SALT LAKE CITY — Every year after Christmas old pine trees litter the curb, and every spring old couches, broken furniture and other debris take that same spot.
For years Salt Lake City has taken care of the garbage but environmental problems have them hitting the brakes this year and turning to a new program.
SLC Green Communication Manager, Sophia Nicholas , said the big concern is that people would leave their garbage out for days ahead of the pickup.
“It can cause potential flooding. It can cause material to be washed into our streams and rivers,” Nicholas said.
“We want to be good stewards and protect our water quality. We also wanted to address some issues we’ve had with dumping that was caused by this program.”
Last summer she said they sent out an electronic survey and reviewed every single response trying to fit the opinions and requests into a new plan.
“Really recieved the most comments the city has ever recieved for a digital survey- almost 4100 hundred,” Nicholas said. “We also looked at ways to make the program better.”
On July 1st they will officially replace the current program with “Call 2 Haul”- a year round large garbage collection service.
“Folks will be able to call and choose from available collection weeks,” Nicholas explained.
The catch? You can only set your garbage out 24 hours before pickup. Nicholas said they are also adding tires and electronic waste to the garbage the city is willing to pick up. She said they hope it will get rid of their illegal dumping problem, help residents dispose of large garbage, and keep our local rivers a little bit cleaner.
Check out this website to learn more.