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Letter to the Editor: Garbage Pickup

A letter to the editor about garbage pick up from resident Kevin Bodkin

This has been on my mind since garbage pickup became biweekly last year.

I find it odd that recycling took the place of garbage pickup every other week instead of becoming  simultaneous.

I also find it odd that when the program began we were all given a pamphlet detailing proper procedure for preparing items for recycling, which Fox disposal promptly disregarded and began handing out warnings to those who attempted to follow it.

Many recyclable items aren’t accepted, and anyone trying to recycle them from their home are told to bring them to the “proper” facilities themselves, which thoroughly defeated the purpose of roadside recycling and makes it absurd that garbage pickup is lessened to make room for an extremely limited roadside recycling program.

I also find it odd that anywhere with a dumpster still receives weekly pickup, such as the reserves and businesses.

It is now full swing bear season and the new pickup schedule is already proving to increase scavenger wildlife activity in and around homes.

Last I checked the city has a bylaw against composting, so organic material that could be composted instead goes in the garbage, which then has two weeks to rot and attract wildlife instead of one.

The cost of garbage pickup to home owners remains the same despite the service being cut in half.

While I do agree that recycling is a good thing, and one that I regularly practice, it should be simultaneous with trash pickup; not replacing it.

It should also be full service, or at the very least people should be given a document accurately outlining what items can be recycled, not a sloppy copy paste job that people get warned for following.

Kevan Bodkin

Port Hardy