Proposed trash cans really billboards in disguise City's broke, but is this the answer? CHRISTOPHER HUME, Toronto Star Toronto is very good at producing trash, less so at dealing with it. A proposal set to go before the city's works committee next Monday would add 1,000 new garbage/recycling bins to our streets. On the surface, that sounds great. The problem is that these new trash cans are really billboards in disguise. Standing 2.3 metres tall, they will raise the selling of the city to new heights. Toronto is already awash in slant-topped silver receptacles that block sidewalks and corners throughout the city. There are 4,000 of them and when they replaced city-owned bins six years ago, they brought advertising to the neighbourhoods previously exempt from commercialization. The good news is they will go, to be replaced by the new bins. Given that we could have 5,000 of these advertising vehicles throughout the city, it might be worth having a discussion about them. It would also be helpful to have a look at the new receptacles being proposed for the city. So far, however, the city hasn't said a word. But a report leaked to the Toronto Public Space Committee, a non-profit, grass-roots organization, includes pictures of what can only be described as a newspaper box on steroids. Essentially an excuse for advertising, the new contraption may not be the best thing for Toronto's already overly commercialized streets. The existing garbage/recycling boxes come from a company called OMG. Last year, it was bought by a Mexican outfit called Eumex then renamed Eucan. The new owners want to renegotiate their deal with the city and introduce the new boxes. Although the existing OMG receptacles are a blight on the urban landscape, the replacement could be even more intrusive. No one could argue that it's important to keep the streets clean, but at what cost? The current OMG bins are inevitably situated so that the ads can read by drivers; pedestrian accessibility seems to be a secondary consideration. "We bought OMG back in November," explained Eucan CEO Rolando Garcia. "We want to replace 4,000 silver bins with 5,000 new bins ‹ 2,500 with advertising, 2,500 without. Seven and a half feet is the standard size for bus shelters, but the actual footprint is reduced. The new bin is also easier to install and can be placed in more locations. Because half the bins don't have advertising, the actual amount of advertising will be reduced. We want to install street furniture that reflects the standard of living in Toronto." But as David Meslin of the Toronto Public Space Committee points out, "the city hasn't released its report even though the vote will be held next Monday. "It will have a major impact on the city. From the ground up, only three feet of the new bins is for garbage, the top four feet is for advertising.... Their job is to create a product that gets in people's way. At least if you're watching TV you can change the channel, but these bins take away our ability to decide." Perhaps the works committee views the matter as a simple business deal, not something Torontonians need dirty their hands with. But in fact the sorry state of the city's streets is a huge issue. Along with the rest of the public realm, streets and sidewalks in Toronto have been in decline for almost a decade. They are no longer seen as destinations, but simply as ways to get from A to B. The final decision is up to city council. The program illustrates yet again why we need more debate about privatization, which isn't the panacea its proponents pretend. The private sector does what's best for itself and its profit margins, not the public sector. The two don't coincide. Though Eucan pays a fee to the city and also gives space for municipal advertising, what was once public property is now private. Citizens are reduced to consumers and the city becomes a commodity to be sold to the highest bidder. The context (read, justification) is that the city's broke. But selling off the public realm won't solve that problem; in the end it will only make us poorer. > Back to Monster Garbage Cans page

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