This is a brief outline of a complete waste management program for residential areas. Using four color-coded containers with simple, painted-on instructions, people will be better helped to recycle, separate and safely collect household hazardous waste, and throw away regular trash and yard waste cheaper and easier. By using a simple "pay for your use" disposal program and recycling only profitable materials, this plan reorganizes the financing of waste disposal so that it can fund and reward recycling, conservation, and educate about disposal.

THE SYSTEM:

Distribute four color-coded containers for all household waste.
Each container has simple instructions printed on the front.

BLACK BARREL: TRASH
A black 55 gallon barrel for unrecyclable, non-hazardous trash. The first barrel is funded through city tax, each extra barrel costs cheapest possible market value.

GREEN TUB: RECYCLABLES
Free curbside recycling of only profitable materials. (such as aluminum, paper and cardboard)

BROWN BAG AND TWINE: ORGANIC YARD WASTE
Leaves, brush, etc. Seasonally picked up at curb, and paid for at local sites.

RED TUB: HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE
A red tub for collection of paints, batteries, poisons, chemicals and other hazardous wastes. For scheduled neighborhood area clean-up collections by HHW truck. The HHW truck could also provide water testing in local sewers, to help neighborhoods become more aware of toxic chemicals that are going down the drain.

THE WHY AND HOW-

In case you need a rocket scientist to tell you, we HAVE to change the way we are destroying nature. IN REALITY! (ok I'm not really a rocket scientist... )

This plan is designed to in real ways immediately inform and provide environmentally better options to residential participants, with tactile, in-home color-coded disposal containers with instructions on them. This would be funded by reducing the city earnings tax and then partially privatizing the waste management utility with the water bill, like sewers.

By reorganizing the financial way that people relate to their own awareness of their wastes people will be more motivated to be aware of their buying choices.

1) PAY ONLY FOR USE: by making each consumer responsible for their own disposal costs, according to the measure of their own use (at fair market value), personal awareness of polluting is increased. Because they can save on their earnings tax, reducing the amount of waste becomes attractive by financial motivation.
PEOPLE WILL BE ABLE TO PAY LESS IF THEY POLLUTE LESS!

2) THE ENVIRONMENTALLY NUMB MINDSET OF "FREE TRASH" AS AN ENTITLEMENT MUST BE CHANGED: give people awareness and connection to the real COST of pollution and provide very convenient, environmentally responsible disposal systems at their curb and local neighborhood centers.

3) PERMANENTLY ELIMINATE POISONOUS WASTES FROM LANDFILLS: by providing funds to create a convenient collection program, people can learn to separate toxins from regular trash and will become more aware when buying hazardous products.

If you have any questions about the "Four-Color" plan idea, please email me at: evansmalley@yahoo.com