PETERS: Even if demand drops, City of Kamloops should pick up organics weekly throughout the winter

Part of the reason it is popular is almost certainly because pickup is every week. People know that, if they put something in their organics bin, it will be gone in a matter of a few days.

If they put it in their garbage bins as they always did, they may have to wait another week or more for it to be removed.

The organics program is not without its hiccups and annoyances, mind you. The fact that the city’s vendor does not accept biodegradable plastic liners leads to the service being not nearly as neat and tidy as it could be.

Overall, though, the program has already successfully diverted tons and tons of material away from the city’s landfills and into a more sustainable destination.

Which makes the decision to move to alternate week collection starting on December 1 all the more curious.

The city says its pilot organics program showed demand decreased in the winter.

And thus, the chicken-and-egg conundrum.

It’s not unlike transit service. Does the city provide bus service only as a response to demand? Or does it launch a new route to encourage people who have never considered riding the bus to do so?

With organics, providing less service so early in the program’s implementation may prompt more people to revert to simply ignoring their organics bins.

This move was made with cost savings in mind. Instead of picking up two bins from each household every week, like the city has done for years, it will be two bins one week and only one bin the next.

It’s a move that would seemingly imperil the uptake of a program that has the potential to do a lot of good.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.

by James Peters

PETERS: Even if demand drops, City of Kamloops should pick up organics weekly throughout the winter

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