I’m curious who the more diverse folks you helped run for office and donated to in the last election were. And if you didn’t help out a campaign, why are you complaining now?

I’ve used WM many times for bulk pickup in Providence and haven’t had any issues. I’m a little surprised.

Call WM at 1(800)972-4545 and follow the prompts. You’ll need to call at least 1 day before your normal scheduled trash pickup day. They’ll schedule the pickup, usually for the same day as your normal trash pickup. More info here:

https://www.providenceri.gov/public-works/bulky-items/

If they still aren’t picking up, I’d ask to speak to a manager and go full Karen, or start calling them out on Twitter. I’ve never had issues with WM picking up bulk items, but I have had issues with them dropping off new trash bins, and the only way to resolve it was to go full Karen.

Good luck.

I drink tap water but filter it through a berkey

You really shouldn't because of lead. Lead in pipes is everywhere in Providence as our housing stock is so old.

You can have your water tested if you're not sure, but if you have an old house/pipes then assume you have lead and filter it accordingly.

The water here is very clean and safe to drink, but many (most?) of the pipes are wicked old and can cause an unpleasant taste in your tap water. Our fridge crapped the bed last year, so we got a new one that has a filter built in. it’s been a very noticeable difference, but we never got sick from drinking the tap water and did so every day for almost a year.

I will keep trying, thanks:).

If your water is continuously dirty when it hadnt been before, you should call your landlord/prop manager. Also, depending on the age and upkeep of your building there is a slight chance there are legitimate lead hazards, like an unreplaced lead water main from house to the street.

Yeah, it’s a thankless job so I feel like I can’t complain too hard lol. Thank you though, I’ll try again tomorrow.

It’s city trash pickup every Friday, so not sure why it hasn’t been picked up. Only thing I can think of is the lady said they’d pick it up on Friday, I asked if she was sure it wasn’t Saturday because of the holiday, and she confirmed Friday. Maybe that was the issue. I figured the trash dudes would see a message for Friday and just know to pick it up on Saturday since that’s when they’d be here.

I’ll try again tomorrow and if that doesn’t work will use your 311 advice.

Thanks for the help!

PUR filters lead, which is common in many older homes.

I do. I also have a brita but for the most part I drink from the faucet. Tastes fine and haven’t had any issues.

I’ve had success with this process in the past but same as you have been trying for the past 6 weeks and nothing. Like I am getting confirmation emails but no response on when stuff will be picked up. Tried calling too just to be on hold for 2 hours and no pick up. I guess we just keep trying!

i don't think it'll make you sick or anything but i think it's gross and use a brita

I use filtered water from my fridge and I change the filter on the regular.

I use a Brita but it's mostly out of a preference for colder glasses of water.

Well next time the city council run comes up the city should do a better job with getting under represented people in there exclude them from the voting process. just like a guaranteed shoe in

Reporting your own debris isn’t the point of that 311 app. Don’t schedule online since you don’t have an account. Just call - and keep trying since it was just a holiday weekend.

do they send y’all bots calling you every week too? at first I thought it was spam because they’re asking me to pay a bill that isn’t in my account

It took me three phone calls and three times scheduling for them to pick up my stuff. Twice they said it was "completed" and my trash remained on my curb. Good luck they are not the best. I called each time and finally they picked it up.

Ok thanks. I’ve been trying to call back but the automated system keeps hanging up on me after entering my zip code. Will have to try again later.

Thanks for the heads up about the 311 app, I’ll give that a try as well.

Question, do you use city trash pickup or does your landlord provide a dumpster? If your house has a dumpster and doesn’t use or qualify for trash pickup that may be why waste management isn’t picking up the items. They may have scheduled it when they shouldn’t have.

If you do have city trash cans/pickup call PVD311 with the confirmation number and the day it should have been picked up. They escalate it to WM that they didn’t do their job (and probably charged providence for a pick up they didn’t do) and they also will look for and reverse any tickets you may have gotten for trash being out on the sidewalk. They did this for me when WM didn’t pick up my mattresses and I had to be out of the house in two days or so- a truck came and got them within hours.

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Because they get voted in.

Why can't we just apply the same affirmative action to get a Asian, Native American, and any under represented " minority " in there. Don't we all want DIVERSITY

It sounds like you've tried to schedule online and via phone as described here - but linking just in case (or for others). I suppose you could try calling again and starting from scratch?

My only other suggestion would be to report it via Providence 311 as either "Trash/debris on private property or lot" or "Trash/litter on public street or property" depending on which is more accurate. I think that just prompts the city to report to WM, but perhaps that request won't get lost in the same black holes as yours are.