In 2022 Town Meeting members approved a commitment to reduce waste and support environmental justice; and in 2023 a zero waste plan was created, recommending a volume-based fee structure for trash. Both the town and a group of volunteers have worked incredibly hard to create a plan that aims to reduce our trash output and keep the fast-rising costs of trash hauling from becoming a burden on residents. Two years of further work, discussion and multiple community meetings led to the recent approval of Article 31 by 70% of Town Meeting members.
Now, a group wants to undo all that hard work, and force us all to pay more for our trash removal. Costs are rising for trash removal – a 67% increase in just five years. We already pay for trash through our taxes, but every household pays the same portion, whether it is for one bag or six barrels. Is it equitable that a household generating one barrel a week pay the same as a household that generates large amounts of trash? The town will still collect a single barrel without any added fees under the new plan, and there is still time to weigh in on the size of barrel residents prefer.
Lexington’s trash is burned at an incinerator in North Andover and the ash is buried in a landfill in Shrewsbury, whose communities have to deal with any resulting pollution. Wouldn’t reducing the trash being sent to the incinerator be a better way to honor our town’s commitment to environmental justice?
Communities with a volume-based system have been shown to generate less trash, and Lexington already has ways to reduce trash that many residents can take advantage of. Composting is the single best way to reduce the volume of trash at the curb. It reduces the weight of our trash significantly (which also reduces the hauling costs) and is much better for the environment.
My vote on June 16 will be a YES for lowering the costs of trash removal, reducing waste in town, and making trash costs more equitable.
Stephanie Repaci