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Rats: Boston abandons idea of limiting hours trash can be on the street
By adamg on Thu, 03/18/2010 - 3:13pm
Matt Conti reports a proposal that would have limited North End residents to 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. for putting out trash died because the city and the contractor couldn't work out the union and contract changes that would have required. Councilor Sal LaMattina initially proposed the idea as a way of reducing the hours during which rats can gorge themselves silly on neighborhood garbage - residents can now put their trash out as early as 5 p.m. the night before each of the neighborhood's three-times-a-week pickups.
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Comments
use your damn trash cans, people.
How about doing what Somerville does and require the trash cans to have LIDS during the week, and for the trash out on the sidewalk for pickup to be IN TRASH CANS
The house across the street from me just puts a giant pyramid of bags on the sidewalk, no trash cans. I walk my dog before bed, and every single trash night, I see rats running away from the huge trash pile when I walk out the door.
Unprotected trash has got to be the #1 cause of Boston's high rat population. Cut off the trash bags sitting on the ground, and you'll cut off a large portion of the rat food.
Hello... city....
You answered that yourself - "The house across the street from me..." I'm sure houses have lots of room for trashcans. Where are you going to put a lidded outdoor trashcan in a 400sf apartment/condo?
Doesn't work
When you live in a 600sq ft apartment on a 4th floor walking, you can't be dragging a trash can up and down 3x a week and there are no backyards/driveways to store the barrels. Great idea, but not practical in the city.
Here's an Idea
Have the city install solar compaction bins that are critter resistant. Place and space according to where people live. Take your garbage down each night if you like, swipe your card key to access any of the three nearest, and load it on up! Crews can collect when they squawk their fullness back to base.
Good Idea
Good thing the city invested in those Money Trees so that we can pay for it.
Simple Minded Answer
Typical. If it cuts pick ups to 2x a week or less AND reduces the rat program costs it could pay for itself.
Waste Management Employee?
It doesn't take much thought to understand how this might pay for itself. The technology is there - it just needs to be modified. See the solar compactors that are already all over the city?
After all, being able to cut down on the number of pickups per week won't save any money, nor could it possibly be cost effective rat control compared to current measures. Impossible!
As an Actual NE Resident
I've got a little bit of first hand experience with the amount of trash that's put out on tri-weekly basis. It ain't fitting in a solar trash barrel. At least not a solar trash barrel that's going to fit any where in the NE.
good thing
Another good thing would be if you planted some Money Trees and used them to pay for your sarcasm lessons.
Sorry Dude...
That's worse than "jerk store."
3x a week?
I understand the dragging the trash can part. But, what's the 3x a week part? Really?
And how much trash can a 600 sq ft apartment create? My wife and I hardly ever fill one bag a week.
Yeah, but a lot of apartments
Yeah, but a lot of apartments in the North End have no garbage disposals and no outdoor spot for garbage. If you cut to 2 days a week, you have too much time between pickups and trash could easily get really stinky. I'm willing to bet you'd have even worse behavior from residents who toss their trash outside early or on non-collection days.
The North End has trash
The North End has trash pickup 3 days a week? So, almost half of a week, there's piles of trash out on the street overnight?
No wonder there's a rat problem.
No different here
We can't have garbage disposals, either, and have trash picked up once a week. No garbage outdoors, either. We do keep a bag of garbage in the freezer, though. I know, sounds gross, but really isn't.
So, I still don't see the reason for 3x week pickups. If it were 1x week, people would figure it out.
Huh?
Why can't you have garbage disposals??? I've had one forever...
1x a week would be tough without any outside storage.
Not allowed
Townhouse + septic system = no garbage disposals
I grew up with always having one, too. We were the last family on earth to get a color TV, but always had a disposal, and we were never hooked up to a sewer system. Our condo association looked into some gb's that inject enzymes with the garbage, but found they were ineffective and hokey.
Probably not an issue in the North End
I think the only part of Boston that still has septic systems is the Grove in West Roxbury.
By "house" I mean "triple
By "house" I mean "triple decker". I live in Dorchester, not the suburbs.
Trash
I'm so happy this failed. They bring this talk up every year about limiting the hours or days of trash pick-up, and it's crazy. I usually don't put my trash out on the street until 11 PM or midnight anyways, and I'm not waking up super early to put it out before the truck comes, even if this passed. My trash is usually picked up at 7AM and I dont need to work until 10AM, so I'm sleeping in! Also, ticketing the building means nothing in the North End, as most people are tennants and the landlord needs to pay the fine (unless u are caught in the act). Let's leave the trash schedule as is, the rat population and I are fine with it... Rats will always be a problem, live with it.
Ok
Hi.
Please move out of my city.
'k, thanks.
I live in the North End and
I live in the North End and would be pretty happy with trash pickup 2x a week. Currently, it's mon-wed-fri, maybe mon/thurs would be totally fine with me. The city has definitely been focusing on the rat issue though, I haven't seen many in the last few months.