response 15 of 42:

Feb 20 17:06 UTC 2006

There are also communities where you can dispose of your own trash instead
of having to pay taxes for it, but this tends to encourage littering.

response 17 of 42:

Feb 24 07:37 UTC 2006

Re resp:14: That used to be a common system of private fire protection 
in some cities, before public fire departments.  If you hadn't payed 
for the proper medallion, that department wouldn't respond.  Other 
systems involved insurance companies contracting with fire departments, 
or fire departments competing and the one that got "first water" on the 
fire getting paid.  That last system tended to encourage departments to 
sabotage each other. 
 
 
Re resp:15: When my parents lived in rural Saginaw County they had to 
contract with a private company for trash pickup.  There was a strict 
limit on the number of bags you were allowed to put out, to discourage 
neighbors from pooling their trash to try to get away with only paying 
one fee.  We had a big family, so we burned our garbage and paper waste 
to keep under the limit. 

response 19 of 42:

Feb 24 15:58 UTC 2006

4 bucks a week is an awful lot to pay for trash pickup.  I calculated once
it was $2/month in Ann Arbor.  I put out a canful once every few months,
mostly with plastic parts of computers that we can't recycle here.  We manage
to fill the paper recycling bin about once a month because of things like the
Observer, and getting 4 phone books every year.  Maybe it is once in 2 months.

response 21 of 42:

Feb 24 17:21 UTC 2006

Seattle's garbage rate for one standard-sized can (32 gallons) is also
about $4/week; extra garbage that won't fit into your can is $5.60/bag
for cubside pickup or $14/carload at the transfer station.  Service is
compulsory, as is recycling.

It seems self-evident that in a crowded city there's less room for
people to do their own thing with respect to rubbish disposal and fire
protection than in a rural environment.

response 23 of 42:

Feb 24 17:26 UTC 2006

Curbside yard waste is an extra $1/week, but you have to make a long-term
commitment because they don't want people signing up for it for just a 
couple weeks when they catch up on their gardening and then dropping it.

response 25 of 42:

Feb 24 17:44 UTC 2006

wmi is eeeevil.

response 27 of 42:

Feb 24 17:50 UTC 2006

Your weekly rate is higher than my monthly rate for the same thing. 
Huh.  Mine is a municipal city service; is your rate set by the market?

response 29 of 42:

Feb 24 17:58 UTC 2006

My "city" is hardly so "crowded" that it could not accomodate a few 
more trucks.

response 31 of 42:

Feb 24 18:03 UTC 2006

re #27
My understanding is that Rabanco used to get subsidies from County to defray
residential costs.  There was a lawsuit over it because Rabanco was using a
landfill in Klicktat County and King County wanted "jurisdiction" over the
tonnage of refuse.  WMI avoided the whole mess by "easing out" of the subidies
from King County thus putting the cost on each residential owner.  There's
something to be said about Human Services Division at County but ethics
dictates that I keep my mouth shut as a county employee.
(I'm sure you can google it)

response 33 of 42:

Feb 24 19:49 UTC 2006

My garbage service is free (and so is recycling, in which I 
participate).  They pick up 4 500-lb bags per week.  If I have more, I 
am supposed to buy tags.  I haven't bought any tags and so don't know 
how much they cost.

I have received notices that I wasn't recycling right, and also that I 
had too many bags for them to pick up.  In such cases, my wife loads up 
her car and dumps the extra in her employer's dumpster.

response 35 of 42:

Feb 24 20:02 UTC 2006

They will pick up 500 lb bags?  How do they lift them?

response 37 of 42:

Feb 24 20:15 UTC 2006

re #33
Whoa? What are you putting outside? Bags of ice?

response 39 of 42:

Feb 24 20:29 UTC 2006

Yes, free means its a race to see who can destroy their water table by filling
the landfill first.  It worked great for the folks in Rochester/Utica.  You
should see the yummy water that comes out of those taps.