June 11, 2010

Dear Pembroke Municipal Solid Waste Committee,

This letter is to notify you that I have no intention of paying any additional money for garbage collection, late fees, or demand fees until you have established a fair and responsible garbage and recycling collection program. After attending recent trash committee meetings and learning that rate increases are largely due to unpaid bills, and that people who do pay their bills are subsidizing those who do not, I refuse to pay any more trash bills. 

 It is absolutely absurd that you continue to provide service to people who have not paid their bill in years, and make no attempt to collect on unpaid bills. I have been a Pembroke resident for 11 ½ years, and during that time, I have always paid my bills, and also always recycled and composted. I am tired of watching my neighbors put out four or five cans a week, and not recycle knowing that they are paying (or at least being charged) the same amount as me. My family of three puts out 2 or 3 cans per month on average.

Recycling must be made compulsory, and accessible to everyone. Pembroke has one of the lowest recycling rates in the state because it is incredibly difficult and time consuming. The lack of curbside pick up, the lack of requirement to recycle, and the limited hours of the recycling center all have a negative impact on the recycling rate in Pembroke. The ridiculous state laws that require each bottle and can to be scanned and accounted for and returned to a store that sells the product, as well as the inability of the legislature to add a deposit to non-carbonated beverage containers also contribute to the low recycle rate.

Pay as you throw is the only solution that is fair to homeowners who consume, reuse, and recycle because it is based on consumption, and actual use of town services. Until Pembroke instates a pay as you throw and curbside recycling pickup policy, my family is opting out of the town garbage collection system, and will not be paying for it.


Lance Keimig
Pembroke, MA