Curbside organic waste collection is quite possibly the worst idea the RDCK has come up with to date. If I were to list all of the reasons why, this letter would not be printed due to excessive length. I’ll just try to hit the high (low) points.
This will attract wildlife. Bins of garbage and compost will sit for hours on the roadside between when the resident puts their bins out on pickup day and when they are actually picked up. Any bin that can be moved by a human can be easily carried off by a bear so it can take a good crack at getting into it.
Most people take their garbage/recycling/compost to the transfer station as a part of their trip to work/school/shopping so the extra GHG emissions are relatively minor. Compare this to the diesel fume spewing garbage truck that will be travelling miles and miles through the various rural roads.
The cost on the tax bill is many times the current cost of rural residents that take their garbage/recycling/compost to the dump. The cost of the service is equivalent to over six bags of garbage taken to the dump each month. In these affordability challenged times, this will add a large financial burden to many who are already struggling.
This is the thin end of the wedge. Once the service is established, the almost inevitable cost increases will result in increases in taxes, implementation of a tag-a-bag system, etc. They say this will not happen, but there will be cost overruns that will have to be paid for somehow.
For those who wish for a pickup system, there are service providers out there who provide exactly that service. Hire them instead. Vote “no.”
Trevor Jenkinson
Taghum