Kirkland House Trashes Garbage Pick-up Service

Years ago, many Harvard students had their own live-in maids and would rarely get their hands dirty. Those days, however, are long gone as Kirkland House residents, for the first time in the history of the University, must now take out their own trash.

As a result of changes initiated last spring, K-House students no longer have the luxury of door-to-door garbage pickup. The move, instituted by the Kirkland House masters and superintendent, is designed primarily to reduce cluttering in the corridors and to facilitate sweeping and cleanup by custodians, officials said.

The move is expected to improve the "quality of life" at Kirkland House, said Robert Mortimer, assistant director for facilities.

Students, however, are being aided in the new effort by Facilities Maintaince through the provision of plastic wastebaskets and garbage bags. Each suite has also been equipped with a wire basket to collect flyers, newspapers and other materials.

Although the program is still in its infant stages, Kirkland superintendent Kevin Higgins said it is doing "very well." For example, he said, on a Sunday evenings the corridors in other houses are generally littered with newspapers and cans of trash, but at Kirkland House "you'll see a real difference."

K-House Master Donald H. Pfister said the "pilot program" seems to be working fine, and he added that he suspects that other houses may look into initiating similar plans.

Mortimer, however, said that it will be at least a few months before the program is expanded to other areas of the College.

He added that the decision to follow Kirkland's example would be left to each individual house.

Opposition

Kirkland House residents said they were not pleased by the new program. "I think it's a real pain in the ass," complained David Beardsly '88. He added that now the garbage just piles up in his room until someone brings it down.

Noting that this build-up of garbage is the only reason why students comply with the rule, Angelo Evangelista '86 said, "I liked it better when they just picked it up, especially since we're on the fifth floor."