It’s the New Year. Instead of wishing you a happy one, I’d like to hope you have a recycled one—as in learning to recycle happily.

The last time I wrote about recycling a couple of letter writers claimed that maybe I had time to do it, but they didn’t. I was puzzled. I have two containers. I throw trash into one and things that can be recycled into the other. It takes no extra time.

I do have to remember what can be recycled and what can’t. Plastic bags and, at Christmas time, roast beef bones went into the trash. Once in awhile I have an item I can’t figure out, so it goes into the trash. Everything else goes into the old blue recycle bin, now lined with a clear plastic bag that the city says we’re supposed to use for recycling. When Friday morning comes, we haul out several clear plastic bags, tie them up and set them out on the sidewalk for the recycle truck.

We’re doing our part. You should be doing yours. But the city isn’t.

Right now they are picking up recyclable materials on the Hill only one day a week, on Friday. But faced with small spaces and frustration—and probably demonstrating ignorance or vain hope—residents are putting out recyclables on every trash pick-up day. Around Christmas, when neighbors were getting many deliveries, big boxes that should have been recycled were set out on Mondays and Wednesdays. A good number of the boxes were dismantled and neatly tied up, suggesting that those who put them out were not being neglectful or sloppy. Next to the boxes were clear plastic bags filled with bottles, cartons and materials that should be recycled like the boxes. The only problem is that the recyclables were put out on the wrong days, and they went right into the trash.

I don’t like to complain about city services. In fact, I am reassured and grateful to see the trash trucks chugging down the street reliably, just as I am relieved to watch cars being towed and the street cleaner arriving right on schedule during the non-winter months.

Instead, I’ll complain about how long it takes the city to adjust their services to new circumstances.

Recycling has been successful. Most of us are doing it, and doing it well. But when you recycle faithfully, you accumulate little trash. Even in busy weeks with friends or family visiting, we can’t begin to fill a green bag.

The city must re-arrange their schedule to pick up recyclable materials more often and trash less often. I suggest Monday and Thursday as pick-up days for both trash and recycled materials. This schedule would mean that faithful recyclers won’t have to store their boxes and cans more than a couple of days, so their homes will be tidier. It means the sanitation workers will actually have trash to pick up, instead of picking up material that should be recycled and throwing it into the trash truck. It means that city coffers will benefit, since recycling costs the city less than trash disposal—and in good times, even makes money for the city.

With more recycling pick-ups, we could drop one of the pick-up days altogether, saving more money for the city. But the biggest benefit of fewer pick-up days would be improved cleanliness for the neighborhood. Trash now sits legally on our sidewalks for up to 48 hours a week. That’s an invitation to mayhem from rats, trash pickers and cars running over the bags when they topple out into the street. Three times a week, the trash haulers have an opportunity to miss the back of the truck when they throw trash in.

This idea terrifies some of our less optimistic residents. They say we should never reduce a city service—even if it would benefit us in the long run. They’ve cowed our city councilors, a fearful lot. They’ve threatened the civic association. Change for the better is hard for some people to imagine.

So here’s what let’s do. Let’s give it an honest trial run. Let’s introduce a new two-day-a-week schedule for both trash and recycling, and try it for six months, in parts of both winter and summer. The Public Works Department will have to work out the details with the contractor, Capital Waste Services, but they are capable of doing that.

Then let’s measure the outcomes. Does it improve recycling? Is two-day a week pick-up enough for trash if we’re recycling properly? Are the streets cleaner?

Beacon Hill is still filthy, even with improved street cleaning and all those neighbors who are out there every day picking up the mess. (Thank you. You know who you are.)

After a six-month trial, we’ll know if this solution works.