I mentioned a few months ago that I was so excited that our waste services were finally offering curb side recycling in our neighborhood. In the past we’ve hauled our recyclables up to the local drop off location about once a week. While it’s not that horrible of a method it’s also not encouraging everyone to participate. The drop off center is free though. The curb side program costs about $5.50 every 3 months plus a one time fee of $7 for the bin. That’s really not much when you calculate the cost of gas these days.
Most of March I sat patiently as we awaited our bins to be delivered. I was told it could take a few weeks because of the high demand. Towards the end of the month I decided to call the company and inquire about our bin and service start date. They said there was a shortage of bins and that more were on order; however I could go ahead and use the service now by placing my recyclables by the road on the pre-determined day each week and they would be by to pick them up. She made a note on their list to start coming by.
Excitedly I set my recyclables out for pick up late in March and waited, and waited, and waited for the driver to come by. The next day I called the company back and they told me someone would be out later that day. The drivers were new to the routes so there was some learning curve on the new routes. I waited, and waited, and waited. Still no pick up. So on Saturday we hauled the items to the drop off center ourselves.
Several more weeks have gone by since then and we’ve only had one successful pick up to date. Each week I call the company and let them know we were missed. Each week they apologize and tell me that they will send them back out the next day. Each week I watch as by bin of recyclables sit patiently by the curb waiting for their final desitination. Each week I am disappointed as I haul the items back into the garage and make yet another call.
This weeks pick up is scheduled for tomorrow. I called them yesterday and remind them to come pick up my items. They ensured me that this will get better with time. We’ll find out tomorrow.
So my question is this, how long do you give them to make this work? On one hand I want to be as supportive as possible in hopes that it is just a learning curve. I want to see the program succeed and I want to wake up on Thursday morning to see a row of blue bins sitting by the curb of all my neighbors. I fear that if I don’t support the program through the challenges that the service will be suspended due to lack of participation. On the other hand it is just as easy to make that weekly trip for free to the local drop off location myself. They actually take one item that the curb side service won’t pick up; cardboard. I prefer however not to take the easy route. I really do want to help them make this a success in our community.
Any advice for handling new community programs?
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