Double the cans, halve the pickups to save on trash budget

Terry Davis and his colleagues probably do more than any other City of Tacoma employees to keep the populace happy: They’re the garbage collectors on whom the city’s sightliness and sanitation depend.

Now, a bold new experiment in that effort rests with Davis and his customers. His routes cover the two areas testing whether the city can reduce garbage collection from once a week to once every other week. The six-month trial began in July with 768 households between Sixth Avenue and North 26th, Pearl and Mullen streets, and another 603 homes between McKinley Avenue and South 82nd, 96th and A streets.

Davis treats his customers with tough love. He wants the best for them and expects them to put a fair effort into supporting civic sanitation.

That would start with not driving into his truck.

“There is absolutely no respect for garbage trucks in the city of Tacoma. They’re big and green with flashing lights,” he said.

“The alleys don’t get any bigger,” he added, “but the trucks do.”

And now there are more containers in those alleys, set out half as often, as the city works to reduce the amount of garbage it buries and the cost of doing so.

The number of brown yard waste and blue recycling bins stays the same, but customers get at least twice as much garbage space. Those who had a 20-gallon green can now have one that holds 45 gallons. If they had a 30-gallon can, they now have a 60-gallon model. People who had one 60- or 90-gallon bin now have two of them.

The insides of the containers get more variety, with food waste acceptable in the brown yard waste bin.

The switch has been surprisingly easy, a sample of North Enders said Tuesday.

Jeanette Benoit regrets putting chicken in the yard waste a week before pickup last summer. That’s the only problem she’s had during the test. Next time, she’ll keep it in the fridge or freezer until yard waste day.

“Every two weeks is not too big a deal,” she said. “Our cans are bigger.”

Remembering pickup dates can be a bit of a challenge, said George Abeyca.

“We have a calendar, so it’s not hard,” he said. “But we all kind of rely on each other. I noticed one day that one person put out the recycling, though it wasn’t recycling day. In a little while, a whole bunch of other people put out their recycling, too.”

Bill Heritage has been impressed with the city’s introductory efforts.

“On three occasions, people from the city came to the door and asked how it was working for us,” he said.

He may not have noticed city crews peeking into his bins to check on the status of the test garbage.

“It will actually save us money,” Heritage said of the twice-a-month pickups.

That will be $40 off their bill at the end of the test, not to mention the city’s savings on fuel, labor and maintenance.

Andrew Torres, assistant division manager for public works, said the city is mostly getting positive or neutral comments about biweekly pickup. The food-waste program has drawn some “not-so-positive comments,” he said. “The participation is also not that high.”

Davis, the truck driver, has been logging times, miles, refueling and problems. So far, he said, the test seems to be working, and the system will likely be adopted.

The benefits, he said, will grow as residents get more excited about reusing, donating or recycling stuff.

“There’s the potential for much more recycling,” he said. “I truly believe that recycling’s the key to this whole thing. It’s amazing the things that people throw away.”

He sees them in a wallet-sized video screening the garbage as he works the toggles that hoist and dump it into the truck. He sees them when he gets out to see what’s clogging up a garbage container.

He sees clothes, metal Tonka Toys, bed frames and dressers customers expect him to hoist and crush.

“There’s that doll from ‘Toy Story,’” he yelped around 10:30 a.m. “It’s that cowboy doll. Woody! Who would throw Woody away?”

Kathleen Merryman: 253-597-8677 kathleen.merryman@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/street