Locking Trash Bins to Thwart Scavengers

Residents of Santa Ana neighborhood are locking up their trash bins, hoping to eliminate the noise and trouble brought by scavengers.

1 minute read

June 18, 2009, 6:00 AM PDT

By Liyuan Huang


The downturn of the economy is driving more people to scavenging, annoying some residents with trash bins and recycling carts on the curbside outside their houses. Residents in Santa Ana are putting their recyclables into containers designed to withstand the strength of bears to keep away scavengers.

"Locks are often used to protect commercial recycling and trash containers from dumpster divers and scavengers, but only recently have they been engineered for residential purposes.

The city of Los Angeles has considered locks to curb scavenging but hasn't found anything practical. Oceanside has installed anti-scavenging locks on the receptacles at its beaches and harbor, albeit reluctantly."

Tuesday, June 16, 2009 in Los Angeles Times

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