Oregon residents must use carts for garbage pickup

By: 
Kelly J. Kaczala

        In order to limit exposure to Republic Services of Toledo’s drivers during the COVID-19 pandemic, the city is asking residents to load all of their bagged trash into their roll carts for automated garbage pickup until further notice.
        Any trash left outside of the city-provided carts will not be picked up. In addition, bulk-item pickup, which is every other week, will be suspended for the time being.
        The city is trying to maintain the essential service of refuse pickup for residents while protecting the Republic workforce wherever possible.
        “We recognize that this is asking our residents to make a sacrifice,” said Mayor Mike Seferian. “But we want to emphasize this is only a temporary challenge, and we will return to full service as soon as possible. Together, we can work through this crisis.
        Residents have two carts: a 95 gallon container provided by Republic, and an older recycling cart that the city provided years ago, according to Public Service Director Paul Roman. Residents can use either one.
        “Before the pandemic, residents could use the carts and leave bags by the curb. But since the pandemic, Republic does not want its drivers handling the bags. They’re asking to put all the bags in the rolling carts,” he said.
       
Inquiries
        Roman said the city has received several inquiries from the public regarding garbage pickup.
        “Now that many people are working from home, they’re keeping busy cleaning up their homes and yards, which increases the amount of refuse they leave for pickup,” said Roman.
        The city changed trash collection providers from Waste Management to Republic Services of Toledo last December. With Waste Management, residents left trash in garbage bags by the curb for pickup. With Republic Services of Toledo, residents could still leave bags by the curb, but were encouraged to use the carts for the automated pickup.
        “There’s quite a few people who use the carts. But every great once in a while you’ll see one cart and one bag, when we know they have two carts. I get it. It’s probably easier just to take the bag out. Our service covered that before with Waste Management.”
        The city has used Facebook, as well as Oregon Alerts! to provide the public with the latest information about  city services and emergencies.
        “They have an impact. But those are just people who look at Facebook or have Oregon Alerts! If they don’t have those, that’s where we reach out to the media.”
       
Oregon Alerts! 
        Roman said the city would like to see more residents sign up for Oregon Alerts! Phone alert system. The public can sign up on the city’s website or go to https://www.oregonohio.org/city-of-oregon-alerts.html. By signing up, residents will receive the city’s and Lucas County’s emergency alerts. In the event of an emergency or tornado warning, a voice or text alert will be sent to the phone number(s) provided by residents and/or their email addresses.
        “I use it for water emergencies,” said Roman. “I’d like to get to the point where I have more residents on that system. I know some people don’t want to be bothered with messages, and I get that. But I really would like everyone to be on that for water emergencies or anything major like that.”
        Oregon Alerts! is a free service provided by the city. However, normal message fees may apply to cell phones. To receive text messages, the cell phone must have text message capabilities. By registering, the public will not receive unsolicited calls. Neither the city, Lucas County, nor its system vendor sells the contact number database.
 
 
 
 
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