The article on purple bags could have ended at the point where Chip Chesley said solid waste has been reduced from 14,722 tons in 2009 to 5,200 tons today. Prior to 2009 Concord taxpayers paid for every bit of that 14,722 tons. No matter how many complainers the Monitor found (How many complaints, how many responded?) that is a marvelous success. Now I only pay for the trash I can’t recycle, not for the fellow who puts everything out. That’s the difference between 14,722 and 5,200 tons.

I also question some of the costs mentioned, $90/month equals a $3 bag per day for a family of five? And they are recycling and holding trash that stinks? Something is wrong with this story, what sort of fact checking went on or is this just opinion? Lastly, under the subtitle Purple Bag Effect, I don’t understand how purple bags cause people to pile trash around dumpsters in apartment complexes because that is a good example of what happens with unlimited free trash disposal, you have excess. Maybe those complexes could switch to using purple bags to reduce the trash load? And if apartment complexes can’t figure out a method of securing their dumpsters so only residents can access them to reduce their costs, then that is not a city problem. Pay-as-you-throw is the only way to go. Thank you, Concord.

Jack Shields

Penacook