Editor, The News:
Re: The greater good on garbage pickup.
Many residents in Maple Ridge do not seem to have enough information about how city-wide garbage collection typically operates elsewhere.
Strata complexes are not covered by municipal garbage pick up contracts, so stratas are free to choose who they want to service their strata, when, and at what cost.
Strata owners are not taxed for the garbage service that they do not receive from the city.
Some cities include stratas in the recycling pickup service, but most don’t.
In many cities, such as New Westminster, green waste is collected every week, but garbage and recycling are collected on alternate weeks.
Large bins are provided for green waste and single-stream recycling, and a smaller, sufficient bin is provided for garbage. Residents can pay an annual extra fee for a larger bin. Glass might be collected in a separate recycling box so it does not break and contaminate the other recyclables.
City collection is efficient and leaves a much smaller carbon footprint than the current system in Maple Ridge. Only a couple of trucks are required to service each area on collection day, instead of six different companies lining up, most of them sending two trucks (one for garbage, one for green waste), plus the recycling trucks.
Terryl Plotnikoff
Maple Ridge