Is Truckee’s Green Bag Program In Trouble?

More than 50% of Truckee homeowners have participated in the Green Bag Program since its inception. The Town of Truckee did not anticipate the massive response to the program notwithstanding the fact that it was offered as a method to create defensible space. Residents are limited to four bags per week weighing not more than 40 pounds. In spite of that restriction, bags are piling up. Some residents produce as many as 20-50 bags per year.

The Town is looking for ways to make the program more efficient and reduce the cost. One of the options is a free yard waste drop-off program which allows six cubic yards of green waste to be dropped off at the landfill. In a trial run to determine the feasibility of this alternative, only four percent of residents participated. Nichole Dorr, recycling coordinator for the Town of Truckee wrote “Over the next several months the town will evaluate the current program and explore opportunities for possible change.”

Bins were originally rejected because of the cost of purchasing extra equipment. Now the town is revisiting that option due to the rising costs of handling the increasing number of bags. If a resident’s yard waste cannot fit into four bags, how can a bin be better? In any case, it should be noted that some of the costs are recouped by Tahoe Truckee Sierra Disposal by sending the yard waste to a biomass center to produce electricity. That which is not sent to the biomass center is chipped for resale as groundcover.

It is our understanding that the Green Bag Program was offered as a fire safety measure. In our opinion, the Town of Truckee should remember that fact when considering alternative methods for dealing with yard waste. One of the costs that should be taken into consideration is the cost of fighting wildfires. In 2012 Cal Fire reports 141,154 acres were consumed by fire. The five year average was 198,769 acres. In 2007 the Angora Fire near South Lake Tahoe, burned 3,100 acres, destroyed 242 residences and 67 commercial structures, and cost $11.7 million to fight. Over 3,000 evacuations were ordered and the personal cost in terms of damage was $141 million. We believe these costs should be juxtaposed against the cost of expanding the service of the Green Bag Program. For a detailed article on this subject, visit the Moonshine Ink website. Details of the Angora Fire can be found on Wikipedia.