Do you have trash pick-up or do you have to drive to the dump?

[Goathead]

We have to drive to the dump twenty miles round trip to get rid of our household garbage. Cutting back on products that have an excess of packaging has helped.
I really don't mind it all that much except for the gasoline that we spend driving there once a week. We try to coincide it with a trip to somewhere else that we're doing.
Per haps people would be a lot more environmentally conscious if they had to discard of their waste themselves.
We also have recycling centers at our dump and a huge landfill for yard waste where you can come and get compost.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. We have a really neat trash pickup system

The county comes by once a week to pick up trash. Garbage has to be put in bags marked NEWTON COUNTY TRASH, which cost $1.25 each. BUT you can put out glass and plastic in any container, and they pick it up for free. The system encourages recycling, and is cost effective-if you generate a lot of trash, you pay for it, and if you don't, you're not stuck with a big trash bill.

[Cornus]

4. Both

At my place here in NJ I have pickup. I also have another weekend/summer place in NY...no pickup there but the dump is just a short distance so it's no big deal.

[Kali]

14. it may appear cost effective

but when my county started charging per bag the jerks started dumping illegally in the desert.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

16. Don't have that much problem here

or maybe its just covered up by the forest. But before we had this, there was no trash pickup and just illegal dumping.

[Joy Anne]

2. good grief

Then everyone would have to own a car to drive to the dump!

I've lived in towns with 2,000 people (where an authentic old-fashioned ragman picked up rags, grease, and bones) but never anywhere that didn't have trash pickup.

I now have pickup of trash, paper, and cans, bottles, and plastics (3 separate Dumpsters) but only rudimentary public transportation.

[lapfog_1]

3. I notice that in your corporate states of America flag

one of the stars is the Playboy logo. I wouldn't imagine that
Playboy causes that much in the way of landfill...

(at least, I still have all the ones I bought)

[mahatmakanejeeves]

8. not only that,

but Chrysler, which is represented by the star-in-the-pentagon logo, is now Daimler-Chrysler. As such, it is considered a German company and is no longer in the S&P 500 Index.

[Goathead]

10. It is not supposed to be "just American" corporations

It is making the statement that corporations have more representation in our government than American citizens.

[gottalickbush]

5. City pickup

But I also have the 18 YO down the street pull the can to the curb for me.}( He is a cutie!

[SmokingJacket]

6. We do but it's expensive.

You have to buy stickers and it's like two bucks a bag. Then you have to remember when trash day is and then if you forget you're stuck with your stinky garbage.

We take ours to the dump, which isn't too far, luckily.

[taps]

7. We have no choice

The city picks ours up twice a week however its not optional. The charges are just added to our water bill whether we want the service or not.

[Nicole]

15. exactly the same here

I see neighbors who set out 2 cans & others with 4-5 bags twice a week.
I set out one bag once a month yet I am charged the same. Makes me sick.

[sakabatou]

9. Trash and recycling pickup in Palo Alto

Though if we miss those days, sometimes we have to go to the dump.

[Gregorian]

11. Drive to dump. Two cans every 5 months.

That's right. Two cans every five months. And proud of it.

[Goathead]

12. No way

How do you manage that?

[Gregorian]

13. Single. Consume little. Don't drink or eat prepackaged stuff.

I grew up being taught the right things. This society sickens me. I'm blown away by the gluttony. So I attempt to have a small impact. Check out how much garbage the US creates. It's staggering. I did a report on it in college, and it just floored me. It's the breeding and consuming. I can hardly escape it. It's following me to the countryside.

Now my last place was in the middle of nowhere. But there just happened to be garbage pickup. Way out in Mendocino county. There was a hotspring resort that paid to have the truck come out once a month. It was so cool.

Remember, it wasn't too long ago that there was no prepackaging. People grew what they ate. Between that, and a local economy, there was no garbage to speak of.

[Goathead]

19. I applaud you!

Where in Mendocino Co. do you live? I have friends that work at Camp Winnerainbow and I have worked at camp doing set-up for the past four years.

[kittycat1164]

17. twice weekly pick-ups from the city

The city provides a Herbie (trash) Lennie (yard waste) and a Rosie (recycle)here in Lexington, KY.

[Kali]

18. we have to drive

all organic matter goes to chickens for egg production (or dogs for treats) burn most paper, aluminum to nearby town's firefighters for 4th of july fireworks, glass gets "crushed" on site for future mine I hope (also fun therapy), newsprint in seperate box to dump but county isn't recycling right now. 2 to 5 bags every three weeks or so of gross trash and plastics to dump. Family of 5.

30 years ago at this same location all trash was burned daily - about a wastebasket worth including cans. It is amazing how diet and packaging has changed in that time and we aren't even bad about the consumption of "junk" (not purists either, but do a lot of our own cooking etc and I don't buy much prepackaged crap at all)

[Ms. Toad]

20. I have trash pick up

which I pay for, and unfortunately my state permits trash haulers to use dirty MuRF recycling rather than source separation. Unlike the article, our state doesn't even require separation recyclables into bags - just toss everything into trash bags all mingled together and the worker bees will sort it out so we don't have to soil our own little fingers.

Although nothing I can do with my trash will save anyone the fun task of sorting through it, I can at least make sure my recyclables actually reach the recycling center by doing my own source separation and carting it myself - so we also drive to the recycling center with our loads of recyclables.

[Piperay]

21. City Pickup

for trash and also a really big bin for recycling that is also picked up.

[Cleita]

22. Both.

My son-in-law has a trailer to dump our stuff that the refuse company doesn't pick up. When it's full he takes it to the dump. Costs $10.

[DemBones DemBones]

23. Know where the Lone Ranger takes his trash?

De dump-de-de-dump , de de dump, dump, dump.

:7

And we do the same.

[cally]

24. This thread is fascinating

It helps me understand the rural/urban divide. I've lived all my life in cities or surburbia. I've always had my trash picked up and I was astounded a few times on vacation when we had to take our trash to the dump. We have to pay the garbage pick up fees whether we use or not. We pay by the size fo our can. I rely on government services. The dump is about 30 miles away and doesn't take much. The fees are very high. We have steep fines for litering and if you dumped on the side of the road you would probably be caught. Life is just different.

[cabbage08]

25. Pay a company to pick up once a week

[Ima]

26. Have pickup

But they won't pick up large items.

[u4ic]

27. I'm in an apartment

So I just dump it down the chute. There is also a recycling bin right outside the back door; no sorting needed, just put everything in the blue bags.