Pondering Portland

Recent decisions by the city of Portland, Ore., forcing citizens to divert food scraps and acclimate to biweekly trash collection are not going over well. According to this report in The Oregonian, many residents have tried to circumvent the new rules using tactics like bringing trash to work for disposal or taking it to the landfill directly.

It's not that Portlanders object to composting their food scraps, not an implausible practice in a city where restaurant vegetables often carry a return address. Some locals even scrape their plates directly into the big green roller carts, which is not only simple but a real dinner party conversation starter.

But many are still wondering why Portland, like other big cities that moved to curbside composting, couldn't also maintain weekly garbage collection. They're wondering whether, since they're putting out multiple cans for the less frequent garbage truck visits -- an arrival now almost as eagerly awaited as Santa Claus -- they're not actually paying more for less service, even if they do get the consolation that their banana peels will get to decompose with friends.

Click through to read the full tale of woe.