Only three days since Welfare cheques were issued, and the lanes of Fairview are already filling up with ... car binners; people who are collecting bottles using cars, vans, and trucks. Sometimes the cars are old, rusty, with only one working headlight, and sometimes they're pristine olive-green Jags, and blinged-out SUVs. More often though, they are average little cars, mini-vans, blazers. The drivers of these vehicles run the gamut, but skew heavily towards immigrants, mostly Asian, some Eastern European, and a growing number of Filipinos. Age-wise, I would guess there are a high percentage of retirees.
Some stereotypical car binner types
Little old ladies who seem to have gone potty. Always a few of them around; a perfect example being one little bespectacled, white-haired lady, who came close to hitting me with her car -- at about that time, she rammed Jimmy's trailer, and he received a cash settlement from ICBC, the Provincial Crown Corporation which looks after car insurance. She used to yell a lot, and declare, in a European accent, that she was "collecting for ze homeless children!" I haven't seen her for years, but two weeks ago I had an encounter with another little old lady binning in a car, who looked and sounded a lot like her, without glasses.
Chinese singles and couples who appear to be unable to speak any English. Perhaps some of these people are actually new immigrants to Canada. Income from collecting bottles is not taxable, and would probably be a legal way to earn some money, even if you were not legally allowed to work.
People who think they can make a quick buck; these people are, for the most part, the least of anyone's worries, as they appear quite clueless.
Some people from the ranks of the two previous types, however, may do well enough that they graduate to become dedicated, professional car binners; They work at it like a part-time job, and probably come to count on the income.
Signs of a car binner
Car binning seems downright immoral to me, but that could partly be my self-interest talking. The more concrete issue is that they, without exception, see themselves above all the other non-motorized binners, by which I mean, they will always try to blow by anyone binning ahead of them, and grab what they can.
There is a sort of agreed-upon code of conduct among binners, designed to reduce conflict -- the big thing is binners should not cut off other binners: If you see another binner already in the lane ahead of you, go to another lane. Car binners could care less. This is why they occasionally lose side mirrors, wind-shields, and tire valve-stems.
Two of the main binning environments are apartment lanes, and residential home lanes, or multi-unit, and single-unit. Car binners have been, first, and foremost, an issue in single-unit areas, which have once-per-week recycling pick-up. Now as their numbers keeps increasing -- like water poured on a map -- they are spreading into the multi-unit areas, where they have less of an advantage; most of the bottles are in closed blue toter bins and dumpsters -- but they will grab anything they can see; sometimes they bin in pairs -- one drives, one walks, and checks all the bins.
One might wonder how lucrative this can be if you have to pay for gas? Well the answer is their numbers are only increasing. One shopping cart binner confessed to me that some years ago he helped a buddy car-bin in the upscale area of Point Gray, using a van which ran on natural gas -- very economical.
I know it's legal, but I believe it's wrong, and I agree one-hundred per cent with the sentiments of one rich Shaughnessy neighbourhood resident. After I pulled aside to let a green Blazer pass me in a lane, the driver sped ahead, screeched to a stop, and jumped out, and started literally throwing wine bottles from this one resident's blue box into his little green binner-mobile. As he sped away, the resident came running into the lane. "I don't believe what I just saw," he said. I replied, quite lamely, that the guy might have just been hanging on financially by his fingernails. To which the resident declared, "Well he should sell the f**king Blazer!"
Some stereotypical car binner types
Little old ladies who seem to have gone potty. Always a few of them around; a perfect example being one little bespectacled, white-haired lady, who came close to hitting me with her car -- at about that time, she rammed Jimmy's trailer, and he received a cash settlement from ICBC, the Provincial Crown Corporation which looks after car insurance. She used to yell a lot, and declare, in a European accent, that she was "collecting for ze homeless children!" I haven't seen her for years, but two weeks ago I had an encounter with another little old lady binning in a car, who looked and sounded a lot like her, without glasses.
Chinese singles and couples who appear to be unable to speak any English. Perhaps some of these people are actually new immigrants to Canada. Income from collecting bottles is not taxable, and would probably be a legal way to earn some money, even if you were not legally allowed to work.
People who think they can make a quick buck; these people are, for the most part, the least of anyone's worries, as they appear quite clueless.
Some people from the ranks of the two previous types, however, may do well enough that they graduate to become dedicated, professional car binners; They work at it like a part-time job, and probably come to count on the income.
Signs of a car binner
- Driving through every block of a lane very slowly. I now pay attention to marked company vans doing this in lanes, as I've seen three used for binning in the last six-months.
- The back seating area of a four-door car, and perhaps the front passenger seat are covered in clear plastic sheeting.
- Car flags. Odd fact that I know at least six hard-core car binners who fly Canadian flags and, or, Vancouver Canucks flags.
- The driver is dressed over-warmly for just driving.
- The driver is wearing disposable gloves.
Car binning seems downright immoral to me, but that could partly be my self-interest talking. The more concrete issue is that they, without exception, see themselves above all the other non-motorized binners, by which I mean, they will always try to blow by anyone binning ahead of them, and grab what they can.
There is a sort of agreed-upon code of conduct among binners, designed to reduce conflict -- the big thing is binners should not cut off other binners: If you see another binner already in the lane ahead of you, go to another lane. Car binners could care less. This is why they occasionally lose side mirrors, wind-shields, and tire valve-stems.
Two of the main binning environments are apartment lanes, and residential home lanes, or multi-unit, and single-unit. Car binners have been, first, and foremost, an issue in single-unit areas, which have once-per-week recycling pick-up. Now as their numbers keeps increasing -- like water poured on a map -- they are spreading into the multi-unit areas, where they have less of an advantage; most of the bottles are in closed blue toter bins and dumpsters -- but they will grab anything they can see; sometimes they bin in pairs -- one drives, one walks, and checks all the bins.
One might wonder how lucrative this can be if you have to pay for gas? Well the answer is their numbers are only increasing. One shopping cart binner confessed to me that some years ago he helped a buddy car-bin in the upscale area of Point Gray, using a van which ran on natural gas -- very economical.
I know it's legal, but I believe it's wrong, and I agree one-hundred per cent with the sentiments of one rich Shaughnessy neighbourhood resident. After I pulled aside to let a green Blazer pass me in a lane, the driver sped ahead, screeched to a stop, and jumped out, and started literally throwing wine bottles from this one resident's blue box into his little green binner-mobile. As he sped away, the resident came running into the lane. "I don't believe what I just saw," he said. I replied, quite lamely, that the guy might have just been hanging on financially by his fingernails. To which the resident declared, "Well he should sell the f**king Blazer!"
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