Author Topic: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!  (Read 19249 times)

The Money Monk

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Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« on: April 13, 2016, 12:29:41 PM »


In the neighbor hood where I live we are required to pay the utility company for trash removal. The amount you pay is dependent on the size garbage can you want. Despite living only about 3 miles from the dump where you can drop off as much garbage as you want for free, up to once a day, I am still required to pay for a garbage can. They will not pick up regular trash bags that you set by the garbage can.

I obviously got the smallest can (the "mini cart") which is maybe ten gallon capacity and costs $15 a month. Between not consuming much, composting, recycling, etc. me and my GF almost never fill it up. I am the only one anywhere near me with this size can. The only other person I have seen in the several neighborhoods around me that also has it is an old asian guy that rides his bike everywhere and picks aluminum cans out of people's recycle bins.

Almost every other house on the block has the biggest, 96 gallon (!) cans, which cost over $50 a month. First of all that's a shit ton of trash. But what makes it even more retarded is that the local grocery store sells yellow overflow bags that they WILL pick up. These bags are expensive, at about $2 a piece, but are fairly big. my can plus 2 of those would hold as much as the 96 gallon super trash silo that most people have.

This means that for $31 a month you could get rid of just as much trash as with the $50 can. And any week that you didn't have that much (vacation, sudden moments of waste clarity, etc) you wouldn't have to use the yellow bags and would be paying even less. NOBODY is doing this.

Also half these people have pickup trucks and don't bother making a dump run once a month, 3 miles away that would save them $35. I doubt many of them are making $35 an hour in this neighborhood.


</rant>


AZDude

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #1 on: April 13, 2016, 01:52:42 PM »
I really like the idea of picking your size of trash can and then paying an appropriate amount. Here its all the same size, and we all pay the same. We often forget to put the can out on the road on the pick-up day, but because its never full it does not matter.


Miss Piggy

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #2 on: April 13, 2016, 02:08:44 PM »
My good friend who lives across the street from me is widowed. She was going to get the larger can (and pay more) to avoid giving the impression that she lives alone. I told her my husband and I were getting the smaller can, so she did, too.

Jack

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #3 on: April 13, 2016, 02:27:20 PM »
You should just consider yourself lucky that your jurisdiction isn't like mine, where they make everybody pay $38.57/month regardless of how little they throw out!

The Money Monk

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #4 on: April 13, 2016, 02:38:31 PM »
I really like the idea of picking your size of trash can and then paying an appropriate amount. Here its all the same size, and we all pay the same. We often forget to put the can out on the road on the pick-up day, but because its never full it does not matter.

Yeah I guess I should count my blessings. Though I'm sure my Florida property taxes make up for it.

bobechs

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #5 on: April 13, 2016, 03:26:14 PM »
Well, there's your side hustle: just rent out the leftover gallon or three in your can to neighbors who regularly exceed their cannish ration.

Multiple income streams!  Passive income!  Be a champ, not a chump!

I figure -with compounding of the revenue over the next forty years- that extra space will yield you about.. oh,... maybe twenty-five bucks in 2055 money.

Chris22

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #6 on: April 13, 2016, 03:34:07 PM »
We have a size option too, but it doesn't affect the price.  Most weeks the can goes out 1/3rd full, but there are plenty of weeks I carefully place a couple of garbage bags to strategically hide hundreds of pounds of construction debris (my plumber was shocked to see me dispose of about 500lbs of broken up concrete and gravel over a few weeks) in the bottom of my can.  I did just find out we're going from 2x a week pickup to 1x a week, and I haven't looked but there's likely no change in price (they changed from bi-monthly to quarterly billing at the same time to further confuse the issue; I've just never gone back to see what we paid in the past).  2x a week was nice when we moved in (lots of packing trash), plus if you have a party, doing construction, around Christmas, etc, any time there's a lot of extra trash.  Otherwise it didn't make much difference.

HairyUpperLip

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #7 on: April 13, 2016, 05:15:05 PM »
that's cool you can pay less for a smaller can. What a cool option. :)

We've never filled up ours all the way, besides unpacking/moving stuff, but a lot of our neighbors regularly have theirs filled to the top and bags on the side too.

The worst part, the guy across the street seems to suck at properly putting his trash out and it constantly flies around the street on trash day. Since I WFH I tend to go out on trash day and try to pick up as much as I can from the street. Really bothers me though...

paddedhat

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #8 on: April 13, 2016, 05:24:32 PM »
I spent decades living in a township where you could take a massive amount of garbage to the municipal  transfer station for a $25 a year sticker. It was open on Saturdays, so the working crowd could use it, and there was practically no way to run an errand, grocery shop, or do much of anything without driving past the place. Much to my everlasting amusement, we had enough lazy neighbors that there were two competing private haulers who would do weekly curb side pick-ups starting at $17 a month, and climbing to three times, that if you had a lot of trash. Some of these folks were spending an extra $500 a year to avoid throwing a few bags of garage in the car, and dropping them off on your way to town.

JoJo

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #9 on: April 13, 2016, 05:36:06 PM »
I live in a 20 unit condo.  We have a HUGE garbage bin that gets pretty full every week, plus 4 smaller recycle bins. I can’t imagine how this much is generated.  I’d say in an average week I end up with only one small plastic grocery bag worth of garbage and a few recycled items.  Unfortunately we got rid of the composting bin.  Everyone just kept throwing their garbage in there even though it was clearly marked composting.

Miss Piggy

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #10 on: April 13, 2016, 05:37:56 PM »
I did just find out we're going from 2x a week pickup to 1x a week, and I haven't looked but there's likely no change in price (they changed from bi-monthly to quarterly billing at the same time to further confuse the issue;

OMG, I'm so glad we only have once-a-week pickup. People start putting their trash out on Thursday morning for Friday afternoon pickup. I've never understood that. And some leave their cans out until Saturday on a regular basis. Twice weekly pickup would mean people's trash cans would be out most days of the week. I'd scream.

Chris22

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #11 on: April 13, 2016, 05:40:27 PM »
I did just find out we're going from 2x a week pickup to 1x a week, and I haven't looked but there's likely no change in price (they changed from bi-monthly to quarterly billing at the same time to further confuse the issue;

OMG, I'm so glad we only have once-a-week pickup. People start putting their trash out on Thursday morning for Friday afternoon pickup. I've never understood that. And some leave their cans out until Saturday on a regular basis. Twice weekly pickup would mean people's trash cans would be out most days of the week. I'd scream.

Because it affects you?

Miss Piggy

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #12 on: April 13, 2016, 05:42:28 PM »
I did just find out we're going from 2x a week pickup to 1x a week, and I haven't looked but there's likely no change in price (they changed from bi-monthly to quarterly billing at the same time to further confuse the issue;

OMG, I'm so glad we only have once-a-week pickup. People start putting their trash out on Thursday morning for Friday afternoon pickup. I've never understood that. And some leave their cans out until Saturday on a regular basis. Twice weekly pickup would mean people's trash cans would be out most days of the week. I'd scream.

Because it affects you?

Because it's visually unappealing for the neighborhood. It just looks...well...trashy.
« Last Edit: April 13, 2016, 08:32:44 PM by Miss Piggy »

The Guru

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #13 on: April 13, 2016, 07:57:59 PM »


Also half these people have pickup trucks and don't bother making a dump run once a month, 3 miles away that would save them $35. I doubt many of them are making $35 an hour in this neighborhood.


</rant>



Oh come on. Pickup trucks are way too expensive to use for hauling around trash and stuff.

bobechs

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #14 on: April 13, 2016, 11:11:02 PM »
I did just find out we're going from 2x a week pickup to 1x a week, and I haven't looked but there's likely no change in price (they changed from bi-monthly to quarterly billing at the same time to further confuse the issue;

OMG, I'm so glad we only have once-a-week pickup. People start putting their trash out on Thursday morning for Friday afternoon pickup. I've never understood that. And some leave their cans out until Saturday on a regular basis. Twice weekly pickup would mean people's trash cans would be out most days of the week. I'd scream.

Because it affects you?

Or just like to scream?

Primm

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #15 on: April 14, 2016, 12:54:06 AM »
I did just find out we're going from 2x a week pickup to 1x a week, and I haven't looked but there's likely no change in price (they changed from bi-monthly to quarterly billing at the same time to further confuse the issue;

OMG, I'm so glad we only have once-a-week pickup. People start putting their trash out on Thursday morning for Friday afternoon pickup. I've never understood that. And some leave their cans out until Saturday on a regular basis. Twice weekly pickup would mean people's trash cans would be out most days of the week. I'd scream.

Because it affects you?

In my locality it affects the people who do it, because if your bin is on the street on a day that isn't pickup day or the day before (i.e. if you don't take it straight in after it gets emptied) the council issues you with a fine. Luckily I have awesome neighbours, and we all pretty much bring in someone else's bin if you see it sitting out at the end of rubbish day.

MrsDinero

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #16 on: April 14, 2016, 06:46:36 AM »
I have friends who pay about $30/month for trash pick up.  If they were to sort and recycle it would only cost them $10/month (by the same company).

UnleashHell

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #17 on: April 14, 2016, 06:55:38 AM »
I did just find out we're going from 2x a week pickup to 1x a week, and I haven't looked but there's likely no change in price (they changed from bi-monthly to quarterly billing at the same time to further confuse the issue;

OMG, I'm so glad we only have once-a-week pickup. People start putting their trash out on Thursday morning for Friday afternoon pickup. I've never understood that. And some leave their cans out until Saturday on a regular basis. Twice weekly pickup would mean people's trash cans would be out most days of the week. I'd scream.

Because it affects you?

People put the trash out early here. so any food stuff attracts turkey vultures, racoons possums etc. the can gets knocked over and the trash spread all over the road by the animals. so , yeah.. it affects everyone...

Dicey

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #18 on: April 14, 2016, 07:41:02 AM »
I did just find out we're going from 2x a week pickup to 1x a week, and I haven't looked but there's likely no change in price (they changed from bi-monthly to quarterly billing at the same time to further confuse the issue;

OMG, I'm so glad we only have once-a-week pickup. People start putting their trash out on Thursday morning for Friday afternoon pickup. I've never understood that. And some leave their cans out until Saturday on a regular basis. Twice weekly pickup would mean people's trash cans would be out most days of the week. I'd scream.

Because it affects you?

Because it's visually unappealing for the neighborhood. It just looks...well...trashy.
Amen, snout sister. The private drive next to our house serves five small homes. They all have to drag their cans out to the street for pick-up. Despite local (unenforced) ordinance, there are typically as many as fifteen cans at the curb for at least three days. They don't have to look at them, but I do. And yup, they all have big cans, while my family of four adults, two dogs and a cat, in a clown house rarely fill the smallest can. The only good thing about their laziness (yup, I'm calling that spade a spade) is that it makes it easy to stash overflow recycling or green waste in their cans. And the dump? Twelve miles in the nowhere direction plus huge fees. Not a reasonable option, alas.

GuitarStv

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #19 on: April 14, 2016, 07:50:50 AM »
I really like the idea of picking your size of trash can and then paying an appropriate amount.

It's what we do in Toronto.  Actually, until a couple years ago you got a very small rebate from the city when you picked the smallest sized garbage can.  We only get garbage picked up every other week though.

patchyfacialhair

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #20 on: April 14, 2016, 07:54:19 AM »
The complex we live in charges a mandatory $25 trash fee, but they have a company pick up your trash right outside your door 5 days a week. About half my neighbors put out a full 30 gallon bag every pickup day. I have no idea where that much trash is generated. Every unit in the building is a 1 BR, so it's just single folks and couples (and nobody parties).

boyerbt

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #21 on: April 14, 2016, 08:40:06 AM »
I did just find out we're going from 2x a week pickup to 1x a week, and I haven't looked but there's likely no change in price (they changed from bi-monthly to quarterly billing at the same time to further confuse the issue;

OMG, I'm so glad we only have once-a-week pickup. People start putting their trash out on Thursday morning for Friday afternoon pickup. I've never understood that. And some leave their cans out until Saturday on a regular basis. Twice weekly pickup would mean people's trash cans would be out most days of the week. I'd scream.

Because it affects you?

Because it's visually unappealing for the neighborhood. It just looks...well...trashy.
Amen, snout sister. The private drive next to our house serves five small homes. They all have to drag their cans out to the street for pick-up. Despite local (unenforced) ordinance, there are typically as many as fifteen cans at the curb for at least three days. They don't have to look at them, but I do. And yup, they all have big cans, while my family of four adults, two dogs and a cat, in a clown house rarely fill the smallest can. The only good thing about their laziness (yup, I'm calling that spade a spade) is that it makes it easy to stash overflow recycling or green waste in their cans. And the dump? Twelve miles in the nowhere direction plus huge fees. Not a reasonable option, alas.

I agree with you on this as well. My street has 12 houses and our trash collection is today which means that almost everyone's large trash cans will be in the Devil's Strip until Saturday or Sunday. There are a few neighbors who only pull their cans back to the house (all of about 25 feet) by Tuesday/Wednesday only to drag them back out again...just doesn't make sense to me.

Call me a curmudgeon but it is an eyesore and not difficult to remember to put away your trashcan.

/end rant.

Guses

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #22 on: April 14, 2016, 08:58:26 AM »
I did just find out we're going from 2x a week pickup to 1x a week, and I haven't looked but there's likely no change in price (they changed from bi-monthly to quarterly billing at the same time to further confuse the issue;

OMG, I'm so glad we only have once-a-week pickup. People start putting their trash out on Thursday morning for Friday afternoon pickup. I've never understood that. And some leave their cans out until Saturday on a regular basis. Twice weekly pickup would mean people's trash cans would be out most days of the week. I'd scream.

Twice a week is totally bonkers! We get thrash pickup every other week. It alternates between trash and recycling every week. Compost is picked up every week though.

The cool think about composting is that you can then come pickup some compost for free when it is ready.

We don't have a limit on the number of thrash cans here.

Miss Piggy

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #23 on: April 14, 2016, 09:02:21 AM »
Twice a week is totally bonkers! We get thrash pickup every other week. It alternates between trash and recycling every week. Compost is picked up every week though.

The cool think about composting is that you can then come pickup some compost for free when it is ready.

We don't have a limit on the number of thrash cans here.

Every other week would take some getting used to for me, simply because of the stink factor. (Does it stink toward the end of that time period?)

The compost pickup is foreign to me. (At first, I was thinking "Why in the world would someone have their compost picked up? Isn't the whole point to make it and use it?") We do not compost systematically around here. If people want to compost on their own, they get a compost bin or some other workable system.

Vanguards and Lentils

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #24 on: April 14, 2016, 09:16:17 AM »
This sounds like one of those smart policies designed by someone with an economics background, or who just knows what negative externalities are. Totally makes sense to make people pay more if they do something which makes the neighborhood/planet worse for everyone else. They'll maybe change some people's behavior, and maybe get extra money to provide public services.

Not surprised it takes place in Toronto, but doubt it would fly in non-liberal parts of the US.

Miss Piggy

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #25 on: April 14, 2016, 09:25:50 AM »
Not surprised it takes place in Toronto, but doubt it would fly in non-liberal parts of the US.

Interesting. In my mind, it's "you make more trash, you pay more." Seems totally fair.

Guses

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #26 on: April 14, 2016, 09:49:43 AM »
Every other week would take some getting used to for me, simply because of the stink factor. (Does it stink toward the end of that time period?)

The compost pickup is foreign to me. (At first, I was thinking "Why in the world would someone have their compost picked up? Isn't the whole point to make it and use it?") We do not compost systematically around here. If people want to compost on their own, they get a compost bin or some other workable system.

I do my own composting except in winter where I send it in the bin. Given that we are in a urban setting, only people with room on their lot do their own compost.

The thrash itself does not smell (except for cat litter and diapers) most of what would smell goes into the compost anyway.

Miss Piggy

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #27 on: April 14, 2016, 10:03:29 AM »
I do my own composting except in winter where I send it in the bin. Given that we are in a urban setting, only people with room on their lot do their own compost.

The thrash itself does not smell (except for cat litter and diapers) most of what would smell goes into the compost anyway.

Good point. I hadn't thought of it that way. Most (well, all, really) of what composters would compost ends up in our trash, so I think ours would get stinky. I've thought about composting now and then, but just never have.

mm1970

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #28 on: April 14, 2016, 10:39:25 AM »
I did just find out we're going from 2x a week pickup to 1x a week, and I haven't looked but there's likely no change in price (they changed from bi-monthly to quarterly billing at the same time to further confuse the issue;

OMG, I'm so glad we only have once-a-week pickup. People start putting their trash out on Thursday morning for Friday afternoon pickup. I've never understood that. And some leave their cans out until Saturday on a regular basis. Twice weekly pickup would mean people's trash cans would be out most days of the week. I'd scream.

Because it affects you?

Because it's visually unappealing for the neighborhood. It just looks...well...trashy.
Amen, snout sister. The private drive next to our house serves five small homes. They all have to drag their cans out to the street for pick-up. Despite local (unenforced) ordinance, there are typically as many as fifteen cans at the curb for at least three days. They don't have to look at them, but I do. And yup, they all have big cans, while my family of four adults, two dogs and a cat, in a clown house rarely fill the smallest can. The only good thing about their laziness (yup, I'm calling that spade a spade) is that it makes it easy to stash overflow recycling or green waste in their cans. And the dump? Twelve miles in the nowhere direction plus huge fees. Not a reasonable option, alas.

One of my regular walks is up over the hill to the grocery store (well, until we lost the store due to a merger/ bankruptcy).

There's a stretch of road that is on a hill.  The "uphill" side is mostly houses built into the hill, with steep driveways or garages at the curb.  One particular house leaves their 3 trash cans (trash, recycling, green waste) on the sidewalk, 100% of the time.  It's a real bitch when you are trying to push a stroller, because then you have to go into the street a few houses before (where there is an opening to street/ no parked cars) and then go back up after.  I was sorely tempted for awhile to move their cans to right behind their cars on the driveway.  There's no reason for this.  I've thought about complaining to the city.  (I mean, just yesterday I got a $50 parking ticket at my daycare, for parking in the driveway, and blocking the sidewalk by one foot).

But, as there is no grocery store anymore, I don't do that walk anymore.  So I never bothered.

The Money Monk

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #29 on: April 15, 2016, 12:38:23 AM »
I like that some cities pick up composting, though I do my own. Really all you have to do is "throw it on the ground" as David the Good says.

I don't have a big property (1/3rd of an acre) but plenty big enough to compost everything I need to. I feel like I am not even trying, and being flagrant when it comes to waste (I use paper plates for God's sake!) and between source reduction, recycling, and composting, we almost never fill the smallest can.

Although I guess even by using the term "source reduction" puts me in the top 1% when it comes to waste reducers. I have been known to call dumpsters "free stuff boxes".

Whatever. I am as God made me.

JoJo

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #30 on: April 15, 2016, 11:11:19 AM »
I like that some cities pick up composting, though I do my own. Really all you have to do is "throw it on the ground" as David the Good says.

I don't have a big property (1/3rd of an acre) but plenty big enough to compost everything I need to. I feel like I am not even trying, and being flagrant when it comes to waste (I use paper plates for God's sake!) and between source reduction, recycling, and composting, we almost never fill the smallest can.

Although I guess even by using the term "source reduction" puts me in the top 1% when it comes to waste reducers. I have been known to call dumpsters "free stuff boxes".

Whatever. I am as God made me.

I'm in a condo so I can't throw it on the grounds.  But one time I tried to compost in my little deck pot.  What a mistake.  I had a million ant march!

kanga1622

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #31 on: April 15, 2016, 11:43:53 AM »
We have the big 96 gallon can because it is the same price as if we would just put bags out by the street. This way we can put trash out about once a month in the winter (cold weather keeps the garbage frozen so no bugs/stink) but we do have to put it out more often in the summer. The ONLY time we filled it up once a week is when we were massively decluttering and found a lot of broken plastic stuff to throw out.

BTDretire

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #32 on: April 15, 2016, 01:07:13 PM »
  Our city has one size, (large) trash cans. A couple months ago my neighbors across the street
kept forgetting to put out their TWO* large trash cans on trash day. So they started piling it on a flat trailer they had, after a few weeks the trailer was full. 
One day while my wife was working in the yard she saw the code enforcment guy taking pictures
of the trailer trash, I'm mean trash on the trailer. That evening she told me, "I bet the neighbors
will blame me for calling code enforcement". It was about a week and different neighbors husband, said his wife told him the (trashy) neighbor told her, we called code enforcement on them.
  Then, a few more days passed and I had a tag on my door from code enforcement for selling without a license. I called, and talked the person that delivered the tag. I said, I'm not selling anything, what is this about? He said we got a call and was required to respond to all calls.
I ask him, are you the person that was taking pictures of the garbage across the street from my house?" He said, "yes"  I responded, "well there's your answer" he laughed. I said, "so are we good, do I need to do anything. He said," yes, you are good"
  Several weeks later my wife ran into someone at a big box store that lives in the neighborhood almost 1/2 mile away around the corner, he said I see your neighbor took care of their garbage, I called code enforcement on them. My wife told him she got blamed for it.

*No idea how they generate so much garbage!
 

CindyBS

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #33 on: April 15, 2016, 01:35:28 PM »
We have the big 90 gallon can for trash and recycling and every household is issued the same size can.  We are not billed separately for trash, but recycling is mandatory.  We compost all our food waste, leaves, and some yard and paper waste ourselves.

The big perk to this system is that our trash can is so big and we produce so little trash, we can pretty much go all winter with only putting it  out once.  Dragging that thing to the curb in the snow is a PITA.  My neighbors with 1 less family member put it out every week nearly full - regardless of the weather - wind chills of -15F, pouring rain, snow storms, etc.   

I don't know how they make that much trash and can't comprehend why that is better than doing things to reduce trash.    They are pretty much the consumerism poster children, so I'm sure they don't even give it a second thought.

Socmonkey

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #34 on: April 15, 2016, 03:58:13 PM »
My town has the regular size bin and the small bin. The difference in price per month between the two is only 65 cents. I just stayed with the regular trash bin.

marty998

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #35 on: April 15, 2016, 04:30:55 PM »
We have shared communal bins for my apartment block. Its awful.

The people who fill them up never help put them out each week.

The people like me that might have 1 small bag a week or fortnight to throw away are the ones who always put them out on bin night.

Society in a nutshell.

Joggernot

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #36 on: April 15, 2016, 06:10:01 PM »
Our cost ($20.46/mo) is mandatory for each household.  We have one size fits all, plus a blue recycle tub.  Twice a week for trash and once a week for recycle.  Recycle most items, except glass.  We put our containers out the night before, because they can change their hours of pickup based on the whim of the driver as long as it is after 7:00 am.  Our whole neighborhood missed two weeks of recycle pickup when the driver changed from a 3:00 pm pickup to a 7:00 am pickup.  They will pickup bags set at the curb as long as the trash can is not present.  This is what we normally do because it's silly to put out a big trash can with one or two bags of trash at the bottom.  Our neighbor remodeled his garage, bathrooms, and kitchen while putting small amounts in his trash can twice a week.  They'll pickup anything as long as it is around 50 lbs or less.  No composting bins.  We can get a "ticket" that allows us to take an extra 500 lbs (weighed on entry and exit) each month.  We use that when we have lots of yard waste.  The landfill also gives out free mulch that we have used extensively here and at a local Master Gardener's garden.  Overall, this isn't too bad for what we get.
« Last Edit: April 15, 2016, 06:14:22 PM by Joggernot »

The Money Monk

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #37 on: April 16, 2016, 01:08:57 AM »
Sounds like I don't have too bad a deal I guess compared to some of you guys, so I will count my blessings.

It is still frustrating to see other's waste money on their trash for no reason though.


Tjat

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #38 on: April 16, 2016, 04:53:13 AM »
Ours is terrible. We pay a flat $150/yr plus can only dispose of trash in overpriced bags (5 for $9). Free recycling. However the worst part is they don't accept anything not on the special bags which includes yard waste and construction debris. The town does not have a dump. So anything we have brush or renovation debris we have to pay $$$ to dispose.

GuitarStv

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #39 on: April 16, 2016, 07:16:04 AM »
I like that some cities pick up composting, though I do my own. Really all you have to do is "throw it on the ground" as David the Good says.

The benefit of city composting is that you don't have to worry about a large number of close packed people throwing waste on the ground . . . and all the vermin related problems that this entails.  Toronto has facilities designed to safely handle human and pet waste, rotting meat, bones, etc.  that are a little more complicated for backyard composting.

MrsPete

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Re: Why pay $30 a month for trash when you can pay $50?!
« Reply #40 on: April 17, 2016, 10:09:25 AM »
Even at free, I wouldn't go for the haul-your-own option.  We had that when I was a kid, and it was a constant issue, even when we reached the point that we had several teen drivers in the house.  Thing is, with a family of 7 the garbage piled up quickly, and we stored it in big metal cans in the back -- but about every third week the raccoons got into it, and we ended up picking up garbage from all over the yard.  Even when wildlife wasn't involved, hauling garbage is icky.  There's a reason people are willing to pay for it.

Paying for a smaller can is a nice option.  Here we all have the same cans, and most weeks we only fill it halfway.  When we do have big garbage (say, if we've been cleaning out the attic), either my husband or I can take an occasional bag to the dumpster at our work. 

If I could choose, I'd say give everyone the big can ... but only pick up every other week.  This would cut the cost of trucks and gas by 50%. 
My good friend who lives across the street from me is widowed. She was going to get the larger can (and pay more) to avoid giving the impression that she lives alone. I told her my husband and I were getting the smaller can, so she did, too.
My grandmother thought this way too.  She didn't drive anymore, but she kept a car that didn't run because she wanted people to think someone was home. 

And, honestly, bad guys DO look for things like this. 

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!