Steven Freund

Fredrik DeBoer

WRT 303

March 7, 2011

Garbage day, the dreaded chore that no one ever want to do. It’s smelly, sticky, and has to

happen regardless of how horrible the weather is. Yet it is necessary to a sanitary life style.

Every Monday morning garbage is collected from my house in Narragansett. So every Sunday

night I dutifully lug out the weeks trash, sort out every recyclable, then lug the cans to the road

side. Then in the morning the company that I hire to pick us my garbage comes and hauls it all

away.

Narragansett has no single garbage service. It is up to every household to hire a company to

come and pick up their trash. It costs me roughly $30 a month for regular pick up, and an

additional $20 for recycling. Occasionally when I have large items that don’t fit in a garbage

can, like a broken suit case I have sitting outside, it will cost me additional money to pick up.

Yet cost isn’t the only problem with Narragansett not having a town garbage service.

More than a few times my house has been passed by for trash collection. When this happens I

call the company to see why I was passed up, and what they are going to do about it. After some

phone tag with different departments, I basically get the run around. As a single household I

have almost no sway with the company, so the short answer to all my calling is “we have no idea

why you were passed up, we are very sorry, better luck next week.”
There is also an ethical problem. No one is under any obligation to recycle. Getting a recycling

service cost extra money, extra time, and extra effort. Without some sort of pressure from the

town, most people are not willing to pay for recycling, or to sort their trash. So instead it all ends

up in a landfill.

A single garbage collection service for the whole town, provided by the local government would

alleviate these issues. In towns that have only one collection service, recycling bins are free and

their use is encouraged. In my home town of North Smithfield, their use has become mandatory.

For every garbage can at least a single recycling can must be put out as well. Similar rules could

be applied to Narragansett to encourage responsible waste management.

With a single garbage service, the problem of a skipped house would disappear. As the only

house on my street that my collection service attends to, occasionally they forget to go down my

road. Yet in a town with a single contract the skipping of a street would result in dozens of

houses not receiving service.

Finally the cost would go down. When a contract for an entire town is made, the price is large at

the beginning. But, an entire town has more bargaining power than a single household; there

will be competition between companies to get such a contract. Thus the town will be able to

shop around to find the best price. When the cost is distributed, the cost per house will be down.

Such a contract will not mean an increase in taxes; it will be lumped in with other town provided

services such as water.

Having only a single garbage service for Narragansett is more convenient, more cost efficient,

and can enforce more responsible trash disposal practices.