Much of the Haight has gotten used to the late-night sounds of scavengers working their way through recycling bins to find cans and bottles. They show up the morning at the thirty-six-year-old HANC (Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council) recycling center, one of the city's pioneer recycling operations in Golden Gate Park to redeem the deposits. If the bottles are discarded, it's because San Francisco lacks a convenient way to get the deposit back, unlike Oregon,where most merchants who sell beverages will redeem them. Now the city wants to shut them down, in response to the neighbor's complaints and no doubt the companies who are contracted to actually do the collection. The location, near Kezar Stadium on Stanyan Street also holds a HANC-supported native plant nursery. HANC has a long history of supporting programs for the homeless, including an attempt to open a center a decade ago on Waller Street to care for the pets of homeless people.
A triangular trade has developed- homeless people sleep in Buena Vista and Golden Gate Parks, scavenge bottles and cans, spend the money on food and whatever else they need on Haight Street. To be fair to HANC, they were among the pioneer activists who stopped the freeway from continuing down Fell Street and they've long been a formidable political bloc in District Five. It's likely that the proposed dismantling of the recycling center will prove a test of their clout.
· Haight Recycling Center May Close ]SFAppeal]
· HANC recycling center an idea whose time has gone [SFGate]
· S.F. native's quest to fill city with natives [SFGate]
· HANC History [Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council]
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