6 ms·

Seems like a good opportunity to design and distribute plastic bags specifically for people poops (sort of like the bags for dog poops).

simcop2387 9y ago
from the article, that seems to be exactly what some of the groups are doing. I have to believe there's a better way to deal with this but I'm not sure what it is. I know other places (notably europe) it's more common to have public restrooms but I don't know how they deal with the problems associated with them (perceived or real).
BlackjackCF 9y ago
Unfortunately, the plastic bag ban is only a side effect of the real problem. California has a homeless problem and there aren't enough resources made available in California to address this. The homeless don't have access to resources to readily dispose of waste.
- antnisp 9y ago
  One of the richest and largest polities on earth doesn't have the resources to guarantee basic sanitaion for all residents.
  - StillBored 9y ago
    No, its because in theory we have religious organizations providing that service in exchange for large tax breaks... http://bigthink.com/21st-century-spirituality/how-to-make-71-billion-a-year-tax-the-churches http://bigthink.com/21st-century-spirituality/how-to-make-71... I'm perfectly ok with churches getting tax breaks as long as they can prove to be doing more good in the community they they are saving on all that prime real estate that generally sits vacant 6 days a week. If churches were forced to have 24-hour open door policies, then homeless people would always have a place to sleep and use the restroom. But of course we can't have "bums" wandering around church property, lets call the state/police to arrest them.
  - zeveb 9y ago
    One of the richest and largest polities on earth has a large number of mentally-ill people who would befoul basic sanitation facilities were they given access to them.
  - prostoalex 9y ago
    The definition of rich is "having a great deal of money or assets", California's tight budget doesn't leave much room for a large reserve - what comes in gets spent the same year, and it's always a mystery whether or not the state will be solvent next year.
    - crdoconnor 9y ago
      Thank prop 13 for that.
      - prostoalex 9y ago
        Or high-speed rail. Or unreasonable pension obligations.
        crdoconnor 9y ago
        Just prop 13. If a less well off Europe can handle all 3 so can the richest state in the richest country.
        prostoalex 9y ago
        While statutory property tax increases are exclusive to California, homeless populations are not.
        crdoconnor 9y ago
        Being so spectacularly wealthy and having such a large homelessness problem at the same time is unique to California though. Hence "wealth distribution" problem, not "not having enough wealth" problem.
        prostoalex 9y ago
        Again, what number are you looking at to call California wealthy? California state budget revenues are $4,366 per capita, which is fairly low-end. North Dakota, Wyoming, Washington, Kentucky, Minnesota and Oregon are all in solid five digits a head. California's is richer than Georgia's $2,320 per capita for sure, but if it were a person in a company of 49 other friends, it would be a low-income friend always trying to borrow money.
djsumdog 9y ago
Or maybe fix the low cost housing problem and maybe create better homeless day centers and public bathrooms? Just an idea...
- subroutine 9y ago
  Hang up doggy bag distributers on telephone poles downtown - sure just give me an afternoon. Also, fix the homeless problem. - https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/tasks.png https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/tasks.png
  - ModernMech 9y ago
    It's interesting to me that now the "figure out if the picture is of a bird" task is becoming "gimme a few hours"
- prostoalex 9y ago
  Anaheim has decent homeless day centers and has actually invested into container-based housing to accommodate the homeless population by the riverbed, but the issue is not as binary. It also has a decent share of large churches doing all sorts of outreach programs to help the poor. For a variety of reasons - fear of government control, previous negative experience, fear of harassment or violence, conspiracies conjured up by someone with a mental condition - many homeless refuse "the system" and prefer the riverbank.

simcop2387 9y ago

from the article, that seems to be exactly what some of the groups are doing. I have to believe there's a better way to deal with this but I'm not sure what it is. I know other places (notably europe) it's more common to have public restrooms but I don't know how they deal with the problems associated with them (perceived or real).

BlackjackCF 9y ago

Unfortunately, the plastic bag ban is only a side effect of the real problem. California has a homeless problem and there aren't enough resources made available in California to address this. The homeless don't have access to resources to readily dispose of waste.

antnisp 9y ago
One of the richest and largest polities on earth doesn't have the resources to guarantee basic sanitaion for all residents.
- StillBored 9y ago
  No, its because in theory we have religious organizations providing that service in exchange for large tax breaks... http://bigthink.com/21st-century-spirituality/how-to-make-71-billion-a-year-tax-the-churches http://bigthink.com/21st-century-spirituality/how-to-make-71... I'm perfectly ok with churches getting tax breaks as long as they can prove to be doing more good in the community they they are saving on all that prime real estate that generally sits vacant 6 days a week. If churches were forced to have 24-hour open door policies, then homeless people would always have a place to sleep and use the restroom. But of course we can't have "bums" wandering around church property, lets call the state/police to arrest them.
- zeveb 9y ago
  One of the richest and largest polities on earth has a large number of mentally-ill people who would befoul basic sanitation facilities were they given access to them.
- prostoalex 9y ago
  The definition of rich is "having a great deal of money or assets", California's tight budget doesn't leave much room for a large reserve - what comes in gets spent the same year, and it's always a mystery whether or not the state will be solvent next year.
  - crdoconnor 9y ago
    Thank prop 13 for that.
    - prostoalex 9y ago
      Or high-speed rail. Or unreasonable pension obligations.
      - crdoconnor 9y ago
        Just prop 13. If a less well off Europe can handle all 3 so can the richest state in the richest country.
        prostoalex 9y ago
        While statutory property tax increases are exclusive to California, homeless populations are not.
        crdoconnor 9y ago
        Being so spectacularly wealthy and having such a large homelessness problem at the same time is unique to California though. Hence "wealth distribution" problem, not "not having enough wealth" problem.
        prostoalex 9y ago
        Again, what number are you looking at to call California wealthy? California state budget revenues are $4,366 per capita, which is fairly low-end. North Dakota, Wyoming, Washington, Kentucky, Minnesota and Oregon are all in solid five digits a head. California's is richer than Georgia's $2,320 per capita for sure, but if it were a person in a company of 49 other friends, it would be a low-income friend always trying to borrow money.

djsumdog 9y ago

Or maybe fix the low cost housing problem and maybe create better homeless day centers and public bathrooms? Just an idea...

subroutine 9y ago
Hang up doggy bag distributers on telephone poles downtown - sure just give me an afternoon. Also, fix the homeless problem. - https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/tasks.png https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/tasks.png
- ModernMech 9y ago
  It's interesting to me that now the "figure out if the picture is of a bird" task is becoming "gimme a few hours"
prostoalex 9y ago
Anaheim has decent homeless day centers and has actually invested into container-based housing to accommodate the homeless population by the riverbed, but the issue is not as binary. It also has a decent share of large churches doing all sorts of outreach programs to help the poor. For a variety of reasons - fear of government control, previous negative experience, fear of harassment or violence, conspiracies conjured up by someone with a mental condition - many homeless refuse "the system" and prefer the riverbank.