PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Mayoral candidate Nicholas J. Caccamo says developing a more sustainable community can mean keeping the current trash removal system intact for residents:
Being a more sustainable community means meeting the needs of Pittsfield today, without affecting the needs of tomorrow. Easy ways the city can become more sustainable is to increase its recycling efforts each week and take on personal composting in our back yards. These simple efforts would help lower the cities waste disposal costs at the end of year and keep the current trash removal system intact.
■ The first step to increasing city recycling efforts is to make sure all residents know what is and what is not recyclable. Next, residents need to understand what composting is and why is it useful. The benefits of composting for the resident include:
■ As the city prepares to again debate shifting towards a more regulated trash removal program, composting will help families to more easily meet the requirements of this program.
■ The less trash collected by the city each week would reduce the end of year cost of total trash removal.
■ Composting provides residents with a method to utilize leaves during the fall, reducing personal yard waste removal costs.
A long-term goal I have for becoming more sustainable community would be to create a three-bin waste system at all schools in Pittsfield. The system would have one bin each for trash, recyclables, and compostable materials. With additional education, students would understand that not all waste is the same and understand how to properly dispose of their particular items. The system would pay dividends in the future as students take this information back home and continue to practice proper waste disposal as they get older.
More information about my plans to help improve the city can be found at my Web site caccamoformayor.webs.com.
Submitted by the campaign to elected Nicholas J. Caccamo
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