RFID Chips in San Diego Trash Cans

We’re closing out the week with a topic that—while not exactly lighthearted—is one of those strange, head-scratching headlines that makes you wonder, “Is this real life?”

And yes, friends, it is.

Thank you to one of my lovely Healthy Americans, Eleanor, who alerted me to this trash scam surveillance scheme that’s rolling out right now in San Diego. It’s bizarre. It’s invasive. And it’s expensive.

Elenor is a San Diego resident who reached out to me after confronting her city councilman about this very issue—and being laughed at. She’s undaunted, and is organizing, speaking up, and rallying others to push back against this overreaching surveillance plan.

Here’s her email, shared with her permission:

Hello Peggy,

Firstly, I’d like to thank you for all the truth that you put out. There are many times that I’ve listened to you and in my mind composed an email responding, but I never actually did it. I did reach out to you when we were trying to get our medical freedom initiative onto the ballot. After that I decided I was going to have a rest and not try to fight everyone’s battles. However, I am picking up the sword again and opposing the new RFID trash cans and exorbitant, fraudulent tax that the city councils imposed on the residents. I think many people are unaware of the nefarious reasons for the RFID chips. I would like to rally the people of San Diego to come together and oppose this agenda, but I need to get the word out. I have several ideas about what we can do including dumping our trash outside the city council building, and disabling the chips. There is definitely power in numbers, and we need that power now. I am asking for your help in getting the word out and have people contact me at this email address. I really appreciate your help. Thank you and prayers to you and your family for continually putting out the truth!

Apparently, the City of San Diego is rolling out a fee-based trash pickup system—and with it, brand new bins equipped with RFID chips. These Radio Frequency Identification tags are embedded into your trash and recycling bins, and they’re designed to track the time, location, and frequency of your trash pickups.

Yes. Your trash is now being surveilled.

Friends, why does the government need to know how often you take out the trash What happens with that data?

What’s next? Fines for too much garbage or improper recycling?

How Much Is This Going to Cost You?

“the rollout comes as San Diego officials set out to charge single-family homeowners a special fee for trash collection. Earlier proposals set the monthly fee as high as $53. Following public backlash over the price, the city recently revised the proposed rate to $47.59 per month for full-service customers. The fee would increase gradually, reaching $59.42 by July 2027 under the revised proposal. Smaller bin users would pay less” Voice of San Diego reports.

Most residents are already paying city taxes and property taxes, which in the City of San Diego, already covered things like trash pickup.

This is a brand new tax, dressed up as a “service fee,” tied directly to a tech-enabled tracking system.

The Surveillance

The chips don’t collect “live” data (yet), but they do transmit a unique identifier to RFID readers on the garbage trucks. This logs the exact time and place your trash was collected and stores it in a city database.

Why??

The city claims it helps track pickup schedules and bin assignments, but think about the potential uses of this down the road. According to Eleanor, the data collected could be used to:

• Build a profile of your consumer behavior (what you throw away and how often)
• Monitor recycling compliance
• Penalize you for excess waste
• Feed information into private databases for advertising, analytics, or insurance

Here is exactly what Eleanor (and others) are concerned about with these RFID chips:
– RFID tags in trash bins track RFID tags in trash bins.
– What you throw away, how often you throw it, and how much waste you produce.
– By monitoring waste, authorities and private contractors can build a profile of your consumer behavior, diet, economic class, and compliance with recycling rules.

– This will give them information about you. With this date they can issue automatic fines for not recycling “correctly” and penalize you for producing “excess” waste. Currently they are not admitting to this because the first step is to normalize the chips and have people accept them.

-They will shame those who don’t meet waste targets. It shifts waste disposal from a public service to a compliance metric
-It’s not about cleaning the earth — it’s about disciplining its inhabitants.
-RFID-enabled bins are part of the smart grid. Eventually this will lead to other hikes regarding other utility services. Your trash becomes your confession booth.

-Many cities contract private waste firms that:
Sell the data collected from bins
Use it for targeted advertising, consumer analytics, or insurance scoring
Push subscription-based waste plans (like internet packages)

-You’re not just throwing things away — you’re feeding a data economy.
-Constant monitoring of trash habits trains people to:
Self-police
Accept that even waste must be justified
Internalize that every action is under watch
This normalizes the idea that nothing is private, not even your garbage — a soft form of techno-totalitarianism hidden behind eco-rhetoric.
– RFID in trash bins is not about sustainability — it’s about subtle submission.
– When even your garbage is tracked, you’re being told:
There is no part of your life we won’t measure.

– Other problems that I can see arising are people throwing their trash in neighbors bins, drug paraphernalia being dumped in bins and homeowners being investigated, people policing each other, and a myriad of other problems once this has been accepted and the screws tightened. Also, research the organizations behind the waste management company that the city has contracted with.

Sadly there are many people who don’t see the ramifications of this.Other people are complaining, but are unwilling to take action, and yet others give their power away to corrupt politicians.

Eleanor’s email highlighted so many important concerns about how these RFID-enabled bins are part of the smart grid—which means you’re feeding the data economy. She also astutely pointed out that this is a classic case of incrementalism—the county isn’t openly admitting the full scope of the plan, because the first step is simply to normalize the chips and get people to accept them without question.

And this normalizes the idea that nothing is private, not even your garbage.

Even if you don’t live in San Diego, I urge you to check what’s going on in your city.

These policies often start in “pilot cities” like San Diego, Seattle, and New York, and then slowly spread. It’s called incrementalism: normalize one little intrusion, wait until the outrage dies down, and then roll out the next one.

What You Can Do

1. If you’re in San Diego:
   • Contact your city council members.
   • Show up to the City Council meeting in September with Eleanor. Please email me (support@thehealthyamerican.org) and i’ll put you in touch with her.
2. If you’re outside of San Diego:
   • Share this article (or video) with friends or family who live there.
   • Watch for similar initiatives in your own town and start these conversations with your city council.