The wave of the future is the blue totes... I also think this would drive more residents to recycling.

Too bad about the cost but it would be more convenient than buying those recycle blue bags or using multiple store bags. Would not have to put it out weekly since the bins are so large. Would be less trash flying around the street also.

Give me the bin. I hate the blue bags because I use cloth bags at the store and it seems counterproductive to get bags just so I can recycle other stuff.

Bins!

I think the 96 gallon containers would be bigger than needed. There are smaller versions that have wheels. Carrying a tote or bin would be hard for some seniors and those with disabilities.

Check out what fairview park does... They have the large one for trash and a smaller can on wheels for recycling.

Also, are their any concerns with residents not putting out on a weekly basis and accumulating their recyclables as far as optimizing the work force consistently?

Question to those of you voting for the bins...if you had to buy the bin yourself, would you still be voting for it? I just think that sometimes people think that things like this are free, but you are paying for it with your taxes. I just think the money could be better spent somewhere else, that's just my two cents.

Good question... I would have to say yes. The cost of the blue bags is pretty high.

Moving here from CA I say BINS, much easier and gets more people to recycle, most in Lakewood do not live in big houses and to put our recyclables, as we did in San Diego, in the big blue bin makes utter sense. Now please people bring ALL your bins in on your trash day, sick of lazy people who cannot take 3 minutes to pull up a bin or 2

Mr. Martini, our taxes are going to pay for them like it or not. After many posts you live here but do not seem to actually like it, you can move to a more suitable suburb, perhaps the Eastern suburbs are more to your liking...Lakewood has the highest taxes in the region...if you LOVE benefits you should adore this. The bins, are more convinient for the mass population. Why not just do or vote for something that overall benefits? Personally I fed UP with blue bags, bite me, I am from CA, we invented recyling

I live on one of the narrowest streets in Lakewood. My tree lawn is approx 2 feet wide. So 2 huge garbage receptacles on my non existing tree lawn, NO thank you.

Our family recycles everything possible. Besides glass, metal, plastic, cardboard - don't forget ALL paper. Junkmail, etc. We compost kitchen scraps. This leaves us w/just 1 or 2 bags per week of garbage. Our recyclables are more than our garbage. I love the idea of bins. We don't have enough room in our house or garage to keep all the recycling garbage & a bin would be great. In my opinion, if you have way more garbage than recycling, you are not recycling all you could. There are exceptions I.e., baby diapers. In our family a bin would take up the same space than the blue bags.

I don't much like buying the blue bags but to have to try to deal with yet another huge container all week is more than annoying. I prefer the bags. My property is extremely small and jockeying the containers around my car all week will be very inconvenient not to mention unsightly.

I support curbside recycling to get rid of the bags...Let's go one step further and put a tax on plastic bags at the grocery store. I think Washington DC imposed a $0.05 a bag tax to cut down on the waste.

I have the iconic Lakewood one car small garage. There just isn't any room in it for the new garbage can, let alone a recycle bin, which means the recycle one will probably be left out with the garbage bin on my driveway. Before, my smaller trashcan always made it back into the garage but now I have to leave the big one out and I am not looking forward to a big blue one sitting out next to it.

This is a no-brainer. More people would recycle and the city would make money.

If there were a smaller bin available...I would be all for it. But a 96 gallon container....seems like a big expense and Lakewood has one of the highest tax rates in NEOH as it is!

I am also for the bins . . . 'tho I do agree that 96 gallon is excessive!! We had mandatory recycling back in PA 40 years ago! Garbage was collected TWICE weekly, recycles ONCE a week. We more recently had SMALL bins in Indianapolis, that we paid $25. for. I would happily purchase a bin (recommend a smaller size), I hate buying the plastic bags . . . a one time purchase for a container makes MUCH more sense to me!

I like the smaller blue bin idea. There are many persons in the apartment buildings around me that recycle using the blue bags. Will their buildings receive a bin?

I'm all for the blue bags...are you going to go outside to the 96-gallon bin every time you use a can or a bottle? We have a "dedicated blue bag" in a waste basket for recyclables under the kitchen sink. Once it's filled, it goes out on the curb the night before our garbage pick-up. No fuss. No muss.

Each family could figure out the logistics behind how they keep their recyclables. I would just take out just like trash... When the can fills up in the kitchen, take it out to the large can.

I was just thinking this week. Out loud. To myself. That if recycling is mandatory, why do they give us huge garbage bins, but no recycling bin at all? I barely use my garbage bin. I am so happy that they are planning this and I vote yes 100%
Also, when will they start curbside compost pick up?

On one hand the idea is good, on the other hand this is going to cost me and other property owners like me more money. I own a 7 unit apt building, and when the city went to the automated trash pick up they cut our service. I ask my 8 tenants to recycle everything, and also supply compost bins for them. By doing this I'm able to save $50 a month and have my three 96 gal bins pick up every other week instead of weekly. I do not want another city service cut unless the city lowers my taxes this time.

There was mention of banning street parking on trash days to accommodate the new automated recycling. We can only park on one side of the street now and there's not nearly enough of that already. Also, the automated pickup saves the city money by cutting jobs, and we don't need that.

My cellar is a dump from recycle Glass, Plastic, Cardboard ect. and it makes are City a dump, with blue bags blowing everywhere from the Wind! Good idea with new bins

Smaller bins than what is being proposed!!!

bins for sure! on windy winter nights it is given that everyones blue bags full of recyclables is strewn around the neighborhood-show some pride council

Blue bags for sure. I just don't see how we can justify spending money on bins when there are other important things that money should be spent on. Ridiculous.

OK here's an alternative solution:
Have recycling pickup the day after trash pickup. Then the same bin can be used for recycling and trash. People with collect recycling in the usual spot in their house or whatever and then drop it in the bin the night after the trash is picked up.
No more bins are needed!

I think the bins would be a better fit for our lovely city! I for one am sick of dodging small recycling bags as I drive down side streets after a windy night. OR running after them as they leave my curb. Maybe if we had the bins, people would use their grocery bags for picking up after their dogs!

If the Recycle Bins are big enough, Maybe two times a week, or maybe once a month on the tree lawn !?.

I would be happy to have a recycle bin if it came in a smaller size. My family recycles everything we can but do not have the space in our yard for another 96 gallon bin.

I agree that something needs to be done but Lakewood has small yards and not only am I sick of looking at my trashcan but my neighbors as well. I think my yard would be a real eyesore with another big plastic can. And I know there are smaller ones available. But in the long run I say yes.

96 gals is HUGE unless they are cheaper to buy that way or pick them up bi weekly. Better than dodging the blue bags blown all over the street. And I am basementless w 1000 sq feet. Have a can I put my blue bags in already then take them out and carry to street as I have NO indoor space for this. Would be lovely just to wheel the can to the curb :)

To try to prevent ones bags from blowing around, tie them together like Lakewood's website recommends we do. Maybe ask a neighbor to tie bags together. We are still going to have to bag our recyclables and put them in side the can. Has anyone really thought where are multi family homes going to store 4-8 bins (recycling and trash) in their back yard, and or put on their small tree lawn/curb? How are the trucks going to be able to pick up 2-8 bins every 50ft (guessing on average property width) with parked cars and soon snow from the plows? Living on Clifton, I do not see how the current automated trash system is saving time/money, besides cutting labor and commercial property pick up. Almost every week from my window I see the truck driver trying to parallel park in between cars on Clifton. Then the driver will get out of the truck and either bring the bin to, or walks the bins back to the sidewalk. Maybe the city could put the money they would spend on equipping current trucks or buying new on the city's waste water system.. Just my thought

Trash CAN be picked up where there's cars. Driveways is where you are suppose to put them then. I've seen the trash guys do both sides of my street and there's cars around. People use open spaces.