John Howard: Future and past trash barrels
Published: 10-08-2024 8:56 PM |
As most of you probably know, next year South Hadley will switch from using regular trash barrels to ones that the trash truck can pick up and automatically dump. Hopefully, we can keep the amount of plastic thrown away in this changeover to a minimum.
In talking with the DPW, I discovered that you cannot use any toters except the ones that you get from the DPW. They’re doing this so that they will be sure that you have paid your yearly trash fee. Those of you who already have toters might lobby for some sort of sticker that proves that you paid the annual fee.
If you’re wondering what to do with your old trash barrel, I have a successfully used one to make a rain barrel. Rain barrels save on your water bill and let you get water to places where your hose won’t reach. A cheap plastic faucet, a metal washer, a rubber washer, a coupling and some plastic cement allow easy access to the water. The barrel should be mounted 12 to 18 inches above the ground so you can put your bucket underneath it. You do need a lid to keep the mosquitoes out. You can just cut a hole in it for the drain pipe from a gutter to go in after you’ve cut the drain pipe length down.
John Howard
SouthHadley