In act of protest, Saskatoon residents line up green carts they want to abandon

The green cart program has rolled out in Saskatoon, but some residents aren't happy.

In the small retirement community of Rosewood Estates, residents have already taken their green carts to the curb - for good.

Residents lined up more than a dozen of the carts in an act of protest on Saturday.

Aime Decae, a resident of Rosewood Estates, was frustrated to find the large green bin on his driveway last month.

“On March 18, these green carts were delivered to our homes, unannounced, unrequested, and unwanted,” said Decae.

“We finally got notified with a small piece of paper in our mailbox 10 days later, notice, you are getting green carts.”

Another resident says she was surprised to see the carts in her retirement community since it is a condominium.

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“We are a condominium association, and I was really surprised that we were included in the green bin rollout,” said Sandra Zakerson.

“Considering we have a contractor who takes care of our yard waste, it’s not stored in the complex, it’s removed. So I was really surprised that the green cart showed up on our driveways.”

Decae says with their residents being seniors in a condo complex, they have no yard waste that would require such a large bin. He says even the small compost bin is more than necessary.

“We would have a hard time filling that in one month. What do we do with this big one?” asked Decae. “Sits in our driveway because it’s smelly. You don’t want it indoors.”

But his condo bylaws prohibit bins from being left on driveways or the street.

On behalf of himself and the other owners, Decae has reached out to the City to see what can be done with the bins.

“You’re going to have this third cart, and everybody’s got to figure out where to put that third cart,” said Brendan Lemke, City Director of Water & Waste Operations.

“You know, sometimes it’s easier than others, for those that have front street collection coming out, might have to get a little creative.”

Decae says part of his frustration is that this program needed more input from community members to really work.

“We just want to stop this type of thing again,” Decae told CTV News.

“There’s been too many snafus by the City of Saskatoon. Let’s stop, look, listen, and talk about it before we act.”

Decae says after talking to city staff, he learned that unwanted carts would be picked up sometime in the fall.

As a result, the residents of Rosewood have rolled their green carts back onto the street, waiting for the city to pick them up.