Home & Garden

Does Arlington Have a Littering Problem?

One resident recently told the Board of Selectmen that it does. What do you think? Let us know by posting a comment below.

Last week, Arlington resident Maya Ginns told the Board of Selectmen that she’s concerned and frustrated with the amount of litter she sees around town.

Ginns said she had previously reached out to Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine and the town’s Department of Public Works. “I do not feel that enough has been done to address what I see as a growing problem,” she wrote in a letter to the board.

At the meeting, she said she was particularly concerned with the litter she sees on Highland Avenue and the Minuteman bike path during her morning runs, as well as the loose trash at bus stops and in front of businesses.

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Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine told her it’s really all about the town’s limited resources. Board chairman Kevin Greeley added that it doesn’t make sense to put out more trash cans, for instance, if the town doesn’t have the money to pay personnel to empty them. And Selectman Steven Byrne noted, “At a certain point, it comes down to personal responsibility.”

In her letter to the board, Ginns laid out five “possible interventions” the town could take:

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1. Increase in the number of trashcans in town.

2. A more systematic and perhaps a more frequent approach to street cleaning.

3. Holding businesses in town more accountable for keeping their outside area free of litter.

4. Making volunteer efforts to keep the town clean more transparent (such as listing on the town website) so that others can participate.

5. Enlisting Arlington High School students to help in some of these efforts as part of their community service requirement.

Do you think Arlington has a littering problem? Are you concerned and frustrated with the amount of litter you see around town? If so, can you think of any possible interventions? Let us know by posting a comment below.


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