Let’s get down and dirty about garbage!

BY: RACHEL WUMKES

Garbage.

It’s a dirty word.

Not so much a subject you typically bring up during social gatherings.  Or any time, really.  It’s just one of those topics that lingers in the background of your life.  Something you must deal with on a weekly basis, but don’t give it much thought past getting it to the curb.

The reality is garbage is a just a part of life.  From my Google search, it seems the average person generates 4.4 pounds of trash per day.

That’s 1,606 pounds per year.

Um… there are 7 people in my house alone which comes out to 11,242 pounds of garbage over the course of a year for us.

YIKES

I better stop my calculations there because that number is a bit disturbing!  And this is in post-recycle times, too.  I shudder to think how much garbage we produced in a day before taking out our plastics, glass, cardboard and aluminum cans!

The onset of spring cleaning tends to bring out a bit of a garbage increase.  At least for me, anyway.  It’s this time of year, after being hunkered down for the winter, when I start going through things.  Rooms, closets, cupboards, drawers.  It’s an overhaul, a purge of all the stuff we’ve seemed to accumulate.

While many people tend to save these treasured items, I’m more of a “pitcher.”  Items are either donated, given to friends, or simply tossed into the trash and gone forever.

So, where does all that garbage go?

To the Landfill of North Iowa!  But what you may not realize about this incredible organization is they cover every aspect of the garbage world – and then some!  Their motto is “we’re more than just a place to take your trash.”

And it’s true!

It’s not just a place to take your piles and piles of garbage from spring cleaning.  The landfill offers a slew of services and educational programs to residents and businesses in the area.  If you visit their website – www.landfillnorthiowa.org – you’ll understand what I mean.  The abundance of information pertaining to everything under the sun is right there at your fingertips.

Not only does it give your all their operational information like when they’re open and what it costs, but there are all sorts of tabs, teaching you all the things from electronics disposal, the best way to utilize their recycling program, what items are considered hazardous, and even how to request a special waste authorization.

My favorite tab?  What to do when arriving at Landfill North Iowa!

Seriously, is that not awesome?  There’s not much worse than having no clue what to do or where to go when it pertains to things you are not familiar with, especially at places like this you don’t frequent often.   Having a step-by-step guide is literally the best thing. Ever.

If you’re simply bringing a load of garbage, here’s what you do when you arrive.

  • Stop at the scale upon arrival. Wait for the green light to exit scale.
  • Only one vehicle is allowed on the scale at a time and vehicles must alternate between incoming and outgoing directions.
  • Identify the items you want to discard to the scale attendant through the speaker.
  • The attendant will direct you where to go for disposal.
  • If your load is weighed, you are required to stop back at the scale after disposal.
  • The scale attendant will weigh your vehicle again and determine any fees.

Landfill Rules-Failure to follow these rules can result in injury, and/or facility ban;

  • SPEED LIMIT ON SITE IS 20MPH.
  • NO SMOKING ON PREMISES.
  • NO SCAVENGING.
  • NO STANDING ON CONVENIENCE CENTER WALL.
  • CHILDREN AND PETS MUST REMAIN IN THE VEHICLE.

Of course, I highly recommend you familiarize yourself with the “what we accept and don’t accept” portion of their website to ensure you’re not disposing of any illegal or dangerous items.

Also, as it is always a rule at the landfill, you MUST secure and TARP your load every time!

It might seem like an odd thing to do, but they do offer tours and field trips to the landfill.  Visit https://landfillnorthiowa.org/education-tours/ to learn more and schedule a visit for your school or group.

This spring, as you begin to de-clutter your lives and toss items into the trash, I challenge you to think about your garbage footprint on the region, and the impact you can have in helping keeping our Earth clean.