A while back we ran a post on a guy in the U.S. who was investigated by his utility company for dramatically reducing his power bill (by changing bulbs and applying several other conservation techniques). The power company assumed he must have tampered with his meter. Understandable, I guess, and a great encouragement for us to do the same. But, what would happen if the power company went further, and sued him for reducing his energy consumption? You'd object, obviously.

Yesterday the Examiner ran a story on Eddie House, a guy that, through concern over the environment, managed to reduce his household waste to next to nothing through recycling, giving scraps to his dog, etc. Where it gets screwy is that the local refuse collection service has now sued Mr. House for no longer requiring their services.

The lawsuit claims House broke the city’s municipal code requiring all residential, commercial and industrial properties to contract with Allied Waste for pickup at least once a week... -- Examiner

Eddie is a little taken aback, as it seem to him he's being forced to produce trash.

“I don’t understand a city ordinance that requires you to fill up a can. That’s downright foolishness,” he said. -- Examiner

Still, neighbours accuse him of burning his trash, which, if true, would diminish his trash-activism superhero status a little (alternative methods, like composting and/or vermiculture, where possible, would be far better). Eddie denies this charge though, stating he was only burning firewood.

House acknowledges that the fire department was called to his house several times, but says that each time he was simply burning firewood. -- Examiner

Talk about being a captive customer.

Hat Tip: Shea, from Snarf'd, for tipping me to the story.