Is Mahwah's Once-A-Week Trash Pick Up Schedule Inconvenient?
Answer this week's Patch poll
Was reduced trash pick up in 2011 an inconvenience for you?
Courtney Leiva
Photos (1)
Photos
Residents in Mahwah have gotten used to a revised trash pick-up schedule this year. Beginning with a decision made last February, trash is picked up once a week from October 1 through May 31, and twice a week during the warmer months, June 1 through September 31.
At last week’s town council meeting, Blue Ridge Lane resident Brenda Calandrillo told the council some of her concerns about limiting the pick-up to once a week. “It is a big inconvenience. A lot of people who live in condo communities don’t have room to store additional bags of trash outside, so they are piling up in our garages [while we wait] for the once a week pick-up,” she told the council last Thursday.
She also said her elderly neighbors accumulate too much garbage over a whole week to carry it to the curb.
“I don’t think there was enough consideration given to multi-family communities when this decision was made,” she said of the council’s decision to switch from the old schedule, which had twice-a-week pick up all year long.
Town Council President John Roth told Calandrillo that the decision was made as a “cost saving measure. It was a recommendation from administration at the time,” he said. According to Roth, the cut-down schedule saves the township $65-70,000 a year. He said the council has not had too many other complaints about the new schedule since twice-a-week pick up is still in effect during the “warmer months, when trash odor becomes an issue.”
The resident asked the council to consider reinstating the old schedule when reviewing the township’s 2012 budget.
So, Patch wants to know, has the new trash pick-up schedule been an inconvenience for you?
Renate Rena Nuss
3:09 pm on Monday, December 5, 2011
It would be a good idea to just produce less trash and stick with one time pick up all year round.
Susan Manziano
3:14 pm on Monday, December 5, 2011
I don't like it, but the cost savings is significant. Residents should attempt to keep their trash off the street until the day before pick-up, however. I'm noticing a lot of garbage sitting curbside for days in advance.
Kim
6:49 am on Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Not inconvenient at all
Bill
9:12 am on Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Mrs Callandrillo does not know what she is talking about the condo areas os town are still picked up twice a week all year. There was no change to there schedules do to the volume of garbage that they generate.
Ann
10:26 pm on Tuesday, December 6, 2011
I live in a condo and we have one day a week pick up and we must keep our garbage cans in our I car garage. It is unsanitary and a real inconvenience. I strongly feel that we should go back to the old schedule of twice a week. If you have a family and/or do a lot of entertaining it is difficult to limit the amount of trash generated especially during the holidays.
Mari Meli
11:55 pm on Tuesday, December 6, 2011
I thought this would be a problem, but am happy to say that its worked out just fine. I am delighted to be minimally inconvenienced for the savings we are seeing. But frankly, its such a SMALL tad of inconvenience, that i am happy to have. I can see where it might be an issue for folks, tho. but agree with Renate that the best answer is to change our ways and produce less garbage!
Ann
12:36 am on Wednesday, December 7, 2011
The only way I could produce less garbage would be to leave my house. Having old garbage around for 7 days is unsanitary and disgusting. If you want to put your garbage out once a week and it works for you, that's great. I prefer to put my garbage out twice a week I would like to use my garage for my car and not for smelly garbage cans.
Brenda Calandrillo
1:32 pm on Thursday, December 8, 2011
Thank you, Bill. I was later informed that condo communities that use dumpsters still have twice weekly pick-ups, but not all communities use dumpsters.
colleen
2:22 pm on Monday, December 12, 2011
We are a family of four, with one in diapers, and we do not fill a trash can in a week. If there are people who NEED two weekly pickups, perhaps they should evaluate their consumption and think of how they might change their ways to REDUCE, REUSE and RECYCLE. Save the planet, as well as municipal money.
Ann
7:47 pm on Monday, December 12, 2011
It is not the amount of garbage. It is the problem of having week old garbage around.
colleen
10:57 am on Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Compost! There are countertop models. And cloth napkins help reduce garbage.