I have to say I was skeptical at first, but upon further research I think it's a good plan. The landfill only has 24 years left at current (poor economy) disposal rates. When the economy comes back, so will consumption, and the landfill's life expectancy is going shorten dramatically.  Making people think about what they toss and attaching a cost to the volume of it rather than a flat fee will help, big time. Want to cut down on the cost of bags? Donate something reusable to charity instead of tossing it. Compost your food waste (maybe the City or schools can start a program).

Although I think the positives outweigh the negatives, I'm still concerned about illegal dumping. WasteZero's own handout cited an EPA sudy that boasted it's a problem in "fewer than 1 in 5 communities" and generally corrects itself within three months (i.e., people realize it's more convenient to buy the bags). That's almost 20 percent, which seems high to me, not low. Still, WE can be the eyes and ears and keep it from being a problem. Some people at the meeting said "I'll just take my trash to work" (which is included in the "illegal dumping" statistc). Great! The City's tipping fees (our taxes) will be even lower!

Also, the proposed fifty cent to one dollar cost for the bags is much more palatable than the two dollar figure that's been floating around. For three adults, two kids in diapers, and three cats using two litter boxes, I put out roughly 45 gallons of trash a week. That would cost a whopping $78 a year (minus the $15 or so I pay for regular trash bags now). I think I can swing it.

Maybe they will reduce our taxes to pay for this? Lot of dreams for the new year

Or at least raise them less...

I'm guessing we're not going to get a tax reduction, but look at it this way - the less we throw in the trash, the less the City has to pay in tipping fees. The more we recycle, the more the City gets back from RIRC from sale of the material.

A very good idea to recycle but I think we need creative ways to get people into the habits of putting out all the bins and composting ideas, shredding papers for packing material, magazines for kids to create art with collages etc...

Many residents I have heard from are wary of the city using this as a way of making up the shortfalls and not cutting the people and expenses that should be cut.

We also need to educate the kids who will make things happen within the families and neighborhood like the Jenks students raising shad for the Blackstone River Fish Ladder project.