BRATTLEBORO — I recently attended one of the pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) informational meetings at Oak Grove School, where I was shocked to learn that I would have to purchase $3 non-recyclable plastic trash bags to participate in this mandatory program.
It was not the cost but the fact that I was being forced to purchase a harmful product and create more trash that shocked me.
According to The Wall Street Journal, people in the United States use and dispose of 100 billion plastic shopping bags each year, and at least 12 million barrels of oil are used per year to manufacture them.
We have multiple 50-foot-long islands of plastics trash floating in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch which, according to National Geographic, spans from California to Japan. Here, marine life dies after consuming plastic particles or becoming tangled in debris.
It would take 67 ships a year just to clean up 10 percent of this mess, assuming no additional waste is added to it. But now I am being forced to be a part of this problem by purchasing brand new, non-reusable plastic bags.
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Paying for trash disposal is a good thing. It helps us become more aware of the resources we use and engage us as collaborators, instead of passive users, with our municipal systems.
However, there are other solutions to PAYT that go beyond a non-reusable, environmentally destructive, resource-draining plastic bag. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 17 percent of the states use containers for their PAYT programs, either charging for the initial container plus a per-use fee when the reusable containers were emptied or just charging for the container itself. Brattleboro should follow suit.
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The average U.S. family uses a 32-gallon trash can. A sturdy, reusable Rubbermaid trash can of that size costs $16. A throwaway plastic Glad bag costs 15 cents. Replacing one 15-cent bag a week with the reusable $16 trash can would result in the trash can being paid for within less than four months and future proceeds going toward waste collection - saving money, resources, and the environment.
My four-member family members are frugal consumers. We buy in bulk, reuse bags and containers when we do get them, and produce one curbside bag of trash a week (stored into recycled feed sacks or grocery bags, which always seem to be present no matter how much we ask to not have them).
So the PAYT program would cost us $156 a year for that level of use. With a PAYT reusable can program, residents can purchase their trash cans outright for $156 or opt for quarterly installments of $40 each added to their municipal water bill. Renters should be able to purchase their own trash cans and bring them with them if they relocate.
So please, Brattleboro, take a moment to reassess what you are creating and supporting. PAYT is a great move, but it deserves a much smarter approach.