As the garbage trucks roll through West Philadelphia at 6:30 a.m., John MacDuffie Woodburn is roaming the streets on his bike.
Might this guy on a bicycle be your new garbage man?
Woodburn is the founder and director of the Pedal Co-Op, a Philadelphia company that performs trash pick-up, composting, and deliveries for small businesses — all on two wheels.
The idea is about going green: in performing these daily duties by bike, the aim is to reduce the harmful effects hulking garbage trucks have on the environment each day. “With the bikes, there’s virtually zero carbon footprint,” Woodburn explains.
Trash, compost or delivery items are loaded onto a three-foot long flat aluminum trailer and fastened with bungee cords like those you’d use to keep the back of the station wagon closed.
For now, most of the Pedal Co-Op’s clients are businesses: 30 who are signed up for recycling, five for compost and a small handful of others who have the Pedal Co-Op do routine deliveries. Though it’s difficult to attract residential clients, who, unlike businesses, have their recycling picked up for free, things may soon change if the city passes a proposal to charge residents for recycling. The fee could total each household $260 per year, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on February 18.
For $259.20 a year, a household could recycle 24 gallons, or two small trash bins each week. In other words, recycling by truck or by bike might soon cost city residents about the same amount. The hope is that the price of going green will be worth all the uphill climbs.
