What's in your garbage?

[John R]

trust me, any prisoner who get's a chance to go outdoors, will apply for any work duty. some are obviously more desired than others.

 

[ldp2009]

I agree that this is not inhumane at all and the prisoners should see this as light labor. They broke the law to be put in jail or prison and why should they get much better meals than homeless people that have not broken any laws. These prisoners have a roof and 3 meals a day and have great medical care and if sifting through garbage is payment for their crimes, they should be happy with that. Remember the old days when prisoners were put to work to build railroads?

 

[dcurlin]

Sorry to catch this late. Does this mean that although we don't separate recycleables in Walton, they still do get recycled? We don't have to take our plastics to Publix in order to get it recycled?

 

[jamie]

Sorry to catch this late. Does this mean that although we don't separate recycleables in Walton, they still do get recycled? We don't have to take our plastics to Publix in order to get it recycled?

Sort of...they do go through the garbage at the landfill & pick out items that can recycled. However, the best that I understand it, we should still use the "blue bag" recycling program because once paper gets contaminated (oil, grease, gum, etc) it can no longer be recycled. Therefore, it is a good idea to separate out your recyclables & place in blue bags. Which brings me to the practice of the Waste Management truck picking up our blue bags. Once they get thrown in the truck, they are then crushed to make all the garbage compact...wouldn't this often tear open bags & then expose paper to contamination? It seems like it to me. So, I separate my plastics, paper & then in another bag glass & aluminum & when they are full I take them to recycle center/bin (like at the corner of 393 & 98). Here is a comprehensive chart on what can & cannot be recycled...

The World's Shortest Comprehensive Recycling Guide

I agree with most of you, I believe it is more than likely a privilege for the prisoners to be able to work at the landfill; I don't believe they are being forced. But it is good advice to shred everything...I need to do that more!

 

[captnk]

i say work them hard. i have to work hard and i dont get free medical or 3 meals a day.

 

[Daugette_Matt]

A was at the dump a couple of weeks ago. There were about 10 inmates working in the big garbage building. they were going through the trash, picking out and sorting into sseveral areas, plastic, glass, metal. The inmates who do that are trustees. They are not exactly paid, but do get some "perks" As far as I know the trustees do work for the county. The jail bids on jobs, like roadside cleanup etc and if they get the contract, then the inmates do t he work.
I woould rather spend the day at the dump sorting smelly garbage then sitting inside bored to death waiting to get into trouble from some prison crap.

 

[graytonbeachguy]

I agree with the post about the prisoners liking the work. Many of them would rather be doing anything outdoors rather than be stuck in four walls. Only those the jail trusts (trustees) are allowed to do this type of work both in and out of the prison walls. In county jail, they actually get 5 days per month off their sentence for being trustees. Talk about motivation to keep your nose clean and work hard! Prison trustees actually get about 20 or 25 cents per hour for work. The money is deposited in their canteen account.

Captk: I wouldn't feed the jail meals to my dog nor would I allow the jail doctor to treat a cat if I owned one. And I hate cats. The food and "medical care" are the minimum required to keep you alive.

As for televisions, the guards would be the first to object to their removal. It keeps the inmates occupied. Jails are usually kept very cold so the prisoners will sleep a lot.

 

[Susan Horn]

Just gotta chime in here on a tangent--I wish there were some program in place, as long as they're sorting the garbage, to do large-scale composting of all compostable materials. Keep it out of the landfills, and turn trash into treasure that could be given to citizens or packaged and sold as some kind of gourmet soil amendment.....

At this point, I think they shred a lot of landscaping waste, which citizens can pick up and use for mulch, though they don't go to any effort to make it convenient or easy. You would have to hand-shovel it unless you're lucky enough to show up on a day and time when someone is there who has the skill and authority to use the little front-end loader to quickly fill up your truck with mulch.

So it looks like maybe we're going in the right direction, with some room for improvement....maybe in all the reorganization of county gov't, someone will find a way to use staff and equipment more effectively and efficiently in this area.

 

[scooterbug44]

I agree with the post about the prisoners liking the work. Many of them would rather be doing anything outdoors rather than be stuck in four walls. Only those the jail trusts (trustees) are allowed to do this type of work both in and out of the prison walls. In county jail, they actually get 5 days per month off their sentence for being trustees. Talk about motivation to keep your nose clean and work hard! Prison trustees actually get about 20 or 25 cents per hour for work. The money is deposited in their canteen account.

I did not know this - am glad to hear it is a reward and that there are incentives like this for good behavior that also get them out sooner!