To the Editor:

The June 29 edition of The Goffstown News had an article by Rod Hansen headlined “Pay as you Throw Back Again?” and an editorial deploring the idea. First, let me say that any such proposal, if it were to happen at all, is on the order of years away.

The Goffstown Solid Waste Commission is simply discussing ways we can get the recycling rate up.

This includes educating ourselves about various methods concerning pay-as-you-throw (PAYT), but this does not mean that the commission has decided to push any such program now. Whether we ever do is a matter for future discussions. However, your editorial certainly prejudices the discussion before it can even take place.

First, an RFID chip could not be used to “go through your garbage,” as the editorial states. It would simply allow recording when a trash tote was picked up and tipped into the truck, and who the tote belongs to. This could allow, if we were ever to institute some sort of PAYT, a method of charging by the pick-up.

Second, your editorial implies that a PAYT format would make people pay more than they do now.

I would argue that the only people who would pay more are those who refuse to recycle. All others would pay less! The average payment, if the recycle rate did not go up, would remain exactly where it is now, but paid from fees rather than taxes, just like sewer and water.

Wherever PAYT has been implemented, however, the recycle rate has gone up by more than two times ­ and the trash tonnage has dropped by two-thirds, resulting in huge savings, so the average rate per household in terms of dollars per year goes down.

The fees would replace that which is now included in the tax rate, not add to it. Trash pickup would be treated like telephone or electric bills ­ paid for separately and by use, not included in taxes.

With electric bills, people with large homes, air conditioning and all sorts of electric goodies pay more than those who are more frugal, and rightly so.

Why should the thinking be different with respect to trash? Right now the people who are diligently recycling are being punished and paying for, those who won’t recycle. Where is the fairness in this?

In your editorial, you refer to “trash police.” The system we have now, though an improvement over prior recycling, requires both education and enforcement. The enforcement part is just that ­ “trash police,” a job that neither the DPW nor the Solid Waste Commission particularly relishes.

A PAYT system would do away with any enforcement mechanism, because those who do recycle would reap the benefit and those who don’t would pay for the privilege.

With respect to the letter from Charlie Carr appearing in last week’s edition of the paper, I point out my letter of June 29, where I said that the only accurate measure is weight of recyclables and trash.

Since people put out trash and recycle totes intermittently, no definitive conclusions can be made from one week’s observations. The drivers are calling in candidates for “doing it right” by observing over more than one week.

It is hoped that positive behavior reinforcement will convince some of those who don’t particularly care, to start caring. I frankly don’t care what people as individuals do. I do care about the costs to the town and environmental impacts.

With positive reinforcement, and with some amount of enforcement, we shall see if there is a measurable increase in the recycle rate. We shall also explore methods to “make it more exciting” as Mr. Carr wishes. If none of this works to a significant degree, then this is a potential argument for some sort of PAYT.

Meanwhile, I would like to point out yet another Goffstown resident doing it right with respect to recycling using “Big Blue.”

Chris Piccolo at 40 Pinehill Ave . has milk crates that he uses in his kitchen, under the sink, to separate trash from recyclables. He estimates that 60 percent of his waste stream winds up in “Big Blue.”

However you choose to separate trash from recyclables, using milk crates, paper bags, side-by-side buckets or the top of a refrigerator, the idea is to simply get into the habit of recycling.

Since no effort is required to separate recyclables into different kinds of recyclables, but simply to separate recyclables from trash, nothing could be easier! You help the environment, and you help your tax bill!

Thank you, Chris Piccolo.

Fred Plett, chairman
Goffstown Solid Waste Commission

To the Editor:

Dear Friends,

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the many kindnesses and good thoughts you extended to me as I closed my career as principal of Mountain View Middle School.

My final weeks were filled with many memorable moments. As I drew closer to my last days in the district, I became even more thankful to the wonderful students, staff and parents that made each and every day rewarding and, yes, sometimes challenging.

My sincere thanks to the Goffstown Rotary for granting me the honor of being chosen the “Citizen of the Year.” As I continue to work at the middle level as the administrator in residence for the New England League of Middle Schools, you will often be in my thoughts and conversations.

It was an honor and priviledge to be part of the Goffstown community. My best wishes to Mountain View Middle School in the years to come.

Rose L. Colby
Goffstown

To the Editor:

I simply don’t get what it is with people ­ I know we’re tumbling into the future, but we don’t need to leave everything behind.

I’m talking about good manners, which really means respect. I am not talking about the sort of respect a person earns, I’m talking about the sort of respect you show someone when you’ve made a mistake.

Last winter, a high school student ran into my son’s car, which was sitting in a line of cars waiting for an accident to clear. Result? His car totaled.

Did she say she was sorry? Nope. Did her parents call or have the girl call to ask if he was all right or apologize for their daughter’s negligence? Nope. (I think they were too busy forgetting to call their insurance agent.)

Later in the spring, my son fell over some rocks at a friend’s home. Result? A broken ankle. Call from the parents inquiring about how he was doing? Nope.

This evening I was walking my dogs and stopped to visit with a neighbor. A dog came running from across the street, barking and snarling. Result? Wrenched shoulder for me. Frantic barking and upset for our dogs. Did the owner of the dogs walk over to apologize? Nope. In fact, he went one better. Once his dogs were back in his yard, he shrugged, as if to say, “Well, dogs will be dogs.”

Hey, you know what? I have an idea. Walk over to the driveway and apologize. Call my son and ask how his leg feels. Have your daughter call my house and apologize for wrecking my car. This is not difficult. I would do it if my child wrecked your car, your son broke his ankle at my house or my dogs went after your dogs.

It seems as though, as we move into the future, we have forgotten about owning mistakes or thoughtless behavior and about saying we’re sorry. Let’s not do that.

Laurie Green
Weare