Trash Pick-up

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Does anyone have a link or knowledge about Somerville's new garbage laws regarding things having to be in a trash barrel with a lid? I'm doing spring cleaning, and already I have much more than will fit in the house's barrels. Without a car I can't take it to a dump, and some of it is perishable stuff that will stink if left til the following week...

Thanks for any guidance.

Comments

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

It still needs to be in barrels.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I must have misunderstood the regs. I got them from the source: http://crm.4gov.com/SOMERVILLEMA/FILEXFER/issue_12612/Ord2006Trash.pdf
But they aren't particularly clear anywhere I can find on the proper way to handle the very occasional situation of having more trash than barrels, beyond that it will be treated as bulk trash.

I *was* told earlier this year by someone on 311 that additional bags could go out on the curb on trash day, but that does actually seem to be the case.

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

Nope, the regs define bulk trash as specific items, not an abundance of trash.

(For that matter the regs also set a limit on the volume of trash barrels -- 32 gallons. No one seems to be taking that into account, though.)

That being said, there's the letter of the law, and then there's the purpose of the law.

The primary reason for these regulations is to reduce the amount of rodent food available. The city is highly unlikely to ticket every non-compliant household every week. What seems more likely to me is that buildings that repeatedly ignore the ordinance will be noticed and fined.

So the right thing to do is to make a good faith effort when you have an unusually large quantity of trash. Put all of the food trash in barrels. Keep some of the clean garbage inside until trash day, etc. In my opinion if you make a good faith effort to follow the regs you should have nothing to worry about.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Nope, the regs define bulk trash as specific items, not an abundance of trash.

If you look at page 4 of the regs, section (h)(3), it notes that nonregulation barrels or any other unapproved containers will be treated as bulk items and disposed of as such. Since they define an approved container, that seems to mean that trash in trash bags outside a proper barrel would be considered bulk items.

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

Which contradicts (h)(1) on the same page ("shall cause the refuse to be placed in authorized refuse receptacles."), but I see your point.

Sorry for bickering about it.

I'm usually better at close reading than this, but every time I've tackled these regs they've sent me in circles.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Oh, I didn't think we were bickering -- just both being kind of amused while navigating the labyrinth of government regulations.

Perhaps, taking a cue from them, we too should have begun with two and a half pages defining any word we might use that could be confusing, such as "leaves" (b)(11). :)