will come to that.
  
  Sep 25, 2015 at 12:28 am rating: 90
- #8.2 Poltergeist
  
  We won’t have to worry about water shortages or trash if The Donald becomes president because we’ll all be dead within a year.
  
  Sep 25, 2015 at 10:51 pm rating: 90
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#9 KHandcock

Being Nova Scotian, there’s some important context to these signs: recycling/composting division is provincial legislation there, so if the bags show a mix of recyclables/garbage/compost, the garbage trucks will not pick them up. They sticker the bag with an explanation (in case it’s out of a misunderstanding/lack of knowledge of what goes where). That means that, if the garbage is mixed, someone has to go in and properly separate out old trash.

Honestly, it’s been the norm in NS for a while, and it really doesn’t take particularly longer to do these things once you’re in the habit of them. I’m honestly wondering if the “generic sign” signs have more to do with someone in the office thinking, “Well, of course we’re supposed to do that…everyone KNOWS the paper goes there.”

Sep 27, 2015 at 7:36 am rating: 90

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#10 creation site web maroc

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Sep 28, 2015 at 6:58 am rating: 90

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#11 Lil'

https://www.facebook. com/RomanTheWarrior

Hey PAN friends. I know this is random and completely unrelated to anything we are talking about right now, but this is a little boy I know. He just finished his last chemo treatment and he’s celebrating by trying to get 1,000 likes on his profile pic. Would you all please help make it happen. He’s fought like hell and I would really like to see this happen for him. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.(Please take out the blank space behind the dot in the link I shared.)

Sep 28, 2015 at 9:03 am rating: 90

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- #11.1 Lita
  
  Done and done. What an adorable little boy.
  
  Sep 28, 2015 at 1:08 pm rating: 90
- #11.2 Lil'
  
  Thank you so much, Lita!! He really is excited about the idea of getting 1,000 likes. When his mom asked how many likes he thought he had, he said two…from Grandma and Grandpa. When he saw hundreds, he could hardly believe it.
  
  Sep 28, 2015 at 1:36 pm rating: 90
- #11.3 Lita
  
  Not a problem at all! I’m glad to help out.
  
  Sep 29, 2015 at 2:32 pm rating: 90
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#12 al

i know those garbage cans!! i used to work in that office.
hahahahah

Sep 29, 2015 at 10:34 pm rating: 90

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#13 RB

Passive aggressive people are so primitive. If you have a problem with someone approach them directly to address the issue instead of using notes like a primitive coward.

Nov 29, 2015 at 8:53 pm rating: 90

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#14 Thick McRunfast

A nice touch to the two infighting notes is how angry the socket looks.

“You think you got problems? Try living next to these guys!”

Jan 31, 2016 at 12:50 pm rating: 90

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#15 Suck it mcquickly

I don’t think they got the memo or tps reports?

Dec 19, 2016 at 1:55 pm rating: 0

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