Recycling event this weekend

This weekend, members of the Village Environmental Commission will organize a community-wide recycling event, giving local residents a chance to give away some older items that may be lying around the house or garage.

The event — now called the “Roadside Rummage Weekend” — starts Friday, May 9, at noon, and concludes Sunday, May 11, at 5 p.m.

During the weekend local residents can place on their curbs items in good or working condition for others to take free. “We hope everybody puts their good junk out on the curb and we hope it disappears,” said Debra Karns, a member of the Environmental Commission.

Anything that is not picked up must be removed from the curb and not left out for next week’s regular garbage pickup. Because the recycling weekend is not sanctioned by the Village, Rumpke, the local trash hauler, will not pick up extra items next week.

Environmental Commission members have asked local residents to follow closely the rules of the weekend and not leave additional garbage out for Rumpke.

On Sunday evening, commission members plan to go out and ask villagers who still have stuff on their curbs to remove the items.

The commission decided to hold the recycling weekend after Village Council earlier this year suspended the annual spring cleanup and brush pickup. Council suspended the two events because the Village solid waste fund does not generate enough money to support itself. Postponing the activities could save the Village an estimated $30,000 this year.

The “Roadside Rummage Weekend” is not intended to replace spring cleanup, commission members have said.

—Robert Mihalek