To the editor:

We are writing to express our strong support for the town’s move to curbside pickup of trash and recyclables. 

Over our 56 years of marriage, we have lived in many communities in four states and the District of Columbia. Nowhere else have we been expected to haul our own trash. When we retired to Portsmouth from Massachusetts, we were extremely surprised to find that the town did not provide curbside pickup. Over the 15 years since, we have used the transfer station because as senior citizens, the cost of hiring a private trash hauler is prohibitive. As we get older and have increasing health problems, this has become more and more of a burden. 

Yes, we will have to pay for the town to pick up this service, perhaps more than our current fee for the transfer station plus cost of orange bags, but almost certainly less than hiring a private hauler. We would also have only one large trash truck trundling past our house each week instead of several, picking up from our neighbors. We also know that keeping the transfer station open for all trash will require ever higher fees, as more and more residents opt for private haulers. Continuing the transfer station just doesn’t make sense. 

We urge the town to offer this service along with the other services currently provided. We have read in the Portsmouth Times letters suggesting that the right to decide what to do with our trash is fundamental to our freedom. This is a ridiculous argument. We don’t have “freedom” to opt out of other town services. We don’t all hire our own separate police and fire protection, or water. This is an essential service which should be provided by the town along with those others.

Thank you.

Beth Shearer and Hal Conner

47 Point Road

Portsmouth