wow trash service is expensive compared to arizona (Portland, Green: apartment, landlord)

[NWGirl74]

I pay roughly $25/mo in Vancouver for trash, recycling and yard debris, with the option to cancel yard debris if I don't need it. For composting, I just use a 5-gallon bucket.

It's been awhile since I left Phoenix so the sticker shock has worn off, but I do still miss bulk trash pickup. That came in handy!

[wanderbygrace]

Originally Posted by davemess10

Ha, we actually pay less than you do. I think my trash is $28/month.
Want to take any other digs at Portland?

I'm honestly surprised its cheaper, but keep in mind that you only get it picked up every other week. I get mine picked up weekly, so really the price in Clackamas is cheaper per pickup.

[davemess10]

Originally Posted by wanderbygrace

I'm honestly surprised its cheaper, but keep in mind that you only get it picked up every other week. I get mine picked up weekly, so really the price in Clackamas is cheaper per pickup.

WE only get trashed picked up every other week, but we still get recycling and compost every week, which is about 60-70% of my trash. I love it, makes people actually think about all the waste they're producing.

What were you possibly putting in five giant trash containers a week? Our household of two barely fills a 30 gallon can every other week.

I hadn't thought about the sharing service idea, that's an interesting avenue to explore.

[wanderbygrace]

Originally Posted by davemess10

WE only get trashed picked up every other week, but we still get recycling and compost every week, which is about 60-70% of my trash. I love it, makes people actually think about all the waste they're producing.

What were you possibly putting in five giant trash containers a week? Our household of two barely fills a 30 gallon can every other week.

I hadn't thought about the sharing service idea, that's an interesting avenue to explore.

Family of seven, including two teenaged boys, and no recycling whatsoever. Five containers wasn't quite our normal every week, but three definitely was.

As a note - recycling in Ohio is pretty much unheard of. VERY few people recycle there.

[turquoise1]

It seems like many people live in houses here. I'm wondering how this would work in apartment buildings.

In Manhattan, there are large piles of shiny black garbage bags in the middle of the street and on the corner. I think it's because there's 13 million people, mostly living in apartments.

[hamellr]

Originally Posted by turquoise1

It seems like many people live in houses here. I'm wondering how this would work in apartment buildings.

Every complex I've ever lived in has had communal garbage and recycling bins. The costs were just part of rent.

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by turquoise1

It seems like many people live in houses here. I'm wondering how this would work in apartment buildings.

In Manhattan, there are large piles of shiny black garbage bags in the middle of the street and on the corner. I think it's because there's 13 million people, mostly living in apartments.

I live in an apartment. We have a sign in the basement that tells us what can and cannot be recycled. We have two recycling bins for our eight unit apartment building we share with the duplex next store owned by the same person. One bin is for glass, the rest is for everything else recyclable. We have regular trash cans outside every other apartment we put regular garbage in. The pick ups for both are once a week.

We also have a compost can because we have a yard with small spaces for gardening where people grow veggies in the summer time.

Larger buildings usually have larger bins for regualr garbage instead of individual cans but some smaller ones do too. I think the rule for all apartments for pick ups are once a week.

[davemess10]

Originally Posted by wanderbygrace

Family of seven, including two teenaged boys, and no recycling whatsoever. Five containers wasn't quite our normal every week, but three definitely was.

As a note - recycling in Ohio is pretty much unheard of. VERY few people recycle there.

I spent the first 18 years of my life living in a suburb of Cleveland, and yes recycling is not as prevalent there as it is here, but I can remember back to even 1994 we had recycling. And amazingly you didn't have to sort stuff back then. So I definitely wouldn't call recycling unheard of in Ohio (not even almost 20 years ago).

I know that my parents, currently in Ohio, have about the same setup we do here in Portland (minus the composting). ie. they have the same size trash bin as recycling bin.

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by wanderbygrace

Family of seven, including two teenaged boys, and no recycling whatsoever. Five containers wasn't quite our normal every week, but three definitely was.

As a note - recycling in Ohio is pretty much unheard of. VERY few people recycle there.

I am surprised to see this. When I visited my friend in Cleveland a few years ago, I saw recycling in her neighborhood and others we went. Of course I don't know about all of Ohio.

[turquoise1]

Minervah, that's what I mean - apt buildings do have garbage and recycling pickups (I live in an apt building too), but at the end of the week, things get pretty full down there. I can't imagine twice-a-month garbage pickup for an apartment building. It is hard to keep rodents/bugs away when you have festering trash for too long.