Ken David, a Clairemont resident, just e-mailed to say he also tore his grass out last weekend. Unlike Joe Wainio, who dumped for free, David paid $43 to unload his sod at the city-owned Miramar Landfill. David isn’t happy. He wrote:
I, too, am trying to be a good citizen. Ripping out my old grass (killed it first) to replace it with low water natives. … So I spent last weekend tearing it out. Burned through a fair amount of sweat, water, and ibuprofen for my office-worker back, and then headed to the dump with a pickup bed full of the torn out material. I paid $43 dollars for my load. Was offered NO deal, and certainly NOT waived through for FREE.
I don’t begrudge Joe Wainio, who got to dump for free (good for you, Joe) but I have to ask the city — what the heck!? Where’s the consistency? Where’s the fairness? Can I get a refund!? (I have a receipt from the dump.) It’s bad enough that it sounds like I’m still going to be told to cut back a certain percentage of my water use starting in July even though I’ve already reduced A LOT while neighbors (and CALTRANS!) continue watering as usual. Now I’m getting hosed (pun partially intended) while doing the WORK required to conserve water.