Discussion
Pay as you throw trash 05/02/09 by
I lived in Pennsylvania for a while where this was the system and it worked out fine. I'm not sure how they're proposing to do this in Arlington, but the only thing that was a pain in the butt to me was buying the stickers. It's not that big of a deal, but if you're not used to it and you forget and run out the night before trash day it can be a little frustrating. Only registered users can comment in discussion
Excellent plan. Increasing the cost of trash pick up by volume would certainly encourage people to be more conscientious about what they're throwing into our landfills.
No, it wasn't what I was getting at, but you're absolutely right, shellybelly. I don't know what they're planning on setting the price at, but as an example, my trash stickers in Pennsylvania were $.75 each. Pocket change. Now, if that went up to, say, $2.00 each, I think people would make more of an effort to compost, recylce, and reuse. Maybe even higher now that I think about it. At the cost of $2.00, some people would still rather pay it and be lazy.
Trash, just as energy, is way too cheap in this country. We are banging our heads in trying to become more sustainable. Look at other countries where they have had the stomach to make these things expensive enough, and sustainability comes along. roseanne, this may not be what you were driving at, but i felt it needs to be said.