Many regular trash and recycling pickups have been delayed after Monday’s heavy snow in the D.C. region.
As jurisdictions and homeowners associations work to resume regularly scheduled pickups in the aftermath of this week’s snowstorm, some residents have had to get creative to find room to store garbage and recycled materials in their garages and homes before the cans can be wheeled to the curb.
In Loudoun County, one woman dumped her full recycling bin into her garage after she realized it was filled with partially-crushed boxes and empty soda cans.
“I took all the boxes out, flattened down milk cartons even further, and flattened down soda cans,” to conserve space, the woman said.
Others, who used box cutters on corrugated cardboard boxes, took already-cut squares of cardboard out of the recycling bin, to slice them into thinner rectangles.
“That’s what I do,” said one man, out walking his dog. “Then I sometimes keep it in my garage, until there’s some more space to add it.”
Another neighbor, walking two dogs, said “You got to do what you got to do — you have to compact it as much as you can.”
However, he has a second option.
“I’m lucky, though. I own a business. So, what I do is put my trash in the back of my truck, take it to my job and put it in the dumpster over there.”
Two days after the snow stopped in the residential neighborhood, differing amounts of snow remained on individual driveways and sidewalks.
As of Wednesday morning, one neighbor wasn’t sure when trash and recycling pickup would resume.
“It’s one of those things I’d kind of like to know, because I have to schedule digging out an area to put my garbage cans.”
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