EINSTEIN FIGURED OUT WHY MAUI’S LANDFILL IS GROWING INTO A MOUNTAIN

Thank-you Notal Einstein, for your outstanding letter.  You put the reason why most people on Maui don’t take recycling seriously into plain English.  Good behavior is penalized while bad behavior is rewarded.  There is no incentive to conserve landfill space because of our incredibly low trash hauling rates.

If a family in San Francisco chooses to put out 6 cans of trash a week it will cost them over $1,000 a year.  Their recyclables and kitchen scraps/yard wastes are hauled away for free.  This program, called Pay as You Throw works by charging unit pricing for garbage, just like we do for water and electricity.  Extra revenue from garbage collection fees fund free removal of recoverable resources.

It’s a shame that those of us who recycle on Maui are penalized by higher trash rates.  You are paying $1.38 for your 32-gallon can of trash while your neighbors, who maximize their service pay only 23 cents per can.

To show our appreciation for your efforts, Maui Recycling Service would like to offer you three months of free curbside recycling pick up.  Please contact us at 244-0443 for details.

Until the county begins rewarding good behavior by implementing unit pricing for trash while providing free curbside pickup, we can expect Pu’u Opala to keep growing.

Bob Armantrout