Trash Collection Day Math: Wow, Is This Week Confusing?

NEWPORT, RI — New Year's Day plus a snowstorm equals a whole lot of confusion about when to put the trash out. Questions about curbside collection days accumulated this week almost as quickly as snow from a 'bomb cyclone.' That's because communities that already had delayed the collections a day for the New Year's Holiday on Monday had to cancel the trucks on Thursday (which was actually Wednesday's collection).

So, everybody figured out the nor'easter put the brakes on the garbage trucks Thursday. But what would happen next? It seemed as though no two communities came up with the same fix.

In Middletown, Will Cronin came up with this solution. Wednesday’s route would be collected on Friday. Thursday’s route would be collected on Saturday, and Friday’s route would be collected on Monday of next week. But if your regular collection day is Monday, you go ahead and put the barrels out because Republic Service will have two teams of trucks collecting both Friday and Monday’s routes on Monday, Jan. 8.

But in Woonsocket, the City went to a Saturday pickup. Wednesday’s route would be picked up on Friday. Thursday’s and Friday’s route would be picked up on Saturday, and next week is back to normal.

Tiverton opted for the Saturday solution but with less clarity. Here are the instructions the police department communicated over its Facebook page. The Town decided to scrap (pardon the pun) the usual Wednesday recycling collection altogether. Wednesday's trash was delayed two days for a Friday collection. Most of Thursday's trash and recycling would be collected on Friday. Any leftover would be collected Saturday when the Friday trash and recycling was picked up. And the landfill would be open Saturday for do-it-yourselfers.

The array of options prompted one resident to say she'd just wait until next week when the snow is plowed and the schedule is back to normal.

That wouldn't work in Providence, though, where the day's delay will bleed over into next week. Wednesday's collection is being picked up Friday. Thursday's will be picked up Saturday. Friday's will be collected next Monday. And the one day delay continues through next week, with Monday's trash picked up on Tuesday, etc.

Newport followed Providence with the same solution.

File Photo: Mark Schieldrop