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As an older citizen, for me it’s a senior moment every week when its time to put the garbage out. I live alone and am an avid recycler, so I rarely fill a small garbage bag each week. My dilemma is, do I put out a half-filled bag, or do I find a neighbor who has a little bit more garbage than their bag can fit? Its either that or create a maggot heaven by leaving it sit another week because I just can’t bring myself to waste space in these expensive bags, nor can I afford to on a fixed income.
In 2018 the cost of a small bag authorized by the city rose from $1.25 per bag to $1.85 per bag, sold in 5-bag packages at $9.25 each. The large, 30-gallon garbage bag rose from $2 to $2.60 per bag in 5-bag packages at $13 each.
Improving the thickness of the flimsy bags wasn’t what drove up the price either because the Raleigh, N.C.-based company, WasteZero provided more thickness to the bags at no additional charge to the city of Wilkes-Barre. However, I suppose the $1,515,277.50 net revenue did.
While many residents like myself were happy to see the price come back down this past June to its initial cost, cut to $1.25 instead of $1.85 for small bags and $2 from $2.60 for large bags it seems we are being duped when it comes to the $37.1 million in funds the city received from the federal American Rescue Plan to aid the financial well-being of the residents.
Some residents argue that switching to stickers would be better but that could bring on a ‘mess’ of other problems to solve and still won’t alleviate filling a bag approved for pick-up.
What are your thoughts?
