provide rat food and fly-breeding media, and the 
liquid so saturates the ground that in time the earth 
itself contains sufficient nutrients to breed flies. 
After the can is washed, it should be inverted and 
allowed to dry before re-use. During insect seasons, 
spraying cans and racks with insecticides may be 
desirable. 
If, in the process of collection, the container or 
the rack has been damaged, repairs or replacements 
should be made promptly. Rodent- and insect-proof 
storage does not exist where containers are mate- 
rially damaged. The area around the racks should 
receive frequent attention to see that no refuse is 
allowed to remain outside the containers in which 
flies might breed or on which rats might feed. 
Summary 
In any community the insanitary storage of 
garbage creates a major source of food for flies and 
rodents and a breeding medium for flies. Rubbish 
that is not stored properly and disposed of promptly 
provides harborage for rats and a breeding place 
for mosquitoes. It poses a fire hazard and fre- 
quently is an attractant for flies. Good refuse stor- 
age can be attained with the expenditure of reason- 
able effort and is just as important in the small 
community as in the large city. Regardless of the 
size of the community, costs of collection decrease 
as good storage facilities increase. 
Citizens should be encouraged to handle refuse 
properly. When education and information fail to 
stimulate satisfactory practices, local governments 
should enforce suitable ordinances that will require 
the practice of good storage. Even the small town 
that plays no part in actual collection, but instead 
relies on householder-contract arrangements, can 
still regulate storage of refuse, through education 
of its citizens and enforcement of modern ordi- 
nances for control. Model ordinances may be found 
in the U. S. Public Health Service handbook en- 
titled, “Refuse Collection and Disposal for the 
Small Community,” (47) or may be obtained from 
State and county health departments. 
Good refuse storage in the urban community can 
become a reality. The whole community benefits 
through the reduction of vector and pest popula- 
tions, through elimination of unsightly storage 
areas, and especially through the improvement of 
individual and community self-respect. 
REFUSE COLLECTION 
Importance of Collection 
Refuse collection is an essential part of a well 
organized refuse handling system and has an impor- 
tant bearing on local vector populations. If a com- 
munity has no collection service, conditions are 
generally favorable for high fly and rat populations. 
Even where service is available, a careless col- 
lection employee may spill refuse on the premise or 
on the street, thus providing food for rats and 
flies and a breeding place for flies. Rough handling 
may damage the container rim so that the lid will 
not fit properly, thereby making the refuse accessi- 
ble to flies and rats. Negligence or carelessness in 
this manner may also create an odor nuisance. 
Frequent, systematic, reliable collection service 
should be the goal of- every community. If this is 
not available, capacity of storage facilities will be 
inadequate and makeshift containers will be used, 
thus making refuse more readily accessible to 
flies and rodents. 
A municipality without adequate collection 
service does not fulfill its responsibility to the 
community. Furthermore, it violates its moral obli- 
gations to its suburbs and to adjacent rural areas, 
for the roadside dumping that develops is an es- 
pecially important problem in the vicinity of com- 
munities where collection is nonexistent or 
inadequate. 
Collection Agency 
Careful thought must be given to provide a 
community with the most satisfactory collection 
system. A decision as to the most feasible method 
of disposal for refuse will have a direct bearing 
on the type and operation of the collection system. 
If the community does not accept its responsibility 
for providing refuse collection and disposal, the 
householder will find it necessary either to haul 
and dispose of his own refuse, and usually this is 
done in an unsatisfactory manner, or to contract 
with a private hauler to make the collections. 
Private collection in a community has a number 
of disadvantages, the most important being in- 
complete coverage. It is in substandard residential 
areas that this situation most often prevails, since 
many residents of such sections cannot afford the 
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