Editorial

Did Kafka design the spring waste pick-up?

There’s always a little humour, even in times like these when everyone is extended to the limit -- just look at the scheduling . . . .

Here’s how May is working out for residents in Aylmer: If your regular garbage pickup date was between Tuesday May 7 and Friday May 10, only the household garbage and compost was picked up. Yes, bulky items were originally advertized to be picked up the week of May 6, only to have been changed for the week of May 20. 

There was a notice that went out to residents the week before May 6 that the upcoming week’s bulky items were only going to be picked up the week of May 21, except for those with a May 6 pickup date. That week’s Monday schedule remained unchanged. Because of the flood, the bulky items pickup after Monday that week was delayed to May 21-24. 

The delay in oversized waste pickup was announced in advance in a few places. But if the regular date was May 6, then the announcement of the oversized pickup delay didn’t apply. It was to be picked up the following May 13. Construction material and wood-based waste was picked up for the Monday people, but not for the Tuesday-to-Friday addresses. They were also delayed. 

The city describes bulky items as anything too large to be placed in containers for collection. “They include furniture, tree branches, mattresses, lumber and construction residues,” reads the city website. Bulky items, according to the website, are to be picked up May 21 to May 24, except for people living in zones that have a Monday pickup. 

The next date for Monday folks is in June, but not for all types of bulky items. Be careful, there are two dates: June 3 and June 10. June 3 is the date for construction material and wood-based household waste. For bulky items made of other materials that don’t fit in garbage bins, such as mattresses and furniture, the date for pick-up is June 10. And while May 21-24 is an official bulky item pick-up day for the Tuesday-to-Friday addresses, the online city calendar shows that period as a construction waste pick-up date only, not one for mattresses or plush furniture. It is the same story for the June 4-7 dates for the non-Monday people. 

For oversized, non-wood trash, residents should mark their calendars for the week of June 10-14. That is the week mattresses and couches can be put curbside. The next pickup for these bulky items is July 9.

Here’s the good news: with the June schedule so full of waste-removal options, there is plenty of spring-cleaning on the horizon for Aylmer. The curbs will be a display of Aylmer’s waste, right up until a crucial date: Father’s Day. June 16 is the Sunday following the big kerfuffle. But by then, all the waste will have been sorted and cleared, surely. And maybe the waters will have receded a little, too.