For those of us that live in Baltimore City, much attention has been paid to the change in the scheduled collection of trash. In an effort to reduce costs in a time of fiscal strain and to encourage a more sustainable Baltimore, the city is moving from two days of scheduled trash pickups a week to one day of scheduled trash pickups.
I have to agree with most people that I think this is a bad idea. The coverage has focused on the effort to better enforce existing Baltimore City Code around waste. To me, the only way this works is with strict enforcement of the code around the proper receptacle, its placement when trash is not picked up, and its placement on pickup days.
In my area of Pigtown, the biggest problem I see is the improper or poor use of trash cans in my neighborhood. As garbage trucks cannot maneuver down the alley, trash pickup occurs in the front of my house. Most of my neighbors, in what I think is both a combination of laziness and cleanliness, keep their trash bins in front of their homes. A few of my neighbors, however, have completely eschewed the trash cans for a, shall we say, dirtier aesthetic. Thus, I have uncovered trash cans, overflowing with trash.
Today was a scheduled trash day under our current two day schedule. Here is what my street looked like on my way to work this morning. 
I am even more concerned about this after getting my oil changed this weekend. While paying for a new battery, I was informed that a rodent had nested near the engine in my car–specifically, the PCV tube. I know that this is partly the result of my car not moving much during the day, but I also know that the relatively unkempt conditions on my street have contributed to the rodent population on my street.
With this scene on the first day of a twice-weekly trash pickup, imagine what it is going to be like on my street one day a week. Enforcement of the code is, unfortunately, going to be critical for this law to work and maintain a cleaner city. In the meantime, though, I think I will be spending some time with the online 311 system to get the trash code enforced.
I’m taking a wait and see attitude. It will be nice to have weekly recycling as we accumulate more than our bin holds in a single week.
As for the city regulations for keeping trash in containers….I’d be more willing to get behind this if the DPW hadn’t lost 2 lids and an entire can of mine. Seriously I’ve come home from work and no lid to be found anywhere on 2 occasions and down the alley on numerous others and once I came home to no garbage can anywhere to be seen! Now I have my can bungied to my fence and put out bags in the alley.
@Paul: I could care less about recycling. I’ll go hug the non-existent tree in my back yard.
Apparently, they are more caring for cans in my neighborhood. My issue, though, is watching my neighbors use the trash cans with no lids, with loose trash in them. Next thing you know, the recently discarded fast-food bag is floating down my street.
Now, the 25-cent bag fee currently being pondered by the City Council is another thing. I, for one, would love someone to smack around some of our councilpersons. The documentation requirements alone are ridiculous.