Letter: Automated trash collection can work with planning
To the editor:
Moving here from the Los Angeles area in 2007, I have personal experience with automated trash collection, and I can honestly say it works when rolled out properly. However, Lawrence is certainly going about this the wrong way.
The reason it is effective in most L.A. cities is due to the fact that in addition to a bin for household trash, residents are given a larger container for recycling and another one for lawn refuse. All are collected on the same day. The recycling bin holds everything — cans, bottles, paper, cardboard, etc. — so residents don't have to separate, thus reducing the amount of waste in the regular trash bin.
I don't understand how this was put into effect without a vote by the citizens of Lawrence, as I'm sure most people cannot afford $195 for an additional bin. Cleaning up the streets is important, but limiting households to one bin without an effective and enforced recycling program will only lead to a messier city as large families have more trash than can fit into a single 65-gallon container.
The way this program has been implemented reeks worse than the trash it is trying to collect.
Jennifer Wagner
Lawrence
