Forego waste/recycling pick up, i.e. drop off yourself?? (Raleigh: how much, home)

[CAbornNClivin]

So someone told us they drop off their own trash at the dump and I've just never even thought to consider that (except for hazardous waste items which we have done before). Is the hassle worth the savings? We are moving to a neighborhood that uses a private company.

[WeLuvNC]

I would evaluate the effective use of your time, the amount of trash you accumulate on a weekly basis, and your distance to the nearest recycling facility in order to determine whether it is worth it for you and your family. Is it worth your time and gas? If so, then go for it. If not, then pay the $weekly fee and be glad of it.

I grew up in a rural-ish town that only had a town dump, and we took the garbage in on the same day we collected the mail, grocery shopped, and visited the library. so yes, it is possible to live like this. :-)

In any event, we used to live relatively near Durant Rd in N. Raleigh, and several of our neighbors whose kids had flown the nest already, who composted on a regular basis, had a disposal, and basically had less consumption did this. It made sense to make a trip every 2 weeks of non-smelly garbage (because of composting and disposal-ing 'wet' foods) and recyclables to Durant Rd. They would have had a relatively empty garbage/recycling each week, so i see why they did it.

Personally, I think I'd go in on the rate with a neighbor and split it just for the convenience of it.

:-)

[124c41]

When we first moved here, it was $22.00 a month for trash pickup, then in a few months went to, if I remember right, $27.00 a month. We have a trash compacter, and rarely make 2 bags in a week and a half. We opted for taking our bags right down the road to the waste center, and save that money. We have a trash can outside where we store our trash bags till we are ready to go. No hassle for us. We usually plan a trip to town on the same day. Throw the bags in the truck, and go.

[adb71]

My inlaws have done it for years. It's just two of them at home so they have on average a bag of garbage a week. They do a dropoff every two weeks or so and don't mind taking it to the dump. We considered it a few years back and tried to drop it but the way the town of apex packages their utilities we couldn't drop just garbage service.

I think a couple things you have to consider:
how much garbage do you accrue and how often would you need to go to the dump?
how will you get it there? trunk of your car? pickup truck etc?
convenience- how far is the dump? will it become a hassle and a dreaded chore?

It's kind of a personal thing and you have to weigh all the pros and cons for you.

Also another thing to consider is recycling. A lot of times that is bundled with the garbage contracts. I'm not sure if you can recycle when you go to the dump or if you have to go to a different place to do that. Something to think about though.

[CAbornNClivin]

Good things to think about for our decision!
We do recycle a lot, which cuts down on our trash, but there is still a lot of trash for two adults and two toddlers. Maybe we should not consider dropping off ourselves until we are out of diapers...lol

[NewUser]

As someone already said. . . .I would consider how much trash my family generated before deciding.

We live in a neighborhood with private garbage service. We are a family of 4, with one still in Pull-ups. We collect recyclables and take them to the recycle center at Yates Mill twice a month, usually on our way to Raleigh or Cary. We compost a lot of our food waste for my wife's garden. Even with throwing away a diaper every morning, we still only average 2 kitchen-sized trash bags per week.

[stradt03]

Did you consider the smell of the bags when they have been sitting in the garage for a week in the heat of Summer? I don't think I would want that in my car.

[carcrazy67]

I've been doing it for nearly 20 years. Hasn't been much of a problem as I go by the dump on 98 just about every day anyway. That being said, I have a truck and sure wouldn't put garbage in my car!!

[VickiR]

I haven't had any clients price private trash pick up in a while. The last time I heard, it was about $15 per month.

For those of you that have it, would you share the company and the prices?

Vicki

[WeLuvNC]

In N. Raleigh, we had waste industries and there was weekly pickup of solid waste and recyclables. It was $85 per quarter which works out to be $6.54/week. That was the bill 2nd quarter 2012.