Latest news with #Plympton
Gizmodo
2 days ago
- General
- Gizmodo
This Town Started Charging for Trash by the Bag. Here's What Happened
Until a few years ago, the town of Plympton, Massachusetts, was quite literally throwing away money. People were producing so much trash that it was threatening to put the municipal transfer station out of business. Under the town's system, residents would buy a $240 sticker for their cars that allowed them yearlong access to the dump, where they could dispose of as much garbage as they wished. But the sheer volume, combined with climbing landfill fees, meant that this service was costing the local government nearly twice what it was taking in. One solution was to double the price of dump stickers, but that would hit Plympton's low-income population particularly hard and wouldn't have been fair to smaller households—like seniors—that produced minimal trash. So, the town of roughly 3,000 decided to try something that it had seen other municipalities do: charge per bag. 'It virtually cut waste in half,' Rob Firlotte, Plympton's highway superintendent, said of the results. In 2022, before the new system, the town threw away 640 tons of trash. Last year, that figure was 335 tons. 'It pushed people toward recycling more, because it saves them money,' Firlotte said. Stickers now sell for $65 each, and residents purchase specially marked garbage bags priced by the size ($1.25 for a 15-gallon bag, $2.50 for 33 gallons). That means a household producing one small bag of trash each week would spend $130 per year—$350 less than they would have if Plympton had decided to double its sticker prices instead. The town says it has cut its trash disposal bill roughly in half, saving about $65,000 a year. 'We went from a deficit to breaking even,' said Firlotte. Plympton isn't alone in its success. According to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, nearly half of the state's 351 municipalities have adopted a version of this 'pay-as-you-throw,' or PAYT, model. In 2023, places with PAYT collected roughly one-third less waste, or some 513 pounds per household. A 2018 study in New Hampshire detailed similarly stark differences. 'We found that demand for waste disposal was really responsive to price,' said John Halstead, an author of that research and a retired professor of environmental economics at the University of New Hampshire. 'If you raise the price of trash, people are going to find ways to not put as much out at the curb.' Many other countries have utilized pay-by-volume trash collection for decades. There are limited examples in the U.S. dating to the early 20th century, said Lisa Skumatz, president of Skumatz Economic Research Associates, an energy, recycling, and sustainability consultancy. But contemporary implementation in America really began to surge in the 1980s through the early 2000s, and has seen steady growth since then. While there's no recent national data on PAYT, Skumatz estimates that about a quarter of people in the United States have access to some sort of volume-based program. That includes not only branded-bag models like Plympton's, but programs with prices based on the size of the bins (as in Denver and Seattle), or in which people tag every bag of garbage (as is the case with at least one hauler in Burlington, Vermont). All Oregon communities have access to some iteration of PAYT, and the Natural Resources Defense Council has a model bill that others can use if they are considering giving it a try. One of the keys to success is making sure the alternatives to the landfill—like recycling and compost—are as robust as possible. 'You've really got to be able to make it easy for households to reduce their trash,' said Linda Breggin, a senior attorney at the nonprofit Environmental Law Institute. Aside from saving money, she also noted that producing less trash can mean fewer greenhouse gas emissions from landfills or incinerators and can boost the supply of recycled material, which then avoids virgin material being used. 'You get a lot of co-benefits,' she said. Still, change often meets resistance. Haulers, for example, often prefer the simplicity of bulk trash when making hundreds of curbside stops (they also frequently own the landfills that charge by the ton). For residents, a trash fee that may have been baked into their taxes could suddenly become visible. 'People have been used to all-you-can-eat trash for decades,' said Skumatz. '[But] all-you-can-eat buffets lead to a lot of waste and a lot of bad behaviors.' There are three major ways to produce less trash—reducing waste in the first place, and diverting it to recycling or compost instead of a landfill. Paying by the bag encourages all of those alternatives and also helps reach beyond the core cohort of diehards, or environmentalists, who already reduce, reuse, and recycle. 'You have to get the next group and the next group,' said Skumatz. 'A lot of those people respond to financial incentives.' A primary argument among pay-as-you-throw skeptics is that it could lead to illegal dumping. But Skumatz said that of the roughly 1,000 towns she surveyed, only a quarter saw any uptick in that and, even then, it only lasted about three months. Although it's harder to tell whether PAYT leads people to clutter the recycling stream with garbage, it's not a problem she's heard many complaints about. 'After six months, people tend to really prefer PAYT over the previous system,' she said. 'But it's really hard for a lot of communities to get through that.' Firlotte said that Plympton saw some grumbling at first, but not a ton given that the alternative was doubling the sticker price. Senior citizens have been particularly excited about the new approach, given how little trash they tend to produce. From the beginning, officials were also diligent about discouraging illegal dumping or dirtying the recycling stream, so Firlotte said cheating has been a virtual nonissue. 'For us,' he said, 'it worked out great.' This article originally appeared in Grist at Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Learn more at
Geek Vibes Nation
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Vibes Nation
'Mutant Aliens' Blu-Ray Review - A Wonderfully Chaotic Sci-Fi Oddity
Legendary animator Bill Plympton's lovably twisted tribute to alien invasion films ala THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT, 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH and MARS ATTACKS! features an American astronaut named Earl Jensen (voiced by Dan McComas) who's intentionally stranded in space by his evil boss, Dr. Frubar (voiced by George Casden). Twenty years later, his now-grown daughter Josie (voiced by Francine Lobis) is an astronomer with some serious lust for her hunky boyfriend (their hanky panky is both R-rated and hilarious, with his phallus in turns transforming into a charging rhino, steam train and exploding volcano). Their lovemaking and Dr. Frubar's evil plans are both interrupted by the unexpected return of her missing father, astronaut Earl – who reveals he apparently survived in space for the past two decades on a planet peopled (if that's the right word) by aliens who resemble human body parts (tongues, fingers, eyeballs and unidentified pink blobs). As brilliantly weird as ever for Plympton, MUTANT ALIENS is also surprisingly sexy: astronaut Earl's liaison with the fleshy pink alien blob queen shows that even in outer space, love knows no boundaries. Plympton also shares with David Lynch a kind of perverse wholesomeness in his fascination with nostalgic 1950s Americana undercut by a gleefully wicked sense of the bizarre and surreal. For thoughts on Mutant Aliens, please check out my thoughts on No Streaming Required: Video Quality Mutant Aliens debuts on Blu-Ray in its original 1.66:1 aspect ratio with a 1080p master derived from a 2K restoration of the Original Camera Negatives conducted in 2019 with Bill Plympton's participation and approval. This Blu-Ray is a sterling representation that allows this narrative to exist in its ultimate state. The lovely colors are especially nuanced with these deep hues swirling around one another while maintaining the necessary delineation. Black levels are impressive with no serious issues of banding or compression. Every unique flourish within the animation is left intact with no unnecessary digital manipulation to ruin the natural look. The exaggerated character designs and every purposeful line and mark of the animation are preserved in this newest release. The textures of this warped world on display look naturally filmic and give the wild story the appropriate amount of depth. Deaf Crocodile continues to do amazing work with animation. Audio Quality This Blu-Ray comes with the original DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio stereo track in the original English which does a stellar job of bringing the material to life. Dialogue comes through clearly without competing sound effects or the score obscuring important information. Music is not as vital to the narrative as other Plympton outings, but every note that emanates is rendered with exceptional fidelity. The film is filled with creative sound effects that are given the expected prominence within the mix. The track handles the atmospheric effects well on all fronts. The audio does not come up short. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided. Special Features The Deluxe Edition Blu-Ray of Mutant Aliens arrives in a hard slipcase package that is a beauty in person. The release also includes a 60-page bound book featuring an introduction by Weird Al Yankovic and new essays by film critic and author Walter Chaw and screenwriter, playwright and film journalist Steven Peros. All of this provides great insight into the film, the themes, the creatives, and the behind-the-scenes details in a thoughtfully written style. The on-disc special features are as follows: Audio Commentaries: This disc offers both a new and archival commentary track filled with tons of fun anecdotes and observations from creatives who worked on the film. Audio Commentary #1 (2025): Animation producer and podcaster Adam Rackoff and podcaster and film critic James Hancock are joined by longtime Plympton collaborator John Holderried of Plymptoons Studio Audio Commentary #2 (2003): Director Bill Plympton The Plympton Diaries: A 90-minute documentary from the original DVD release of the film that meticulously details the creation of the feature from the beginning to the end of the creative process. Interview with Bill Plympton: A 32-minute continuation of an interview with director/writer/producer Bill Plympton conducted by Deaf Crocodile's Dennis Bartok that originated on I Married A Strange Person. In this half of the conversation, the artist discusses the process of creating Mutant Aliens , other short films provided on this disc, and much more that is well worth a listen. Bill Plympton Short Films: A pair of animated shorts from Bill Plympton is provided that show some of the immense creativity of Plympton. These are both wonderfully entertaining and hilarious films. Hot Dog (2008) (HD) (5:44) The Cow Who Wanted To Be A Hamburger (2010) (HD) (6:05) Final Thoughts Mutant Aliens is another outrageous outing from the wonderfully warped mind of Bill Plympton that brings the beauty and horror of the galaxy to our front doorstep. The narrative is as chaotic as you would expect from the creative, but there is never a sense that the artist is not achieving exactly what he set out to do. The film is funny and inventive, and very much worth seeking out if you enjoy other work from the animation legend. Deaf Crocodile has released a Blu-Ray which sports a first-rate A/V presentation and a valuable assortment of special features. Recommended Mutant Aliens is currently available to purchase on Standard Edition Blu-Ray or with a Deluxe Edition Slipcase exclusively through Deaf Crocodile and DiabolikDVD. Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray. Disclaimer: Deaf Crocodile has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
