‘Unpleasant, gross’
Dear Editor:
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, or so the saying goes. But in my garage, the only treasure hunters these days are mice, maggots and the occasional fawn that wanders by to see what new surprises my family of six has been forced to store for two weeks at a time.
With the recent changes to our waste collection schedule, specifically the move to a single large recycling bin and biweekly pickup, I feel the need to speak up. A household of one or two might manage this system without issue, a household of three or four, there is an outside chance; but a household of six or more, forget about it. The recycling piles up quickly, spills over and becomes a cardboard mountain that no one asked for.
The garbage situation is no better. Pun intended, it’s absolute trash! Biweekly pickup may look efficient on paper, but in practice it is unsanitary. It is unpleasant. It is, frankly, gross.
The smell of two weeks’ worth of trash piled up in my garage is sometimes powerful enough to make a skunk blush! I am not certain about the motives behind these changes, but the current schedule certainly feels like a cost cutting measure dressed up as modernization.
I am asking the township to reconsider these changes. Recycling should return to weekly pickup. Garbage should have always been a weekly pickup. Families should not have to choose between being responsible stewards of the environment and maintaining a home that doesn’t attract wildlife or require industrial strength air fresheners.
I appreciate our community and its commitment to sustainability. I simply ask that we balance that commitment with practicality. Weekly recycling and weekly garbage collection would make a meaningful difference for many households, mine included.
Nick Casselli,
Fergus
*Editor’s note: The County of Wellington handles garbage and green bin collection across the county, not lower-tier municipalities. Circular Materials, a non-profit funded by producers of recyclables, is now responsible for recycling collection in Ontario.