Are You a Hampton Garbage Graduate?:
Quiz Your Yourself Below!
May 6, 2010
It's a beautiful day. You're driving down the street on your way to work, humming or singing your favorite tune, and SCREECH! You stop in horror. There's a huge mess lining the street. You see garbage containers peeking from behind piles of branches, tires on top of recycling containers, and old furniture in front of it all! And curbside collection isn't until the day after tomorrow! Is this REALLY the way it's supposed to be? NO!
When people are careless about placing their trash and recycling at curbside, they mess up their neighborhood and make it really hard for the Public Works crews to pick up their trash. Let's see where you stand in helping to keep your neighborhood looking its best and getting your trash collected as quickly and efficiently as possible. What is your prize for acing this test? You win a clean and stress-free garbage collection every week! Check your answers at the end of the quiz….
Question 1: You put your trash or recycling out:
(A) The weekend before
(B) No earlier than 3 p.m. the day before your collection and no later than 7 a.m. the morning of your collection
(C) After the trucks run through my neighborhood, that way I can connect with the friendly folks at 311
Question 2: You bring your trash and recycling containers back to the house:
(A) No later than midnight the day of my collection
(B) Right before the next collection so I can load it up again
(C) Who brings it back - that's too much work! I leave it right where it is and just carry my garbage out there!
Question 3: You put your garbage and recyclables out in the following order:
(A) Tallest in back, shortest in front
(B) Order? What do you mean? I pile it all out there as it occurs to me.
(C) Everything spaced along a line, about 3 feet apart if possible, grouped together by type of material, so the various disposal and recycling trucks that come through the neighborhood can access it all quickly and efficiently with little or no mess.
Question 4: On trash collection day, I have the following parking strategy:
(A) I need to park right in front of my house - if there's garbage there, oh well. That's where I'm going to park; I'm not walking from the neighbor's house.
(B) It's a tight squeeze, but if I wedge my car in-between the leaves and the garbage toter I can JUST make it. The leaves are little squished, but they're going to be composted anyway.
(C) I make sure I park away from the trash! Those garbage trucks need some space to get at the waste!
Question 5: When I take trash from my house to the garbage container, the bags are:
(A) Tied up tightly. I put the recyclables into the recycling container loosely - like recycling lasagna - so they can be processed into new materials.
(B) What bags? I just throw the stuff into the garbage container as I get rid of it. And which one is the recycling container?
(C) I carry the bags by the handles and just flop it into the container!
Question 6: When I recycle, I put the following materials into the recycling container:
(A) Packing boxes; household container cardboard; all kinds of paper (junk mail, magazines, newspapers, catalogs, and more) except tissues, paper towels, and paper layered with plastic or foil; metal food and beverage cans, aluminum foil and disposable foil pans; plastic bottles and jugs, and glass bottles and jars.
(B) Everything that doesn't fit into the garbage container
(C) Anything with a recycling symbol on it
Question 7: After a long day of yard work, I take the following steps to dispose of my yard waste:
(A) I leave grass clippings on my lawn; I put leaves, dying flowers, and weeds into my compost pile; I chip up the small woody waste for the compost pile; larger branches get set aside in the back or at the side of the house until collection day; and then I call it a day
(B) I put my grass clippings and leaves in clear plastic bags and put them at the side of the house until collection day. Same with the branches and other woody waste. Then I put the stuff out on the afternoon before or the morning of our collection day in spaced out piles, bags of grass and leaves stacked or grouped together, woody waste piled together
(C) The grass and leaves go in my garbage or recycling container, the woody waste goes to the curb, and I'm done!
Question 8: I dispose of my large appliances as follows:
(A) I put them out for garbage collection spaced separately from other waste so the truck can get to them
(B) I make sure I get the store where I purchased my replacements to dispose of them properly by recycling them
(C) They are under there somewhere - at least I closed the refrigerator door
Question 9: I have a half-filled can of old bug killer in my garage, so I will:
(A) Toss it in the trash, good riddance!
(B) Pour it down the storm drain
(C) Take it to the next Household Chemical Collection
Question 10: If a few pieces of garbage or recyclables fall out of the containers when they're collected, I ____:
(A) Leave them - they'll wash away with the next rain
(B) Call the city and complain
(C) Pick them up and put them back in the recycling or garbage container
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Before you check out the answers to the quiz, here are a few tips to make your garbage collection work for you:
If you have any questions about how to best dispose of your garbage, the 311 Customer Call Center is happy to answer your questions. You can call the numbers 311 on your "land line", 727-8311 on your cell phone, or request information or service on-line at www.hampton.gov/311.
The Hampton Public Works web pages have information about garbage collection and storm water management at www.hampton.gov/publicworks. You will find flyers about recyclables accepted in our program and proper set-out of disposables. Take some time to become acquainted with the wealth of information on the page.
The Hampton Clean City Commission is happy to provide general information about recycling and solid waste management. HCCC is also a partner in the Hampton Waste Watchers Committee Tour de Trash, a public tour that takes you to Hampton's solid waste facilities and explains some of the reasoning behind our system. You can contact us by e-mail at hccc@hampton.gov or by phone at 727-1130.
Do your part to keep your neighborhood and our city a wonderful place to live in by doing the right thing with your garbage!
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OK - how do you think you did on the quiz? Let's check your answers.
Question 1: You put your trash or recycling out:
(B) No earlier than 3 p.m. the day before your collection and no later than 7 a.m. the morning of your collection.
Remember that garbage and recycling trucks come only one day during the week. Putting your leaves or branches out days earlier won't get them collected earlier. Yes, we know you did the work on Saturday and your collection isn't until Thursday. But your neighbors have to dodge your yard trimmings for four days if you put them out early. People run into them and scatter them. They take up parking spaces. It makes your neighborhood look messy. AND it's illegal to put them out earlier than 3 p.m. the day before your collection.
Garbage trucks hit their first stops at 7 a.m. Make sure your garbage is out by then. It costs money for the trucks to come back to your house because you missed them. And it's your solid waste fees that cover the cost. The more unnecessary call backs, the higher the fees will have to be.
Question 2: You bring your trash and recycling containers back to the house:
(A) No later than midnight the day of my collection.
Your empty containers should be back at the side or back of your house before the next morning. The legal limit is midnight the night of your collection. Why? Because containers left at the curb make your street look messy. They take up parking spaces. They can be hit and damaged by cars. They get in the way of the street sweepers that help keep your storm drains clear. And, because it really is easier to take the trash out to the containers if they're at the side or back of your house.
Question 3: You put your garbage and recyclables out in the following order:
(C) Everything spaced along a line, about 3 feet apart if possible, grouped together by type of material, so the various disposal and recycling trucks that come through the neighborhood can access it all quickly and efficiently with little or no mess.
Put different materials out separately for best collection. As many as six trucks may visit your house to take your trash to the appropriate place. If the first truck to arrive is the garbage truck, but the tires are on top of the garbage container, the driver can't empty your garbage. Line up your garbage separated by about three feet of space so each truck can access each container or pile easily without knocking over any other containers or other piles. You may need to put some on one side of the driveway and the rest on the other if you have a narrow lot.
What are the different kinds of garbage?
- Regular household garbage that fits in your green garbage toter
- Large household garbage that doesn't fit in your container but isn't recyclable, like old furniture
- Appliances and other scrap metal that can be recycled by a special recycler
- Tires, up to 5 per year for each household
- Yard trimmings - bagged leaves, grass, and weeds and piled branches
- Household recyclables that go in your gray recycling toter
Question 4: On trash collection day, I have the following parking strategy:
(C) I make sure I park away from the trash! Those garbage trucks need some space to get at the waste!
Please park away from your and the neighbor's trash. It's only one day a week that the garbage is out for collection. If you park in a way that blocks the collection, then that creates problems for your neighbors as well as your neighborhood and the garbage collectors. The trucks can't reach over your car to get to the trash. And if you're parked too closely they have to choose to leave the trash or to possibly damage your car - they're going to choose to leave the trash.
Question 5: When I take trash from my house to the garbage container, the bags are:
(A) Tied up tightly. I put the recyclables into the recycling container loosely - like recycling lasagna - so they can be processed into new materials.
Make sure the bags inside your garbage can are fastened or tied. This keeps the trash in the bags where it belongs and keeps it from blowing all over your street. Your recyclables have to be kept loose so they can be processed properly at the material recovery facility, but you can help reduce litter by flattening your plastics.
Question 6: When I recycle, I put the following materials into the recycling container:
(A) Packing boxes; household container cardboard; all kinds of paper (junk mail, magazines, newspapers, catalogs, and more) except tissues, paper towels, and paper layered with plastic or foil; metal food and beverage cans, aluminum foil and disposable foil pans; plastic bottles and jugs, and glass bottles and jars.
Put the right things in your recycling container. When you put paper, metal cans, foil; glass bottles and jars; and the right plastic bottles and jugs into your recycling container, according to the rules, they can be made into new products. This saves natural resources, particularly energy. Plus, many recyclables don't burn well at our waste-to-energy plant, which is where our household garbage goes, so it's much better for them to be recycled. On the other hand, when you put garbage into the recycling container, it just interferes with the sorting process and ends up being disposed of anyway. It costs more for us to recycle if we have too much garbage in our recyclables. And be aware, just because a product has a recycling symbol on it doesn't mean it can really be recycled, at least not in our program. Often containers will have a recycling symbol simply because they're made with recycled material.
Question 7: After a long day of yard work, I take the following steps to dispose of my yard waste:
(A) and (B) are both correct!!
(A) I leave grass clippings on my lawn; I put leaves, dying flowers, and weeds into my compost pile; I chip up the small woody waste for the compost pile; larger branches get set aside in the back or at the side of the house until collection day; and then I call it a day
(B) I put my grass clippings and leaves in clear plastic bags and put them at the side of the house until collection day. Same with the branches and other woody waste. Then I put the stuff out on the afternoon before or the morning of our collection day in spaced out piles, bags of grass and leaves stacked or grouped together, woody waste piled together
Leaves, grass, and weeds dampen the fire at the waste-to-energy plant, so they don't belong in the garbage container! They need to be set out in clear plastic bags for collection and transport to the composting facility in York County that turns them into compost and mulch for our lawns and gardens. Home composting is a great way to keep nutrients in your yard and are a great gardening resource. The Virginia Cooperative Extension, 727-1401, can advise you on home composting.
Question 8: I dispose of my large appliances as follows:
Both (A) and (B) are correct!!
(A) I put them out for garbage collection spaced separately from other waste so the truck can get to them
(B) I make sure I get the store I purchased my replacements from to dispose of them properly by recycling them
It would be a waste of good scrap metal to mix it with furniture and other trash so it all goes to the landfill. Scrap metal is recycled into cars and other steel products. If it goes into the landfill, that's the end of the line for it. Most stores have scrap metal recycling arrangements or use municipal scrap metal recycling. Take advantage of the nice strong delivery people who bring the new ones to take the old ones to the scrap metal recycler for you. If you do your own hauling, please place your appliances so they can easily be accessed by the garbage trucks. And remember, you are required by law to remove the doors of refrigerators, freezers, and iceboxes or other containers before you set them outside for disposal (section 24-38 of the City Code). This helps keep our children safe.
Question 9: I have a half-filled can of old bug killer in my garage, so I will:
(C) Take it to the next Household Chemical Collection
Some things should not be placed in the garbage at all, but instead should be taken to the household chemical collections. These collections are held five times a year in Hampton, in March, May, July, September, and November. See the attached brochure for more information. Just set aside your old pesticides, paints, automotive chemicals, used up rechargeable batteries, and other products that require special handling, put them in a safe place away from children, pets, and sparks, and take them to the household chemical collection.
PLEASE KEEP THEM OUT OF THE STORM DRAINS!! Storm water is not treated at an HRDS facility. The water that goes into the storm drains washes straight into a pond, river, creek, or even the Chesapeake Bay. If you pour harmful chemicals down the storm drain, they will harm our waterways and the animals in them. Remember, a lot of the food we love best comes from our waterways - blue crabs, oysters, fish, and so much more! And it's illegal to put anything besides rain in our storm drains!
Question 10: If a few pieces of garbage or recyclables fall out of the containers when they're collected, I ____:
(C) Pick them up and put them back in the recycling or garbage container
Although the garbage and recycling collectors make every effort to pick up your garbage cleanly and efficiently, sometimes accidents happen, especially on windy days. Trash that's left to wash down the storm drain will haunt you by causing flooding. Calling to complain about a couple of pieces of litter that spills during collection can result in increased garbage disposal costs. The best and easiest thing to do is recognize that accidents happen and pick up the trash and dispose of it properly.
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If you completed the quiz and would like a Hampton Clean City Commission bookmark or litterbag, respond with your name and address!
Share this quiz with your family and friends - everyone needs to know how to use our trash collection system most effectively!
Thank you for doing your part to keep your neighborhood and our city a wonderful place to live in by doing the right thing with your garbage! Questions? Call 311 or contact the Hampton Clean City Commission at hccc@hampton.gov.
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Media Contact: Debbie Blanton, Hampton Clean City Commission Coordinator