City May Ditch Solid Waste Name

The city of Santa Fe may be on the verge of giving its Solid Waste Division the more elegant-sounding moniker of Environmental Services.
    Solid Waste officials are proposing the change as part of a package that involves the division absorbing Keep Santa Fe Beautiful – which provides recycling, cleanup and beautification projects – and the city’s sustainability programs.
    Solid Waste Director Regina Wheeler said her division already offers some “green” programs such as recycling, and does regular outreach and publicity. The idea is to put all those resources in one place and “deliver a better value,” she said.
    To pay for absorbing the new programs, as well as other needs, division officials want to gradually increase Santa Fe’s solid waste fees over the next four years. The average resident would see his or her monthly bill rise from the current $12.17 to about $14.56 by 2016.    
    Wheeler said the switch from Solid Waste to Environmental Services isn’t unique. Similar name changes have actually been “a trend around other cities in the country” as solid waste departments take on more eco-minded tasks.
    Austin, Texas, in fact, found itself making headlines earlier this year when locals voted to rename their Solid Waste Department the “Fred Durst Society of the Humanities and Arts,” after the 90s rocker.
    Santa Feans won’t be offered a similar vote.