The following is Holyoke City Councilor Aaron Vega’s firsthand account of his “Day on the Job” with the Holyoke Department of Public Works.
When I was setting up my Day on the Job at the Holyoke Department of Public Works, Superintendent Bill Fuqua must have thought I wanted the clean DPW tour. Then I spoke with Solid Waste Supervisor and Recycling Coordinator Tim Price and his eyes lit up when I told him I was in for a real experience.
Meeting the guys on trash detail at 7:00 a.m. was quick and I don’t remember many of their names but they had humorous advice for me.
“Get ready for a good workout.”
“Don’t puke.”
“Don’t fall in the truck.”
I was handed a reflective yellow vest and new gloves, and I was in the truck. First stop: Lyman Terrace.
With barely enough room in the alley, 30-plus-year veteran Ramon Flores navigated the trash truck through while Louis Lafountain and I swung trash bags and emptied trash barrels into the back. The smell was pungent to say the least, and I was glad I didn’t have a big breakfast beforehand.
From Lyman Terrace to Lower Westfield Road to Kane Road and the neighborhood behind McMahon School, I got my workout, never fell into the truck and even got to ride alongside it.
There was a rhythm to the work. Swing another barrel in. Turn the lever to compress the trash. Hop back on the truck. Move to the next street. Repeat. I was told by many that “If you can make it on the trash detail, you can do anything.” I believe them.
One aspect of my day that was almost harder to stomach than the smell was the lack of recycling. It was recycling day, and many people did a great job of separating, but I saw so many plastic bottles in the trash and hoisted so many bags with the sound of glass bottles rattling against each other. A lot of homes did not recycle at all.
Tim Price picked me up after about four hours on trash pick-up duty and gave me the full tour back down at “the yard.” He educated me about the recycling and reuse projects going on in our city. Holyoke does well with its recycling program–much better than many surrounding communities, even those with single stream recycling. Many of our programs have saved, and even earned, the city money. Still, there is only a compliance rate of about 48%.
Once you begin to understand the cost of trash removal, the amount of work that goes into it, and once you know the savings a city can enjoy from strong participation in recycling, it can be disappointing to see the lack of it. Do we need more education? Is enforcement the answer? Should we fine residents who don’t recycle and reward those who do? What does it mean for Holyoke to be a green community if a majority of residents don’t recycle? My mind was racing with these questions.
Before my day was over, I spoke with Bill Fuqua about operations at the DPW and the kinds of improvements we both would like to see. Ultimately, I now have an intimate understanding of what goes on at the DPW and how the men and women who work there do so with little acknowledgement or praise. The next time you see a trash worker or other DPW employee be sure to thank them for all they do. I know I will.
