By Amy Fendley With three more bears destroyed last week for feeding out of a garbage dumpster, the issue of bears and garbage is again at the forefront. While the bears were eating out of a non-bear-proof commercial bin in the village, residential garbage is also an issue. Because there is no household garbage pick-up many people without vehicles have had to be creative with waste disposal: taxi-hauling trash stockpiles, sending the garbage with the neighbour, hopping on a bus with bags of detritus disguised as a backpack full of gear, or simply piling trash on top of, beside or behind someone else’s garbage can in the hopes that they take it away. Sean Joyce and business partner Ken Rezak of SK Enterprises, decided to start a trash pick up and disposal service for residents when they began sensing a community need for a garbage pick-up service. For three weeks, The Trash Shuttle has been operating on an "on-call" basis, coming right to your door to pick up household garbage. For $5, The Trash Shuttle (Joyce’s Subaru) will pick up a maximum of six bags, including recyclables. They then dispose of the garbage at the compactor, recycle bins and bottle depot. SK Enterprises, which also operates Whistler Snow Removal, has been operating The Trash Shuttle with what Joyce calls "start-up success" from locals. "We sent out about 400 flyers door-to-door, saying that we are a door to dumpster garbage taxi service and we are receiving mostly calls from locals," said Joyce. "So far we’ve only had one call from an out-of-towner. But we haven’t really advertised all that much because we want to establish a clientele before we turn to television, radio or newspapers." Clientele are between the ages of 25 and 30 and for the most part, without means of transportation. "One guy wanted 15 bags picked-up, so I think he was probably waiting for this service," says Joyce. "The bear issue was definitely one of the reasons we chose to offer this service, especially since many people just don’t have a clue and the next thing they know Mr. Friendly Bear is knockin’ on the patio door. So we’re offering residents a service they can’t supply for themselves."
