New garbage bins in the Beach

[attach]516[/attach]Deborah Beaven was a little puzzled when brand new municipal garbage bins popped up in her Beach neighbourhood last week.

Odd timing, she said, considering the city is discouraging citizens from dumping their litter in public receptacles as the municipal garbage strike wears on.

“Some of us were unsure what to do first, but we’d be in worse trouble if we didn’t use the bins,” Beaven said. “It reminds me of putting a kid inside a chocolate factory and telling them they can’t touch anything.”

The bins are part of a new $1 billion street furniture contract with Astral Media, a media and advertising company.

City spokesperson Lisa Tjeong said the reason for the new crop of bins is due to a timeline that could not be thrown out, she said.

About 1,000 have been installed across Toronto so far.

In the coming months 2,500 must be installed while weather conditions are still sound, Tjeong said.

Though signs taped to the new receptacles ask residents not to use them until the strike is over, Beaven said she and her friends are using them. She said she is tired of watching the areas clean streets turn into “disease-ridden, rodent buffets.

“If no one is taking care of you, you have to take care of yourself,” she said. “This is our community, where we each walk everyday.

“We’re all doing what we have to.”