Neighborhood Trash Service: Stage 1 of Communal Living?

I'm stingy.  About as stingy as they come.  When our weekly trash service company began increasing my rate by $10 a month for 4 consecutive months, I got fed up.   I called around and was thrilled to discover that another company (Waste Management) was nearly 1/2 the cost and provided WAY better service.  This event was coupled with an ordinance in my town called "pay per trash" or something similar.  It basically rewards you for recycling more and throwing away less.  My new trash company offers 3 different sizes of trash cans and 3 different sizes of recycle cans (with lids AND wheels).  My old company offered none of these options and we just got a crummy tub to put our recyclabes in, had to sort it and most of it would blow away every week.

Since the new ordinance passed, I decided to opt for the giant 96 gallon recycle can and the medium sized trash can (about half the size of the recycle one).  I was nervous to use a smaller trash can but with all that room in the recycle one, I figured we were up to the challenge. 

I am very satisfied with my new trash company and we are generating surprisingly small amounts of trash.  Most of our things are recyclable and that combined with composting means that we only throw away meat scraps, oils, non-recyclable plastic stuff, styrofoam and odds and ends like light bulbs.  We haven't taken our trash can out to the curb for 4 weeks now and it is only half full!  Our recycling cup runneth over.  I think I'll switch to the even cheaper 25 gallon trash can!

Your task this month is to find a lower rate and better service for your trash/recycling needs.  If you want to take it a step further: once you find the lowest rate/best service, talk to your neighbors about switching with you.  This has multiple benefits:

1.  Fewer noisy/smelly trucks going down your street each week making it safer for the kiddos running around
2.  Better for the environment: pooling your trash needs to one company will help the company be more efficient in their travels
3.  You might be able to talk the company down even further on rates if you explain that your entire street has switched to them!