Nobody likes to be told what to do.
So it’s not surprising to see residents in Mountainview and Woodhaven speak out over the Town-mandated pilot project in their neighbourhoods that will see black bin pick-up reduced to biweekly.
There was no public consultation prior to announcing the launch of the pilot, and many residents are up in arms over the change that will last from June to the end of September. They claim an information session on May 24 isn’t enough, and they’re right.
It’s not necessarily a bad idea, picking up garbage bins every two weeks, and probably wouldn’t have a negative effect on many households if they’re participating in the blue bin recycling program and green cart organics collection. As the Town states, it could help move toward that 80 per cent diversion goal and preserve our landfill.
But this approach seems heavy-handed.
The Town should have started with a widespread education campaign, encouraging residents to recycle more and only put out the black bin when necessary to see how it affected the number of carts on the road come pick-up day.
Maybe some incentive would have worked – wasn’t there supposed to be an option to rebate those residents who don’t put out their garbage carts weekly when the universal recycling program was first introduced in 2016?
With more education and incentive, more residents probably would have jumped on board and the number of garbage carts tipped every week likely would have dropped. Arming people with knowledge often results in informed action.
But forcing people into a new program without warning isn’t right.
Perhaps the Town should recycle its biweekly pick-up pilot.
