The battles over pay-as-you-throw trash disposal in Brattleboro and Westminster strike us as being a bit ridiculous.
In nearly every town in Windham County, homeowners are responsible for their own trash disposal. Most of those towns also belong to the Windham Solid Waste Management District, which means residents have access to WSWMD's recycling facilities.
But the reality is that it costs more to dispose of trash and Brattleboro's recycling rate - about 20 percent - is abysmal. It's estimated that about half of all potentially recyclable material still winds up in landfills, and just politely asking people to recycle is no longer good enough.
When you have to take responsibility for your trash, you naturally find ways to reduce the cost. Composting food waste and recycling paper, metal, glass and plastic is the best way to cut down on trips to the transfer station.
Granted, the people in Brattleboro and Westminster have had a sweet deal. Curbside trash pickup is just a dream in many towns, or an expensive monthly bill if you live along a local trash hauler's route.
However, it can be argued that since the cost of curbside pickup comes out of the town's property taxes, people who are diligent about composting and recycling are subsidizing the people who put multiple bags at the end of the driveway.
With PAYT, you pay only for the disposal of your own trash. And in the towns around New England that have implemented PAYT, recycling rates have lowered the tonnage of trash going to landfills. This is not just good for the environment, it is good for the town's bottom line, too.
But for PAYT to be effective, it needs to be more than just charging people for each bag of trash they put out.
If Brattleboro's voters approve the implementation of PAYT, the town needs to consider weekly pickups of recyclables and compostable waste. It also needs to start an educational campaign about PAYT and recycling, instructing citizens about how both work.
The town also needs to provide timely and accurate reporting on progress made toward reducing the amount of trash sent to landfills and increasing the town's recycling rate, so townspeople can see for themselves whether PAYT is working.
People are naturally resistant to change, and PAYT represents a big change in the way Brattleboro residents deal with trash. But people need to start making the connection between trash disposal and its cost.
Westminster voters have rejected PAYT, but Brattleboro voters have a choice on June 29. They can vote to maintain the status quo for trash disposal, or try a new method that will ultimately cost most townspeople less money in the long run.