Aug 02 2007
It’s Trash Night
Tonight is trash night on Forest Ave. For anyone who’s just moved to Portland, you may be a bit surprised at how Portland handles trash pickup. Instead of it being a city service funded by property taxes, as it was in Troy, NY, or a for-pay service as it was in Delmar, NY, Portland sells trash bags through the local grocery stores. You can get your blue Portland trash bags at the register in the local Hannaford, and I’m sure the Shaw’s up here have them in the trash bag aisle or at the register too. The five-pack of large bags (30 gallon, perhaps?) was $7.50 and we’ve gone through one a week so far. That works out to be cheaper than it was for disposal in Delmar, if we keep up that pace.
Portland also does a single-sort recycling program. Check out this video for more information. The big blue bin needs to be purchased at the DPW building on Portland St. and costs $7.00. I’m quite amazed by just how much is recyclable here. It seems like they recycle just about everything. Some things, like paperboard, I didn’t even know could be recycled, but I’m sure glad that they do. I feel very good about how little I need to put in the trash every week.