REDMOND — Redmond residents who don’t generate very much trash will soon get the option to save some money, as a less frequent option for garbage pickups will be an available option starting March 26.

The Redmond City Council unanimously voted at their Tuesday night meeting to allow residents to sign up for every-other-week trash pickup. Previously, residents had to have their garbage picked up weekly, according to a city ordinance that was amended by the city council at the meeting.

This change was due to a number of residents asking for a more affordable garbage disposal option, as they didn’t create much trash, according to Brooks Slyter, the city’s accounting and financial reporting director.

“A lot of fixed-income people, single people, elderly people, they just don’t produce that much waste,” Slyter said after the meeting. “They (fill) one garbage bag a week, so they don’t need the every-week pickup.”

City Councilor Jon Bullock had heard from several people who wanted the flexibility of an option for lower-frequency trash pickup, he said.

“Folks just like the flexibility of being able to put out bins every other week, rather than once a week,” Bullock said Wednesday morning. “I think as we grow as a community, when we look at services, we need to look at increasing options so everyone in the community gets served in the best way for them.”

The default for residents will still be a weekly trash pickup, according to Kristin Steiner, general manager of the Bend branch of waste management company Republic Services. Republic picks up garbage for residents in Redmond, as well as those who live in Bend and unincorporated Deschutes County.

At the City Council meeting, Steiner noted that more Redmond residents had embraced recycling and composting, which would reduce the need for weekly trash pickups.

“We think it’s a really great signal that residents are producing less waste, and therefore don’t need weekly service,” Steiner told the City Council. “That means maybe our education programs on reducing waste … have come to fruition.”

Republic already offers every-other-week trash pickup in Bend and unincorporated Deschutes County, according to Susan Baker, the municipal manager of Republic’s branch in Bend. That option has been successful in those areas, and there hasn’t been any issues with people choosing the every-other-week option and piling up trash in the streets and/or alleys.

Bullock was confident that a every-other-week trash pickup option wouldn’t result in any problems with overflowing garbage.

“If problems emerge, we’ll need to manage that, but I’m not sure this will lead to an infusion of trash on our streets,” the city councilor said Wednesday.

Rates for the new option have not been determined yet, but they will be less expensive, Baker said. For a medium-size, 65-gallon trash bin, weekly pickup currently costs $21.05 per month in Redmond, she said.