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An ‘Uber for garbage’ picks up steam, and $11.7M in Series A funding

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Re: An ‘Uber for garbage’ picks up steam, and $11.7M in Series A funding

#211

Post by zo1 »

duncan_bayne wrote: post #152
duncan_bayne wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't it be better if we were allowed to interact voluntarily? Pay for what we wanted and used, and support people and causes through charity instead of under duress?

Too late to edit, so posting a follow-up for clarification: I don't mean anarcho-capitalism, I mean a voluntarily-funded State.

As an anarcho-capitalist, I'd be really keen on a "HumbleBundle" type government funding model. E.g. you don't get to pick if you pay taxes, but you do get to pick which parts of the state get what proportion of your taxes. E.g. 30% welfare, 0% military, 70% infrastructure development.

You could even argue that such an arrangement is voluntary in a narrow definition of a term. Definitely not one to satisfy most libertarians/anarcho-capitalists, but good enough for us to say we're not living in a state where we have absolutely no power over the state's spending.

Re: An ‘Uber for garbage’ picks up steam, and $11.7M in Series A funding

#212

Post by zo1 »

tomjakubowski wrote: post #149
discombobulate wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a shame government services are normally junk (pun unintended). That's my experience. Off the top of my head: I would pay twice for x. Given how bad gov services are. Edit: Cool downvotes Marxist bros. Our national health service can't be super inefficient (I'm just about to go on a waiting list for a year) & my rubbish collection can't have just halved the amount of trash they take every two weeks . You're righ…

Marxism is entirely orthogonal to the idea of "government-provided services."

Marxism and socialism are often clumped together in these sorts of discussions. They both happen to be examples of pretty-bad and un-free systems of government.

Re: An ‘Uber for garbage’ picks up steam, and $11.7M in Series A funding

#213

Post by badminton1 »

You know, waste management is not so trivial in some cases.

Some items are classified as hazardous materials, and it's hard to get rid of them. You need to do a dump run, but many platforms do not allow you to do business involving hazardous materials (e.g: Craigslist).

I hope they have an answer to that. e.g: Getting rid of batteries and such.

Re: An ‘Uber for garbage’ picks up steam, and $11.7M in Series A funding

#214

Post by awad »

If they started in New York and their major customers tend to be other flashy companies I seriously worry about their long term viability. I know that tech folks like to think they have the answer to everything, especially with asset-light software based companies, but for very many reasons waste management in the North East isn't that simple.

Re: An ‘Uber for garbage’ picks up steam, and $11.7M in Series A funding

#215

Post by axaxs »

dexterp wrote: post #4

Don't most cities already provide garbage pick-up?

It really depends on the city, and even where in the city. At my last house, I had to contract my own waste service of my choice. When I moved, the erm, 'subcity', if that's a word, provides it as a perk.

Re: An ‘Uber for garbage’ picks up steam, and $11.7M in Series A funding

#216

Post by axaxs »

mikesickler wrote: post #203

I love this idea. Waste Management is the big player in my region, and I've been very dissatisfied with them. They'll jack up the prices, I have no confidence that their 'single stream' collection results in effective recycling, and their pricing is completely opaque. This is a classic disruptive solution and I wish them the best!

I live in a city with 4 competing trash services, WM being one of the largest. There's been countless small players start up here, and it really is a lucrative business. WM bought them all.

Re: An ‘Uber for garbage’ picks up steam, and $11.7M in Series A funding

#217

Post by duncan_bayne »

zo1 wrote: post #211
duncan_bayne wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Too late to edit, so posting a follow-up for clarification: I don't mean anarcho-capitalism, I mean a voluntarily-funded State.

As an anarcho-capitalist, I'd be really keen on a "HumbleBundle" type government funding model. E.g. you don't get to pick if you pay taxes, but you do get to pick which parts of the state get what proportion of your taxes. E.g. 30% welfare, 0% military, 70% infrastructure development. You could even argue that such an arrangement is voluntary in a narrow definition of a term. Definitely not one to satisfy most liber…

Throw in sortition instead of voting, and I'd be volunteering to hand out leaflets :)

Re: An ‘Uber for garbage’ picks up steam, and $11.7M in Series A funding

#218

Post by dullgiulio »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #107
dullgiulio wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the free service was born out of despair for people consistently leaving big trash on the roadside. While I understand you as I don't produce big trash myself, I guess it's still better to just pay a little more and get rid of the bigger problems having trash on the roadside would bring.

New York City fines people $100 to $400 for using improper receptacles, leaving receptacles uncovered, putting trash in front of others' buildings and/or leaving loose rubbish lying about [1]. Note that these can accumulate, e.g. if you put loose trash in front of someone else's building in an improper receptacle, that could be $300 to $1,000 of fines. Those fines pay for enforcement. They also pay for picking up gar…

How do you demonstrate that the fridge left on the side of a public road, even if close to someone's home, actually belonged to someone? The examples that you mention are even harder to enforce. Cameras?

Re: An ‘Uber for garbage’ picks up steam, and $11.7M in Series A funding

#219

Post by Tharkun »

degenerate wrote: post #103
Tharkun wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I pay roughly a 50% income tax, and in spite of that municipal garbage collection is, well, garbage. Regular waste is easy enough: weekly collection is OK. Larger items which can be incinerated are OK-ish: need to make an appointment two weeks in advance, and pay by weight. Anything else and I'm screwed. I'd like to get rid of a metal ladder, but it can't be incinerated. I'm supposed to take it to a municipal recycli…

You do, it's called throw it in the front yard. Anything metal will be picked up and melted down for $ by junk seekers. Used motor oil, insulation, car batteries, and other toxic stuff, I could see a door service being useful.

Not likely in my area. I'll get a steep fine for illegal waste disposal before any scrapper notices it.

Re: An ‘Uber for garbage’ picks up steam, and $11.7M in Series A funding

#220

Post by Tharkun »

warent wrote: post #117
degenerate wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You do, it's called throw it in the front yard. Anything metal will be picked up and melted down for $ by junk seekers. Used motor oil, insulation, car batteries, and other toxic stuff, I could see a door service being useful.

There are plenty of neighborhoods where you'll be fined by the HOA for doing that. Just "tossing in the front yard" isn't a feasible sustainable solution. Anyway if he's paying 50% in income taxes then it's unlikely he even lives in a neighborhood where junk collectors drive around

HOAs can issue fines? That's madness. I'll get fined for putting trash on my curb on the wrong day of the week, or the wrong kind of trash, but it'll be by my local government's very efficient income generators/police.
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