But one of our cities did try out a way where they paid people a certain amount based on the weight of trash brought in. The trash was collected at certain points in the city.

The city was cleaner. The Municpality had their payments to the trash companies lowered. People who did not want to cary the trash had other “volunteers”. A win-win for all, I think. Not sure if this is still being carried out.

I’ll look into it though. thanks

Clever Dude – I completely agree and something I did think about. However, the landfill is 1.8 miles from my house, and even if everyone on my street drove the trash themselves, it would be less emissions than those hulking broken trucks that Waste Management drives. They say they are concerned for the environment, but every truck in their fleet is a polluting nightmare, spewing black smoke everywhere they go. They also don’t do any recycling for us, and we all have to take that on our own if we want to recycle.

While the transfer station is right up the road from us, and we only toss about 1-2 bags per week, I might consider dropping it too, but I bet our city has a requirement for trash pickup (to reduce chance of people not removing their trash and blighting the neighborhood). That would be a nice savings, and will let me use my truck

However, have you considered the environmental impact of driving separately? There’s an economy of scale in force with the trash truck just adding your house to the route; it’s driving by anyway. But if you go separately, you’re adding your carbon emissions to the mix. While it’s negligible, imagine if half your neighborhood took up the same idea! Just being a devil’s advocate because I also agree with doing what helps your own household finances.