Stlo’s post below is well-timed, since I just got an email from my pastor who was visiting his son in Northampton, Mass. One of the cool things they checked out while there was this group called Pedal People. A bunch of folks got together to create this business that basically hauls trash by bike. I know, I had the same questions, and yes, they haul during the winter. They’ve been doing this for a few years now and on average only cancel 2 pickups per winter. They charge only 8 bucks more/month than my loud, smelly, diesel powered hauler does, a price we’d gladly pay to support this kind of thing. Maybe that’s why, according to my pastor:

They just scored the contract to do all the public trash hauling for Northampton, b/c they beat the pants off the competition in their proposal. Very cool!

Northampton’s a little more compact than Rochester, but how could we implement something like this in parts of Rochester?

Below the fold is the list of the benefits of pedal powered hauling from their website.

1. Cost: Our prices are very competitive, and if you’re switching from another service, your first month is free with no obligation to continue. We also offer a 15% senior discount.

2. Clean air: Diesel exhaust particles can cause or exacerbate many health problems,
including asthma and other respiratory illnesses, and have been linked to cancer and
premature death.

3. No pavement damage: Trucks cause nearly all of the loadrelated damage to pavement. A vehicle weighing five tons causes over 100 times as much damage as a vehicle weighing one ton. Getting trucks off the residential streets means the pavement lasts longer, saving the city and its taxpayers money.
4. Quiet: There’s no engine or compactor noise with us.
5. Local economy: A greater percentage of the money you pay us stays in the local economy instead of getting spent on foreign oil.
6. Less waste: Trucks are most efficient at transporting large quantities long distances.
Picking up residential trash requires many stops and starts. Every time a truck accelerates from a stop, it emits soot and smogforming pollution. Pedal People consolidates the trash and recycling, so trucks can do what they’re best at.
7. Service: We offer personalized and flexible service. All the trash (up to 60 gallons per
pickup) and both kinds of recycling are picked up at once – no need to remember which week is which. If you don’t want to bring your trash to the curb, we can pick it up anywhere our bikes can go for no extra charge.
8. Reliability: In our four years of operation we’ve done over 15,000 pickups and have rarely had to postpone due to severe weather.
9. Guarantee: If you’re ever not satisfied with our service, we’ll refund the unused portion of your bill at any time.
10. Donations: We’ll bring bags of clothing to a donation box for no extra charge.