To the Editor:

I understand the need to reduce our household waste by separating compost and recycling. However, the latest transfer station plan to “reduce household waste” includes a significant ecological penalty by forcing homeowners to use the supplied orange plastic bags for waste disposal. There are many other options (paper grocery or lawn/leaf bags are only the most obvious) that do not add plastic to the recycling stream. Alternatively, the town could choose to supply an alternative container with no plastic content. We already separate compost and recycling, and this is clearly effective in reducing the amount of undifferentiated “waste.” Why would we then increase the waste amount by forcing the use of plastic bags for the remaining material? Changing the waste container doesn’t change the quantity.

I’d be perfectly happy to pay for the waste we as a family actually generate, whatever the container is, but forcing the use of an ecologically unsound container choice will NOT reduce the quantity of waste or reduce our carbon footprint!

Dan Rawson

Newtown