Switch to Pink Barrels Will Help 'Trash Cancer'

West Hartford residents can now make a very public pronouncement about their desire to literally "trash" cancer, by trading in their green refuse barrels for pink ones.

Paine's Recycling and Rubbish Removal, which is contracted with the Town of West Hartford for hauling trash and recycling, has been offering the pink barrels to individually-contracted customers for a few years. "Now we're rolling it out to our municipal towns," said Debbie Burrell of Paine's.

“After receiving many calls from residents asking for pink barrels, we asked Paine’s if they would consider offering the program in West Hartford,” Director of Public Works John Phillips said.

Paine's owners, Mike and Russ Paine, lost both parents to cancer, and are dedicated to fundraising for cancer-based charities. Customers pay Paine's a $15 annual fee for a pink barrel, and also commit to making a $20 annual contribution to a cancer-related charity of their choice. Those pledges are on the honor system and residents do not have to forward any documentation to Paine's.

Dave Gabriel, environmental services manager for the Town of West Hartford, said pink was chosen as the color for the barrel because it has already become a visible symbol of the fight against cancer. "But this is not just about breast cancer," Gabriele said. He emphasized that residents can make their donations to any cancer-related charity.

For their corporate initiative, Paine's tracks the number of pink barrels, and at the end of the year also makes a "per barrel" donation. The dollar amount differs from year to year depending on the company's budget, but last year Burrell said that they donated $2 per barrel, for a total of approximately $16,000.

Burrell said that it will take a few weeks to deliver the pink barrels, but customers can call 860-844-3000 to place their orders at any time. The $15 annual charge will be billed directly by Paine's.

The pink barrel must be the same size as the customers' existing green barrel, and cannot be used as an alternative to leasing a second barrel. The Town of West Hartford owns the green barrels, and Paine's will return those to the Department of Public Works where they will be held.