Our Opinion: Be respectful during spring cleanup

Those slow-moving pickup trucks and vehicles pulling flatbed trailers aren’t scoping out your neighborhood for possible robberies. But they are looking for free stuff.

This is the second week of our city’s two-week spring cleanup. The city contracts with Allied Wast Services, the city’s trash hauler, for the special pickup each year for items typically too large for trash bins.

But many of the items don’t make it to Allied Waste trucks or the local landfill.

That’s because we live in such a prosperous society that we often replace TVs, grills, computer monitors, etc. out of want, not need. In other words, we’ll discard perfectly good items to buy better ones.

Many people put these perfectly good items on the curbside, with the understanding that others will gladly take the items off their hands, and before the Allied Waste trucks come.

Some people who put items on the curb appear to do so out of generosity. We’ve seen golf clubs, furniture and even a set of baseball cards that could easily command a nice profit through a garage sale or classified ad.

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. It’s a nice symbiotic relationship.

We thank those residents who have less-fortunate residents in mind when setting items on the curb.

We also ask those picking up items to be respectful and to ensure that what you’re picking up isn’t a lawn mower or child’s bike that isn’t meant for the spring cleanup.

Also, take only what you need and leave the other items as they were. If you’re stopping your vehicle by the curb, put your hazard lights on so other vehicles know to go around you.

The program helps us get rid of unwanted items. But it also helps people acquire items they might want. It’s a win-win for everyone as long as everyone is respectful.

News Tribune