Some Ottawa residents say garbage is piling up as the city rolls out a new curbside collection schedule, leaving certain households waiting weeks between pickups. To help bridge the gap, the city is offering a one-time garbage drop off at several locations across Ottawa on Saturday, aimed at residents most affected by the transition. The schedule shift means some households are going more than two-weeks without collection. Up to 80,000 homes have been impacted and some neighbourhoods are facing gaps of as long as 26 days. For residents like Pat Chiasson, the delay is already being felt. “Having to wait three to four weeks to be able to put them at curbside is a little challenging,” she says. Chiasson says the one-day drop-off is a welcome option, especially during busier times when waste can accumulate more quickly. “We’re very regular with our garbage and things like that… but when you have holidays, like a long weekend where you tend to have a lot of festivities and people over, garbage tends to accumulate a little more,” she says. “We haven’t had garbage pick up for three weeks, and then we’re not getting garbage pick up until next Friday,” says Mary Casey. Casey adds even smaller households are feeling the strain. “Our garbage is getting full and there’s only two of us. I can’t imagine if you have a whole bunch of kids.” The Sandy Hill Community Centre was one of seven locations offering the temporary drop-off. Rideau-Vanier Coun. Stéphanie Plante says the service was brought in to support residents dealing with the backlog “We arranged to have a (garbage) truck here in Sandy Hill… and we’re really happy,” Plante says, noting dozens of people had already stopped by. She says the need was especially clear among residents without space to store waste. “I had stories from students that say, ‘look, my garbage piles up, I don’t have a receptacle, I don’t have a basement I can store the garbage,’ so we wanted to make sure there was a solution in place.” For Chiasson, the drop-off doesn’t fully solve the issue, but it helps. “Ideally, if they could pick it all up… but at least it relieves some of the garbage,” she says. City officials say once regular collection resumes, households will be allowed to set out up to six bags at the curb until April 24 to help deal with the extra buildup. Other garbage drop-off locations can be found here. There will be no garbage collection on Easter Monday.
