By William Tauro 

The City of Somerville’s trash barrel of choice that was distributed to thousands of homes here in the city are failing us miserably. The barrel manufacturer claims that their product features “a rodent rim, specifically designed to keep out some of the most persistent varmints that cities face. It’s unique locking mechanism that prevents critters from opening the carts, consuming the waste, and leaving a mess for the city and residents to clean. Each lock is also designed to prevent debris from becoming trapped during dumping, ensuring no material gets left behind in your cart.”

They also go on to proclaim that their product “Is .  Compatible with both semi and fully automated
collection systems for optimized collection efficiencies.

• Easy to use and rodent proof, it eliminates the mess of spills. Increases resident participation and lowers disposal costs.”

Well, in my opinion if you ask me about all these proclaimed manufacturer’s promises that their barrels claim to be is not true especially after seeing many barrels eaten away by rodents. Most of our city barrels are eaten from the bottom up and eaten from the top down. The lids are eaten away on the corners and the bottoms are eaten away on the corners as well. In my opinion the city should be able to call the manufacturer and demand a refund or replacement of each compromised barrel if the product has failed the manufacturer’s expectations.

The city should be doing this for the residents and protecting our interest forthwith without any hesitation nor pushback from the barrel manufacturer.