June 8, 2006

By Diane Chiddister

The Village of Yellow Springs cordially invites Yellow Springers to spruce up their basements, attics and garages and haul their junk out to the curb during the week of June 19–23, which is Community Clean-Up Week.

“This is an opportunity for folks to clean up their houses and yards and to make the community a better place aesthetically,” Swansen said on Tuesday. He announced the Clean-Up Week dates at the Village Council meeting June 5.

During Clean-Up Week, villagers may deposit by the road trash items which are too large to fit in their waste containers, Swansen said. Items may be large or small, pristine or smelly, worthless or somebody’s soon-to-be treasure. Unwanted furniture, household items and even most appliances may be discarded, and the junk needs to be by the road on the day of regular trash pickup.

However, some things may not be included. Rumpke, which is being contracted by the Village to pick up the trash, will not pick up tires of any kind, nor batteries, according to Swansen. Also, Clean Up Week is not the time to get rid of household hazardous wastes, such as pesticides, herbicides, antifreeze or other household chemicals.

Because the Yellow Springs clean-up event traditionally involves villagers picking through each others’ trash, it’s especially important that hazardous wastes not be included, according to Swansen.

“We don’t want anyone to be hurt,” he said.

Villagers who wish to dispose of a refrigerator or freezer must follow a specific procedure for pickup, Swansen said. The appliance’s refrigerant must be removed by a qualified person, and then the refrigerator must be properly tagged to alert Rumpke that the refrigerant has been removed. AC Service can provide the removal service at the owner’s cost, Swansen said, and the person may log on to the residential services link on the Rumpke Web site, www.rumpke.com, for instruction on how to properly tag the appliance.

Contact: dchiddister@ysnews.com