Two years ago when Lowndes County and the city of Columbus negotiated trash collection services for their residents and businesses with Golden Triangle Waste Service, a clause in the new five-year contract gave the company the option of raising rates each year.
So when the GTWS raised its rates this year, it should not have come as much of a surprise.
Although the increase will be just 84 cents this year, the prospects of similar raises over the life of the contract could mean an increase in the neighborhood of 18% from the contract’s initial charge of $13.95. That’s particularly galling to some Columbus residents, who note they are now paying more for once-a-week service than they did under the old contract that included twice-weekly pickups.
Lowndes County handled the projected annual increases by preemptively raising what it charges its residential customers from $12 to $15 when it agreed to the new contract, also in 2023, essentially building in the annual increases. That means the latest increase of $1.09 per month won’t show up on the customer’s bill.
While Columbus is debating the merits of finding a new trash collection provider, the Lowndes County board of supervisors quickly approved the GTWS increase.
For Columbus residents, even small annual increases must seem like death by a thousand cuts.
Some residents have suggested that they have the option of opting out of trash collection services and disposing of their own trash. This is likely a heat-of-the-moment reaction. The cost of paying for landfill, along with the cost of someone’s time, is likely to cost more than the services provided by GTWS even when all the annual increases are factored in.
One thing I can say with certainty is that no one wants to live in a world where disposing of household waste is left up to the individual. That approach is only as good as the least reliable neighbor, whose tolerance for trash may exceed the norm. In a world where we all take care of our trash ourselves, illegal dumping would quickly become a nightmare.
It’s easy to take trash collection for granted because that service has been provided to most Americans for almost 100 years.
The rise of American consumerism that dawned in post World War II America has continued unabated and increased exponentially. So, too, has our understanding of waste as a public health issue.
When I was a kid, our neighborhood had a dozen dogs and not a single can of dog food. Those pets ate leftovers. What the dogs wouldn’t eat became garden compost. People today would be amazed by what we repurposed. Glass containers became drinking glasses and vases. Getting a five-cent return on empty Coke bottles found along the roadways fueled a kid’s economy. My grandparents’ generation turned flower sacks into dresses and tires into shoe soles. We also had two 55-gallon drums in our backyard one for what we could burn, the other for waste to be collected by the garbage truck. Most of our waste never made it to the garbage truck, though.
It is far, far different today. We throw away everything.
The idea that for less than a dollar per day someone will come to your house and take away your trash once a week is one of the best bargains out there.
It’s hard to imagine what things would be like without trash collection, but in 1968 we got a glimpse of that when New York City garbage workers went on strike, refusing to collect trash in the city for nine days.
Just three days into the strike, The New York Times lamented that the city looked like “a vast slum as mounds of refuse grow higher and strong winds whirl the filth through the streets.” By that point there were about 30,000 tons of trash on the streets, a number that would grow to 100,000 tons.
Of all the services we rely on, trash collection is probably the cheapest.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 31 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
