Medford’s leadership is celebrating a new garbage-reduction initiative as a milestone in environmental stewardship. Many residents, however, see something different: a tone-deaf decision pushed by a city government more interested in burnishing its green credentials than responding to on-the-ground concerns.
Beginning July 1, 2027, the city will cut household trash collection to every other week. Standard 64-gallon bins will join recycling on a bi-weekly schedule, effectively limiting free service to 32 gallons per household each week. The shift brings Medford into compliance with Massachusetts “Pay As You Throw” guidelines and qualifies the city for a $200,000 state grant — a financial incentive that critics say was never openly debated, according to The New York Post.
Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn has framed the policy as a necessary step toward meeting the city’s Zero Waste goals. “We made a commitment to Zero Waste in that plan and are making it easier for Medford residents and businesses to reduce, reuse, and recycle materials to restore or renew value, eliminate waste, and decrease pollution,” she said in a statement. She added, “It’s the right move for our residents and businesses, it’s the right move for the environment, and it’s the right move for our City’s future.”
Her administration has been lauded by national recycling organizations — including an “Outstanding Elected Leader” award in July and fresh praise last month — but those accolades have done little to quiet the uproar at home. Online forums and neighborhood meetings have filled with warnings about rats, odor, and the simple logistical reality of storing two weeks of trash in densely packed neighborhoods.
The proposal is part of a new plan to expand composting in Medford. The city secured a $200,000 grant that would require it to limit weekly trash service to 32-gallons a week, or the two-week equivalent of the 64-gallon buckets the city deploys now, noted CBS News.
“I talk to a bunch of people all day long in here and I haven’t met one person who goes, ‘You know what? Man, that really is something that we got to look into,” said Chris Donnelly, a Medford barber and resident. “I can’t image if we’ve got to cut it down by 50-percent a week, I mean I don’t know how many people can sustain that.”
Donnelly said his family fills two barrels a week, one above the limit, so they already have to pay extra to have the extra trash hauled away.
City Council President Zac Bears publicly questioned both the substance of the policy and the opaque way it was rolled out. “We’re not seeing any of the benchmarks that would lead us to believe that this is a good change,” he told the Boston Herald. He also faulted the administration for burying the announcement “deep into a lengthy press release,” saying “the fact this was not the lead of the press release” has “rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.” In Bears’s view, the lack of candor has already undermined public confidence: “I think it’s set up this program for failure because I think there’s no trust in it.”
As criticism mounts, residents say their concerns aren’t ideological, but common sense. They want cleaner streets, fewer rats, and a city government that listens before it legislates. For now, Medford’s leaders appear intent on pressing ahead, even as the backlash from their own constituents grows louder. That’s the “woke” way.
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