View Full Version : OKC Holiday Garbage pickup



Keith
12-20-2006, 09:56 PM
No Christmas, New Year’s Day Trash Pickup

Set Trees Out With Big Junk

Oklahoma City’s refuse collectors like fake Christmas trees. After all, they’ve picked up enough live ones to last them a lifetime. When the holidays grind to an end, they are the public servants who dispose of the then-ignoble firs, sticky sap, needles and all.

There is no trash or recycling collection services in the City of Oklahoma City on Christmas Day (Monday, December 25) or New Year’s Day (Monday, January 1). Refuse collectors will be hard at work the next day, however, running routes to ensure timely pickup of waste. Normally scheduled Monday pickups will occur on Wednesday. All other collections will occur on regularly scheduled pickup days.

“Over the last three years during the holidays, we have seen an average increase of 10 percent in trash volume,” said Jim Linn, City of Oklahoma City Solid Waste Manager. “Additional discarded items include holiday wrap, cards and ribbon as well as an increased quantity of cans, bottles and plastic containers. Customers in the urban refuse districts where curbside recycling is available can recycle many of these items.”

One thing customers can do that will help refuse collectors is to properly dispose of their live Christmas trees.

· DO NOT set trees out with your weekly Big Blues.
· DO NOT put trees in your Big Blues.
· DO set your live Christmas tree out with your big junk on your scheduled “Bulky Waste Day.” You can find out this date
one of three ways:
o Check your Utilities bill;
o Call 297-2833;
o Visit www.okc.gov (http://www.okc.gov/). Click on “Bulky Waste Schedule” on the home page. (Ignore the map, as the schedule shifts due to the holidays.)

“Of course, some residents aren’t in any hurry to get rid of their live trees,” Linn said. “We have picked them up as late as April. By then, customers feeling a little ‘lumberjack’ could have chopped up the spruce and made a good run at some spring mulch or compost for their gardens.”

In the end, City refuse collectors extol the virtues of the long run on what has become a highly sought-after job – even when the trash subject of the week is discarded yule.

MadMonk
12-21-2006, 07:06 AM
Did I read that right? A refuse collector is a highly sought-after job?