Letter to the editor
This is a story about trash. On Jan. 16, 2001, Lawrence Township awarded a $311,204 contract to Schaefer Systems International Inc. of Charlotte, N.C., for the purchase of 8,200 heavy-duty garbage containers. The special garbage containers are needed for the automated garbage collection system that will be put in place in the second year of the five-year contract. Residents were allowed to choose from 35-gallon, 65-gallon or 95-gallon containers. Likewise, additional containers are available to residents for the 35-gallon size, the 65-gallon size and the 95-gallon size. The new system took effect April 1, 2001. However, the new big blue garbage cans have received mixed reviews.
I interviewed 11 of my neighbors. Seven people generally liked the new containers, three disliked them and one was indifferent, but could see why people wouldn’t like them. The reasons people liked them were very similar. Most people believed that the new large cans were good for holding garbage and were sturdy. They also liked the fact that the new lids are attached to the cans so that they don’t get lost or won’t get blown away in the wind. Another point of discussion about the large garbage cans was the new feature of wheels. A 20-year resident of Lawrenceville said, "They have wheels so they are easy to move." While a new resident to Lawrenceville disagrees. "I dislike the new garbage cans because they are difficult to move especially when it gets too heavy."
The one feature of the new garbage cans that was the most discussed was the uniform blue color of the cans. A 9-year resident of Lawrenceville said, "I like how they look uniform from one house to another." While another resident of Lawrenceville said, "If someone wants to have a uniform-looking community they should move to Levittown." Also, a 33-year resident of Lawrenceville said, "The big, blue garbage cans are a eyesore."
So what could be the best solution to this problem? One believes that they should change the color to a dark green so that they won’t be such an "eyesore." Likewise, this eyesore is due mostly to the size of the containers. Unfortunately, many Lawrenceville residents don’t know that they can receive smaller cans if storage is a problem.
One feature that virtually everyone I interviewed agreed on was how they disliked the new once-a-week pick-up. Chuck Marianik from Ontario Way wrote a letter to the editor of The Lawrence Ledger that agrees with my interviewees in saying " … the pleasant aroma should be even better when it occurs in the summer." Therefore, the chief concern about the once-a-week pickup, instead of the twice-a-week pickup, is the issue of smell especially over the summer. The last concern about the new garbage cans is how they are less than accommodating to the elderly and handicapped. For most elderly and handicapped, it is almost impossible to wheel these colossal garbage cans to the curb.
Hendrickson Road