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LETTERS: Holiday pickup poses problems

Editor: Do you know what the heck is going on with garbage pickup in Surrey?
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City of Surrey’s multi-bin system – which alternates garbage and recycling collection – creates difficulties for some.

Editor:

Do you know what the heck is going on with garbage pickup in Surrey?

Not only do they discourage recycling now – as they only pick up recycling every two weeks, instead of every week – they also pick up garbage on stat holidays when people may be out of town and cannot possibly put it out themselves.

I lived in Vancouver my whole life, and we never had garbage pickup on stat holidays for this very reason. If you put garbage out three days early, the animals get into it; or the thieves get into your house, as it’s a red flag you are not home.

Talking to city hall, I was told my neighbours should do it for us – but they aren’t home either.

Or, we should put it out the following week – which  would be a great idea, but we have to alternate weeks with garbage and then recycling, and it means we would have two extra weeks worth of garbage or recycling.

If that doesn’t work, I was told, I should take it to the dump myself. What we are paying our garbage fees for in our property taxes? To drive it ourselves to the dump?

Plus, I want to know how many people are struggling with what they are supposed to put where – recycling-garbage-compost – as the City of Surrey is threatening to fine people for putting the wrong thing in them.

They have given us a list with a few examples, and yet there are thousands of different things that you really have to decide where they go.

Leslie Ford, Surrey