Interesting responses. It sounds like most people here negotiate their own pickup with the trash haulers.
Thats great, as long as everybody is responsible (as most in this thread sound). To me trash pickup is right up there with fire and police. We all have a part in making it, having the municipality deal with it makes since as its part of my taxes like fire and police. If you give people an option, chances are they'll go with the easiest way. Its human nature, which explains the illegal dumps that started this thread.
Ive been over ALOT of back roads in my county, and have only found 2 illegal dumps.And these dumps would only be a few truck loads. Most of the stuff at these places was C&D or furniture/appliances, not too much bagged household trash. My suspicion about them is that it was done by a small time hauler who got paid to pick the stuff up, and rather than pay the tipping fee they threw it in the woods. We have a lot of fly by night "carpenters" and "odd job" types around here. The road in question is only about 5-10 miles from the dump.
All our bottles and electronics have a deposit. These can be returned to any of the "enviro depots" across the province. These are independent, but administered by a government / stakeholder board. Having to return all the recyclables to the store of purchase doesnt make since from a practical standpoint.
I gather from the responses that recycling isnt big in alot of places in the states? Or if it is available, it's voluntary?