The End Of Trash As We've Known It

That’s how Councilman Robert E. Dorsey >puts the new regime going into effect as the result of the City Council’s Monday night 3-2 vote in favor of “semi-automatic” twice-weekly trash collection. With any luck, this controversy is now behind us.

For those keeping track, Mayor Larry Giammo and Councilwoman Susan R. Hoffmann voted against the plan, favoring a once-weekly automated pickup as the city had tested. But that plan proved to be politically dead in the water. It seems there is a very vocal contingent of Rockvillians who are attached to their twice-weekly pickup.

The new plan does contain actual new provisions, according to the Gazette:

• A shift to single-stream recycling. Residents will no longer have to bag paper materials separately from their plastic, metals and glass recyclables.

  An end to back yard and side yard trash collection. Valued by many residents, the practice takes too much time and is impossible to maintain with semi-automated collection equipment, staff maintains.

  The automation of curbside collection of yard waste.

I cannot remember the last time trash was actually collected from the side of my house, so I am not sure how big a change that is. But, I am looking forward to no longer bagging my newspaper separately!

Trash Day

It’s trash day on my block. Last week we didn’t have pickup because of Memorial Day. It made me recall the ongoing argument over >switching from twice-per-week trash pickup to once-per-week.

I am in favor of once-per-week. Two times a week is a waste of resources, in my view.

What about you? What do you think?