Arlington should switch to toters

I love Arlington Heights and feel really lucky to live here, but there's one area that has room for improvement. Fortunately, it's an easy problem to fix.

Currently, the village has twice a week garbage collection, and residents must use garbage bags instead of garbage cans. This makes the critters of Arlington Heights very happy, because bags are easy to rip open, but it sure makes a mess of the streets.

In contrast, Mt. Prospect, for example, has once a week garbage collection, and they use rolling "toters" for both garbage and recycling. Not only do the heavy-duty toters hold up better against pests, the once a week pickup means less wear and tear on our roads, less vehicle emissions in our neighborhoods, and less traffic on our streets.

Toters can also hold more recyclables than our current hand-held bins. Best of all, switching to once a week collection with toters costs less, even after the price of the toters is figured in.

My friends in Mt. Prospect can't understand why Arlington Heights doesn't switch to once a week toters, and neither can I.

Fortunately, our waste-hauling contract is up for renewal soon. I urge anyone who agrees with me to voice your opinion to the mayor and the village board, as I have.

Janet McDonnell

Arlington Heights