POINTE-CLAIRE — Murielle Labelle has lived in Pointe-Claire for 32 years.
For all but one of them, she had her trash picked up on a weekly basis.
“We had a good service before, once a week,” said Labelle.
“Boy, if we can go back to that.”
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Last year, Pointe-Claire imposed a plan to pick up garbage every two weeks, and residents are still unhappy about it.
“All the neighbors are complaining,” Labelle told Global News.
“There’s animals, there’s flies, there’s all kinds of things. And it stinks. And it’s awful.”
With summer just starting, residents fear it’ll only get worse.
Despite citizen complaints, the city has held on to its new schedule, forcing residents to come up with innovative ways of storing their trash.
This week, Pointe-Claire resident Lorna Cappelli had to make room in her freezer for her waste.
“We do have to freeze our smelly garbage until the garbage is picked up,” Cappelli said.
Residents have taken to online community groups to share their tips and tricks on dealing with the smelly situation, like washing with a vinegar solution.
Many find themselves cleaning their bins multiple times between collections.
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For Joseline Zurita, flies are a big problem; they even make their way into her home.
“Always I need to move the garbage, it’s very bad, to clean.”
For Anne Belanger, the newest and smallest member of her family is the one generating the biggest problem.
“In the winter, it’s no problem at all,” said Belanger.
“In the summer, it gets a little stinky and now that we have a baby and lots of diapers, it’s a problem in the summer.”
READ MORE: ‘It’s unsanitary’: Residents furious over Pointe-Claire’s garbage pickup schedule change
The only solution she’s found is to avoid it altogether.
“We basically just don’t go in our garage,” she said.
The City of Pointe-Claire didn’t wish to comment on the situation, saying that questions related to the change in garbage removal have largely been raised and answered.
The city said it is confident the transition from weekly to bi-weekly garbage removal has gone smoothly.
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