The purple bags of doom

I've just seen, from my window, an elderly neighbour add her own little bit of rubbish to a growing pile, nestling behind two purple Veolia bags that have been sat there since Monday morning.

So far, two black bags of household waste, no doubt from a frustrated resident whose bins are overflowing due to this week's non-collection, and a plastic baby bath have been added to the purple bags of doom and are making for a charming view for the local kids on the way to school.

I've reported it, of course, and I've filled in that bit that is supposed to go to enforcement which asks if we know who has dumped the rubbish, suggesting they go talk to Veolia. 

I'm sure if I complain now, I'll get the same standard reply about snow disrupting everything but this problem with the bags happens whatever the weather. Moreover, their operational system must be extraordinarily fragile if one snowfall can continue to disrupt 8 days later, suggesting poor management, or perhaps, understaffing. 

So why does it matter if they leave the purple bags of doom out for a couple of days?

Well, one of the main reasons is that they are reinforcing the 'third way' of getting rid of your waste. The 'a bit more doesn't hurt' mindset comes into play since it is clear that eventually a van will come to pick up the bags. In the meantime, people going past add their litter, people with a bit too much in their bins pop a bag in the street. The message is that actually it *is* okay to leave your rubbish in the street: "If they do it, how can you tell me not to?"

It sends out the wrong messages . Often, bags are left by the bin next to the infant school or by the kerbside near the passage. Hey, kids don't leave your rubbish in the street... unless you are a grown up in a hi-viz vest with a logo on it, then its okay. 

It's an eyesore that can often turn into something worse if the bags get ripped open (see Ant's photo below) and mess scattered again, undermining the work of the street cleaners.

It undermines Veolia's commitment, made to secure the contract from the council, that they will reduce dumping in the borough. Their own faulty operational system means that rather than making good on this, they are adding to the problem. 

It is an ongoing problem that no one seems to take seriously because they are not interested in tackling the mindset of why people dump but appear to be running to stand still in order to implement a system that  it is not clear is working at all well. It was done by Enterprise with their green bags and it is done by Veolia with their more highly visible purple bags. The system is not questioned despite problems with it being identified for years. If anything Veolia are slower at removing the bags than Enterprise were and overlook them more often. 

Is this a problem just in Harringay? No, a straw poll suggests that it is borough wide and constant, so can't be blamed on weather, individuals, bad days, broken down vans. It is the system that is at fault and it is the system that needs to be changed, or at the very least improved so that the undertaking to remove purple bags within a few hours of them being deposited by street cleaners is rigidly adhered to.