Does anyone have any idea how expensive a zero waste policy can be?
Garbage rates could be going up dramatically if Oakland insists on pursuing zero waste now.
Do our elected officials understand how much this will cost? Recycling is a noble cause, and I'm all for it, but should we be asked to put our resources into this particular way of improving our neighborhood and our city? Is this the right time to burden our taxpayers with higher garbage rates? Isn't public safety, more police, and crime deterrence more urgent to our every day lives and well-being?
One of the biggest annual contracts for Oakland and other big cities is collecting garbage and making sure neighborhoods don't drown in rubbish or illegal dumping. Recycling is the high-flying ambition for Oakland to be environmentally safe and to reduce the mountains of garbage that rise in landfills like Altamont in Livermore. So why I am writing about such mundane topics when the Oakland A's are tied for first place and proving my prediction that they can go all the way?!
Because there are rumors floating around that Oakland's garbage collection rates will be shooting up, thanks to the city's goal to achieve zero waste. Where are the rumors coming from? Well, in the first place, garbage collection rates have shot up 23% in San Francisco, and that marvelous guardian of how a city should be run is trying to set the standard for zero waste in northern California.
Oakland is nowhere near as well off as San Francisco, and if tariffs go up by 23% in San Francisco, who knows how high they will go in Oakland.
The curbside service tariff for a single family residence in Oakland is $21.84 per month to pick up garbage once a week. That's for the basic 20-gallon mini-can. The rate goes up to $29.30 for 35-gallon, $63.89 for 64-gallon and $98.44 for 96-gallon carts - per month, per home. Imagine if those rates go up by 25% or 50% if Oakland's City Council goes ahead and says, "Sure, we want to fix the broken window syndrome of run-down neighborhoods. Sure, we want to be at the forefront of environmental social thinking and recycle all our waste."
Sounds great, but how much will it cost, and can we really afford this now?