Rural Garbage Service Mandatory ..

[blueriver]

I think in some areas this service is mandatory, here it is not. My neighbors use burn barrels, trash piles, beds of old pickups, old sheds or a hole that is dug and then later buried. (or any other creative source)

I pay a local company $16 a month and each and every week they pick it up ... GONE ... HISTORY ...

What is done in your area?

 

[jinman]

I think in some areas this service is mandatory, here it is not. My neighbors use burn barrels, trash piles, beds of old pickups, old sheds or a hole that is dug and then later buried. (or any other creative source)

I pay a local company $16 a month and each and every week they pick it up ... GONE ... HISTORY ...

What is done in your area?

Here, it accumulates around the back porch or up against a fence at some residences.

Actually, there is no mandatory trash collection in our area. Many people burn or bury their trash. About 50% pay for pickup, but it's almost twice as much per month as yours with only one pickup per week.

 

[dooleysm]

We recycle aluminum cans, milk jugs, newspaper, and clear glass. We take diapers (2 kids in them, ugh), metal cans (we don't use many), large plastic bottles, and other non-burnable stuff to the dumpster at the inlaws' shop. We burn junk mail (with plastic inserts/windows), cardboard, and some plastic (shrink wrap, frozen veggie bags, things of that nature).

I've been trying to reduce the amount of stuff we burn and keep it mostly to cardboard/paper. I have been meaning to look into a small dumpster or other trash pickup, but haven't gotten around to it. There is a recycling dropoff close by, but to have everything separated I'd need scads of trash cans. Maybe I'll get to that point some day. I've found that the older I get, the more I care about the environment, and how I leave it.

 

[blueriver]

We recycle aluminum cans, milk jugs, newspaper, and clear glass. We take diapers (2 kids in them, ugh), metal cans (we don't use many), large plastic bottles, and other non-burnable stuff to the dumpster at the inlaws' shop. We burn junk mail (with plastic inserts/windows), cardboard, and some plastic (shrink wrap, frozen veggie bags, things of that nature).

I've been trying to reduce the amount of stuff we burn and keep it mostly to cardboard/paper. I have been meaning to look into a small dumpster or other trash pickup, but haven't gotten around to it. There is a recycling dropoff close by, but to have everything separated I'd need scads of trash cans. Maybe I'll get to that point some day. I've found that the older I get, the more I care about the environment, and how I leave it.

The enviroment thing is really something we should all become more involved in. The worst thing I hate about garbage, my dog knows where the neighbors burn pit is, not all things get burned completly and he brings home some real treasures!

I have one neighbor, down wind so to speak that has a ditch/draw that he slings everything into, I often wonder after a good rain where does that all go?

 

[Chuck52]

We pay about the same as Blueriver for our trash pickup, and the company gets a real bargain with us. We started recycling when we lived in town, largely due to my son being the president of the highschool environmental club, but it was pretty convenient because the city made it so with curb-side pickup. When we moved out of town, we continued even though it now means I have to haul it all into town to one of the places where the city has bins set up. The glass, metal and plastic all go together, and the paper products are separate, so it is still fairly easy to do because two of the places I can take it are beside the two super markets we frequent. I make a run about once a week, with the stuff in plastic clothes hampers in the trunk of my car. Takes only a few minutes to dump it. The trash company almost always only gets one bag of trash from us. I don't know how effectively the recycled stuff is handled, but the great majority of it is said not to go to the dump, though some always will, of course. I expect that the metal is easiest to find a market for, though the Chinese seem to love American recycled paper.

Chuck

 

[Redbug]

Here in SC it is optional. Sometimes, I think that is good, since quite a few people are poor and cannot afford another bill. Other times I think it is bad, since people throw trash everywhere around here. It's a cultural thing I believe...

The counties have recycling/dumping stations set up in different parts of each county. County residents just go to them and dispose of their stuff for free. Big things...you go to the landfill for free.

I think the local trash company picks up for around $20 a month. Still a good deal. I am cheap...I take my trash to work and use their dumpster. That's an unwritten work benefit. My retirement benefits do not include trash disposal...so in a few short years I will be visiting the dump station every couple of weeks.

 

[chh]

Defintely optional around here. The county has a constant battle with illegal roadside dumps. Many people still burn trash, I get a pickup once a week for about $20 with 2 cans max a week allowed.
I can tell you where all the trash in the ditch/draw goes after a rain blueriver. Right out in the middle of one of my hay meadows. I have one of those neighbors too.

 

[lopezian]

Around here most folks haul their own trash and recyclables to the transfer station in town. From there it gets hauled on a boat to the dump on the mainland. Because everything has to go out by boat, costs are pretty high, about 9 dollars for a 42 gallon can. Recyclables are free, and there is even a "take it or leave it" where you can drop off things like clothes, old mowers, construction supplies, etc. - anything someone might be able to reuse. We call that "the mall" because it is the closest thing we have to a mall around here. It works well except for the folks who take things not for their own use, but to sell on ebay.

There is a regular trash pickup service available but I don't know anyone who uses it. I imagine it would be quite expensive.

 

[Podunkadunk]

Being rural, we have to pay for pickup. They'll take regular household garbage, but not carpet, old computer monitors, mattresses, etc...you get the picture. You have to take that stuff to the landfill yourself, but the fee is less than cheap...about 5 bucks for a 4x8' trailer load.

So, most of the rednecks use that stuff as landscaping. It's a mess riding by some of these people's trailers.

Podunk

 

[ByronBob]

We have a local dump and pay by the bag to dispose of stuff. Recycling is standard stuff.

 

[Bird]

Whew, compared to you guys, maybe I've just been lucky. Down in the country, the only garbage collection was done by a private individual residents could hire or not, at their option. We did burn quite a bit of trash, but we also used the local guy and he picked up the garbage once a week for $12 a month (in 2002). Then we moved back to town 5 years ago, and now we pay $9.28 a month on our water bill for Waste Management to pick up the garbage once a week. And these guys will just about take anything they can fit into the truck. A lot of people set garbage cans out and the crew on the truck empties them; others, such as us, put it all in plastic bags so the crew on the truck can just grab them and throw them into the truck. They'll take brush, supposedly has to be cut in 4' lengths and tied in bundles of no more than 60 pounds, but from what I've seen, if they can pick it up and fit into that packer truck, they take it; brush, furniture, etc. I've even seen them take sofas. And they're here every Monday, rain or shine, holiday or not, even when Christmas fell on a Monday.

There's another big difference, too. When we lived out in the country, there was ONE SATURDAY each YEAR that we could take stuff to the landfill at no cost. The rest of the year, you paid to dump it. I think I paid $11 for a pickup load. Here, I can haul my own to the Waste Management landfill at no cost, just by showing the guard my drivers license and a water bill to show that I live in this city. So a couple of times when I've done some tree pruning, I hauled a pickup load to the landfill rather than cut and bundle the brush for the garbage men to take.

 

[George2615]

Back in 1990 when we bought our house we had a local gargabe company pick up trash once a week. It cost about $15 a month. Then he sold out to the big waste company who promptly raised the rate to $65 a quarter for a once a week pickup and we had to separate everything for recycling and certain things they refused to take. At that point I got a dump sticker for $50 a year and took my own trash to the dump once a week. That price has gone up over the years to $100 a year now but still worth it since I can haul anything to the dump. I think the big waste company charges about $240 a quarter now but not sure. Dump is only 6 miles away so thats where I go.

 

[Tig]

Picked up by the municipality. In Ottawa they pick up garbage. It's paid for out of our property taxes. Paper is recycled in the "black box" every second week. Blue box is for recycling plastic and tin, picked up on alternate weeks.
At our country place they pick up a different array of recyclables. To get your garbage picked up you must buy a bag tag ($1) and put it on the bag.

 

[Bird]

I take my trash to work and use their dumpster. That's an unwritten work benefit.

I know, when we lived down in the country, that several people in the area did the same thing, and it sounds to me like a good idea as long as your employer has no objections. But I know, in some cities at least, it's illegal to put your garbage in someone else's dumpster or garbage containers. And some people have gotten tickets for it when they didn't know it was illegal. Of course that would not be the case if it's your employer, but to use other dumpsters sometimes gets people in trouble.

I just thought I'd mention it in case anyone is not aware of such laws.

 

[Highbeam]

I've got a pickupbed full of trash right now to be delivered to the transfer station after work. I deposit the trash into the top of a semi trailer that is parked at a low elevation. The full trailer is then hauled to the landfill. Minimum charge is 20$ for 400 lbs and then additional lbs at that rate. Most of the time my 6 garbage cans don't weigh 400 lbs. I can recycle too but I don't. Cans are light, glass isn't accepted, and paper is burnt. I recycle used engine oil at this same transfer station for free. I can load whatever kind of trash I want into my truck where the garbage collection men are weaklings that want a certain weight and content within the cans. For example, I had a boned out deer carcass to dispose of recently.

I spend less than 20$ per month doing this compared to about 40$ per month for optional collection service. The whole experience of hauling my trash makes me more connected with my life's habits. I find it enjoyable.

 

[TimC]

Here it depends on the city, but unincorporated county land requires no Garbage service. I could get mine picked up for $20 a month, but I always used to forget to leave my trash on the curb, so I just take my own garbage. The county maintains a number of collection locations that take anything, and have recycling for just about anything. I save Aluminum cans and steel scrap and take them to sell to the recycler. At $.065/lb for steel and $.60/lb for aluminum, it usually gets me enough to be worth the trouble.

Oh, and I used to live in a city that had the "pay as you throw" garbage system... You'd buy special bags at the store for $1 each for a 30 gal bag and they would haul it away. Those bags were the thinnest garbage bags I ever used. We would bag our garbage in good bags, then Drape a pay bag over it. I hated that system!

 

[Ductape]

Here our town has a private trash company pick up once a week, which is paid for through our property taxes. I'm fairly happy with the service, as they will take as many bags / cans as you put out at the street. They won't take brush, hazardous materials, etc, ....... but as long as its just trash they'll take it. Best thing about the trash company is their logo, in BIG letters across the back of their trucks, " SATISFACTION GUARANTEED....... OR DOUBLE YOUR TRASH BACK !" Good to see a sense of humor.

 

[RobertN]

Here, we have the option of weekly service for a fee(I think it is $35/mnth), or disposing of it ourselves at the local transfer station. We have done both. I used to have a trash trailer that I took out every 3-4 weeks. It could get ripe in that time. We decided to go with pickup service. Originally, we had to haul our cans a mile to the entrance of our neighborhood; now we have curb side service. We have weekly garbage, while green waste and paper/glass type recycle are on opposite weeks; this week was green recycle...

We usually do not have green wate; all the green waste is composted.

we do recycle glass, plastic and metal. Recyclables that do not get a rebate we send in the bi-weekly recycle.

I've been trying to get my 13 year old son to go around and take cans out for the neighbors. I told him, $1/can, a week, he could go haul the cans out around the 57 properties in our area. We could even rig a 3pt can grabber, or make one for the loader, so he could just buzz around the neighborhood on the Kubota. He has not gone for that yet...

I will add, that it is illegal as all get out to burn trash here.... In the winter, we can burn leaves, pine needles, branches. But, no trash, construction debri etc.

 

[blueriver]

Here our town has a private trash company pick up once a week, which is paid for through our property taxes. I'm fairly happy with the service, as they will take as many bags / cans as you put out at the street. They won't take brush, hazardous materials, etc, ....... but as long as its just trash they'll take it. Best thing about the trash company is their logo, in BIG letters across the back of their trucks, " SATISFACTION GUARANTEED....... OR DOUBLE YOUR TRASH BACK !" Good to see a sense of humor.

Check that guarantee to see if they are a reputible company, If I where you I'd call them first thing and tell them you are not satisfied just to see if they really mean it and stand behind their guarantee!!

 

[LBrown59]

The city has mandatory trash pick up.
I live outside the city where thank God we have we have voluntary trash service.
Mandatory trash pick up stinks in more ways than one.
I don't have trash service.
I take mine to a land fill about 18 miles away as needed.
The land fill is run by the local trash hauler.
It cost a little more for me per trip than when I was signed up with the hauler, but I pay for fewer trips to the land fill than I did when I was with the trash hauler so the total cost per year is less.
I would just take my BX23 and bury the stuff here if I wasn't so close to town and right along a state highway.
If I was out in the country 40 miles from nowhere and way back off the highway on some county or township road I would just bury the stuff.