This week Baltimore City’s controversial new trash collection schedule came into effect. Instead of getting two weekly pick ups and two bi-monthly recycling days, we now only have one garbage day. Plus, there is also a limit to how much can be picked up each week. Another bad move by Baltimore City?

No, because it also made the change so that we get recycling every single week instead of every other week.

Sure, it may take a few more minutes to sort your waste every day, but it makes total sense to do so. How often do we complain about city taxes? Now, as its tax coffers to pay for services are drying up, the City actually came up with a novel idea to prevent another tax hike.

It only takes a few minutes to toss paper, plastic, and metal waste into another bin. Done. Then the City can sell our trash instead of having to pay a vendor to dump it in a land fill. Not only are we saving money for the City (and essentially all of us tax payers), but we are preventing tons of waste from pilling up in landfills, saving energy and helping the environment. Sounds like a universal application of Jewish values to me.

That’s what makes it so puzzling that some Orthodox Jews in the city were against the new regulations. I understand some of their points: Many have large families, guests over for big Shabbat meals and often host a major dinner on a Jewish holiday. That all leads to more garbage. But there’s also the opportunity to sort through that garbage so that it can be recycled, lessening the need to have more or larger trash pick ups.

We all hate change, we’re all very busy. Still, we make time to study Torah and perform various mitzvot. Taking care of God’s creation also is high up on the lists of commandments. We take time to look at labels to ensure the proper hechsher (kosher certification). It takes the same amount of time to see which bin your trash goes in.

Let’s help our planet, and let’s help Baltimore City taxpayers in one swoop. Recycle. As often as possible.

The Orthodox issue with the new recycling had nothing to do with change. The issue, which you hinted at but glossed over, is that even after removing the recycling goods a large family still produces a lot of garbage. I believe the original proposal was to allow for only one can of non-recycled garbage a week. For a family with 6 kids, or for people who graciously host many Shabbos guests, that’s a recipe for attracting rodents to the garbage that would undoubtedly build up. Now that’s a real concern for everyone! In the end the community was able to negotiate a larger garbage limit, and special permission for large families. Hopefully this will all work out.

If it’s such a swell thing to do, why does it have to be forced on everyone? In any case I’m sure your housekeeper didn’t mind the extra work…

Any credence to the argument that the new changes are good was lost this past Saturday. One had only to walk the streets of my Pikesville neighborhood and see the recycling containers Baltimroe City had failed to pick up as promised the day before. Instead of effective recycling there was piled up material that was starting to spread onto the sidewalks and streets. Kudos to Baltimore City for failing in its first week of the new venture.