Is Columbia's trash bag voucher system working well?
8%
Yes
92%
No
It's a disaster, as are most of the cities half baked ideas. Let us contract privately. It's cheaper, cleaner, and gives us different options for everybody.
Reply ReplyNever got my 1st vouchers. Hard to find bags to buy . Havent had trash service since February.
Reply ReplyIt is very clearly a scam. While the bags may be a bit bigger then what some people would purchase at the store, the excuse that it will produce less trash is false. The same amount of trash per family will be the same the only difference is who gets paid for the trash bag the city or a company.
Reply ReplyThere are never bags that we can pick up with our voucher. The stores are out.
Reply ReplyI live in an area where animals eat through the cheap quality bags. Have a family that has to pay extra because of running out of the voucher bags. I would rather pay once for a bin to use.
Reply ReplyHow can u controll on what we throw away these bags suck and then you want to charge $2 per bag that's ridiculous I had to spend 40 bucks extra some people can afford that I'm sure you all get free trash bags whenever you want them this needs to put to stop we will stop this Columbia needs to come t
Reply ReplyBoth sets of bags are of horrible quality. I have to put my trash in a better bag and then place that bag in a city bag. I don't mind having to use the city issued bag if they'd just use better quality bags
Reply ReplyWhen you run out to go buy some. The stores are out of ones that you can buy. The trash bags are junk. They say a wright limit of 50ibs you can't even fit 10 15 pounds it rips all the way through and the strings on the bags rip off. This is a joke. They need to let us buy our own trash bags.
Reply ReplyPeople are overloading business trash dumpsters and making the city look literally trashy.
Reply ReplyThe bag quality is poor, and they are huge. Using tall kitchen garbage bags and putting them in the black bags is okay, but it just puts more plastic in the landfill. I would love to see the large rolling trashcans and a device to lift them into the truck to ease the worker's burden.
Reply ReplyI like putting my trash bags into different trash bags as much as the next guy, but it seems to me it's long past time for roll carts.
Reply ReplyThe old system was bad, the new system is worse. Roll carts please you spineless council persons.
Reply ReplyThe bags rip, so trash spills out, it is not picked up, & then it blows around the entire neighborhood. I've seen trash everywhere! And instead of reducing waste, I still have to buy other trash bags that fit our trash can and shove them into the city bags hoping to meet weight like airport luggage
Reply ReplyThe bags are very poor quality. They are also hard to find. My recycling only gets picked up twice a month. I have to use a blue plastic bag to recycle my paper. They won't accept anything that won't fit into a rather small trash bag... I'll stop there.
Reply ReplyCitizens of the US should have the right to exercise their rights on what they choose to spend their money on and that includes trash bags. We build and grow the economy so it should be our choice.
Reply ReplyCity of Columbia needs some changes. We pay for our trash to get picked up. Vouchers twice a year 26 bags. We spend more money to get more bags. We need to go back using heavier bags. City trash bags cheap, tear easily. Not happy with the changes
Reply ReplyThey changed the number of bags with no warning and now we can’t use our old vouchers. We still put multiple regular trash bags into the big city bag. This adds so much plastic unnecessarily and isn’t good for the environment. The bags are crap too. There’s just no reason I can think of for this.
Reply ReplyRoll carts, more automation, guess what genius's. It's 2021, invest and take the liability off the people getting on and off a truck. Should pay for itself after time. Done and done. Everyone should be happy. But, noooooo. Why?
Reply ReplyIt's expensive and the bags are horrible. They constantly rip and half the time the pull string handles are defective.
Reply ReplyThe city can hardly keep the public drop off for recycling from becoming a nightmare and haven't reduced any trash fees with this new system. How about giving us roll carts to put bags in? That would be infinitely better than giving us crap bags that cost a fortune.
Reply ReplyProblem - Too much trash - Too many worker injuries Hypothesis - 50 lb bags will solve the problem Best Case -Recycling volume goes up Worst Case -Worker injuries go up from lifting 50 lb bags -Trash stays same -You create a mess that costs more -You lose credibility with citizens
Reply ReplyThis system is both socially and environmentally irresponsible. Due to no longer collecting normal size kitchen bags, citizens are forced to stuff these in the oversized black bags provided, thus doubling the amount of plastic being put out. This is also not a true rendering for “pay as you throw”.
Reply ReplyHuge issue w/ only taking what fits in a bag- citizens now have to worry about paying for slightly oversize items. Asking people to pay to dispose of items such as vacuums that won’t fit in a bag is absurd and encourages dumping. Size/weight specifications for curbside would be more appropriate.
I have a large family and have already had to buy two extra rolls of bags after using the years allotment. I use at least 5 bags each week. I will need to buy more soon. This is a tax on families.
Reply ReplyInadequate supply of bags for a typical family and over-priced bags when you have to purchase them yourself. This for-profit scam needs to be completely rethought. Update the garbage trucks, issue roll-off containers to all residents, and it will reduce the manpower needed per route.
Reply Replythe black bags are CHEAP BAGS low quality not even worth buying them for $2.00 per bag
Reply ReplyThe waste/recycle program is poorly managed. More money has been spent on the program while service declines. Need to consider contracting part of the service out to the private sector.
Reply ReplyWhile I no longer live in Columbia, the trash blowing around all over town tells the truth about the current system. The entire town is a mass of blowing trash. It is embarrasing when out of town guests notice.
Reply ReplyBags quality are very poor, bags aren't available for purchase when you run out. I've been to numerous locations that have bags but customers are told that without voucher , bags can't be given. Because they have ran out of the ones for purchase. It's a major inconvenience.
Reply ReplyThere are many items that are difficult to put in plastic bags. I used to save banana boxes to put limbs and weeds out. No longer.
Reply ReplyThe bags are flimsy and tear too easily. The city needs to invest in roll carts and automated systems to solve it's collection and staffing issues.
Reply ReplyThe bags are heavy, hard to store and break. Roll carts would eliminate all of these issues.
Reply ReplyThe QUALITY and inconvient size/shape of the bags are my primary issues. The bags are prone to ripping and manufacture defects. Also, I am having to use multiple 10 gallon bags to fill 1 city bag to avoid unpleasant odor inside our home, thus increasing our overall trash output.
Reply ReplyThis is so clearly to let lazy people stay lazy and to not do their jobs if CoMo wants to recycle and clean up trash they should do it themselves not force us to do it.
Reply ReplyIt is causing a lot more illegal dumping because some people either refuse or can't afford the extra bags but the don't create less trash. If the city officials think that this new system is causing people to reduce the trash that their household accumulates every week they are delusional.
Reply ReplyBecause you see trash bags full of trash just sitting around all over the city because they have to wait for certain days for recycling. The bags are cheap and rip eazy so the trash people won't take them if they are busted open.
Reply ReplyWhat's the reason for u paying a trash bill every month if u still have to buy trash bags when u run out ...who thought of this anyway. . .a mess
Reply ReplyI have a creek in my back yard. When is gets high, all sorts of trash from the creek ends up in my lawn. I now have to pay extra to throw away other people's trash that is in my lawn. Not to mention this system does not solve the issue of trash being all over the street after trash day.
Reply ReplyI've lived in 8 cities/towns in my life across the eastern US. All (population 8k - 500k) used carts/cans for garbage. This is the worst way of refuse disposal I've seen. Most inconvienent, redundant, and expensive thing to do. Extra waste ends up in recycle centers anyway.
Reply ReplyThe voucher system is a disaster. I now put the same bags that I was already using and paying for in more plastic bags. Is our city secretly controlled by bag sellers? This is lunacy. The bags we get are crap quality, as well. The drawstrings are WEAK
Reply ReplyIt's such a hassle for the customers and has people dumping in business dumpsters. My restaurant has seen several people using our dumpster and has led to overflow and we haven't been able to use them. The trash collectors don't take the overflow and have left the area a huge mess countless times.
Reply ReplyTrash blows all over the neighborhood. The bags tear and cannot close properly. The system is a failure.
Reply ReplyThe vouchers work, the bags do not. That is a totally different discussion though.
Reply Reply
This is hard to say yes or no. Yes it is working well in some areas, but No it is not in others. I like that I am charged less than others who throw away more trash. But I see more trash being tossed out on the side of the street.
ReplyPeople just dont want to be told how much or what size trash they can throw away. If they recycled they would have plenty if bags. I have 3 teenage boys and we put out one black trash bag a week unless we have a special occasion. Really not a big deal.
ReplyForces people to recycle more, reduce waste, and consider if, maybe, somebody else may want the gently used item they would have normally just thrown away. Reduce, reuse, recycle. Only downside is people have been illegally dumping more at the recycling bins around town.
ReplyAfter our daughter joined us we're now at 2 kitchen trash bags and a recycling bag per week. Sometimes a little more, but the city trash bags will fit 3 kitchen trash bags, so we never have any problem there. With the recycling taking care any heavy glass, cans, or bulk cardboard the black bags work
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