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# Trash pickers get zapped by new wired garbage bins
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/trash-pickers-get-zapped-by-new-wired-garbage-bins/
- Published: 2006-04-01T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T17:28:45.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Community, Santa Monica, #archive-import, Homeless

*By THE NEW GUY Daily Mess Maker*

CITYWIDE — Tired of seeing recycling revenues drop due to aggressive trash picking by the homeless, the City Council Tuesday approved the purchase of thousands of new trash cans that will be electrified, sending 50,000 volts through whomever tries to open them without permission.

Residents and business owners will each be given a personalized security code which they will use before opening their trash cans.

The move was bashed by homeless advocates who chastised city officials for being too greedy.

It is estimated that $23 million a year is lost as a result of people removing recy-clables from trash cans.

“This goes against everything Santa Monica has stood for — a home for the homeless,” said Los T. Coz, of Bringing U Meals, or BUM. “This is not a win-win situation for anyone. The city will no doubt get sued, and those who make a living recycling will be killed in record numbers. All this will do is increase the level of trash that is not recycled, leading to more trash being dumped locally, causing our ground water and our air to becom Coz said residents rarely recycle despite living in a city that makes it easy for them. The homeless pick up the slack, Coz said.

Councilman Dick Doom said the new trash cans were the only way to stop people from removing recyclables, and while he is sensitive to the needs of the homeless, he is also a firm believer in filling city coffers so there is more money to waste on pet projects, such as a shelter for poor attorneys specializing in family law.

“We’ve tried everything from providing free food toe polluted, eventually leading to our early demise. It’s all connected.” installing lifts to raise trash cans off the ground, even finding residents who will adopt the down and out, and nothing has worked,” Doom said. “Electrocution seemed to be our only option. It’s only 50,000 volts, which staff has ensured us is very humane. They did say that right? I’ll have to go look at the staff report.”

The trash cans will be installed beginning Monday. Each will cost $5,000, with a total cost estimated at $4.5 million, much of which will be paid for by grant money intended to fund after-school programs. All cans will be clearly marked with a sign warning the public that the cans are electrified.

“This would never happen north of Montana,” said a resident Wil Thee. “Our illegal immigrant servants haul our trash with them after working 12 hours a day under the table.

“We give them our recycles as a bonus,” he added.

City Hall takes in roughly $40 million a year from recyclables thanks to increased efforts at educating the public as well as the city’s Recycling Ambassador Program, in which recycling supervisors visit homes and businesses once a month to see if they are separating their garbage into four piles — paper, plastic, glass and unrecyclables. Those who do not are required to perform 200 hours of community service, which often includes working at the city dump or picking up trash at the beach.

Even so, rent on a studio apartment in Santa Monica is $1,500, even south of the 10\. Street parking is not included.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 1, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/040106.pdf?ref=smdp.com)