What’s wrong with mandatory trash pickup?  Besides it’s coercive nature, it is expensive, $20.00 per month, $240.00 per year.  Can you afford it?

At the city council meeting two weeks ago, we were told that there were two important reasons why this $2,000,000 per year contract should be awarded to City Garbage Co.  We were told of the threat of state sanctions against Eureka if we fail to divert 50% (we are currently diverting 44%) and that if “We don’t act now the price will certainly go up in the future.”

However it became painfully clear during the presentation that no one - not City Garbage, not Dave Tyson, not the City Council, would promise that this tax would actually accomplish a 50% diversion rate.  In fact there was even speculation that the current rate might change very little or not at all.

As for cost, well they all finally confessed:  the contract would be “cost plus” with guaranteed escalators, so the price  FOR US will go up no matter what.

Absent from the presentation were other less costly alternatives.  Perhaps the city can purchase some trash trucks and provide this service for us.  Perhaps we can offer a bounty on the heaviest items - appliances for instance - and aggressively recycle and divert them from solid waste.  The heaviest waste should be diverted first, that is the only rational solution.  Far more effective and FAR cheaper.

Here’s another trashy discussion on  Fred’s Blog.