Size Does Matter

Size Does Matter

I live in Saskatoon. A couple of months ago, I got my ‘new’ garbage cart. As part of shifting the cost of waste out of general taxes and into a utility, Saskatoon gave people a chance to reduce their garbage costs by choosing a smaller cart. The city offered three sizes – 360 litres (the original), 240 litres and 120 litres. Each of the sizes has a different monthly cost. It’s one way for communities with automated pickup to move toward a system where people pay on how much they use, and it rewards people who reduce waste. 

So, my new 120 litre cart arrives and it’s just so teeny. It’s a third the size of the one I had, and frankly, it doesn’t quite look real. Other members of my household immediately started worrying about its capacity. Never mind that we only put out our old big cart five or six times a year, it’s the idea that we might have garbage to get rid of that won’t fit. When we get into cleaning or decluttering mode, maybe it won’t be big enough?

It reminded me of a book I read a long time ago – Rubbish! The Archaeology of Garbage by William Rathje and Cullen Murphy. (I just looked it up, it was published in 1992 and is still in print – wow!).  Rathje is an actual archaeologist who studied garbage from all sorts of angles. One of their conclusions is a pretty obvious one – the bigger the garbage container, the more people will throw away.

Okay, yes, duh, but also, just because a cart is bigger does that mean people are producing more waste?  No.  But, they’re going to put more things into the garbage because it’s easier than finding other places. Maybe those bulky/heavy metal things could go to a scrap metal dealer? Maybe there’s still life in some of those no-longer-wanted household items and they could be sold or given away? It is human nature to take the easier path, which explains our tendency to fill up bigger containers with more stuff. 

Saskatoon used to have these ginormous containers that were meant to be shared by 3-4 households. They were 1136 litres (300 gallons). In 2009, when the city switched to the 360 litre carts, some people protested, worried that the new ones wouldn’t be big enough – sound familiar? At the time, there were no curbside recycling or composting programs, so people not looking for alternatives could maybe fill up the new 369 litre carts. Maybe … 

But with curbside recycling and curbside organics collection, what’s left in the garbage? Why would people still need the same size container? Is stuff going into the garbage that doesn’t belong there? Of course. Garbage archaeologists have proved it. Human nature confirms it. 

Maybe all of us need a 120 litre nudge.