Things appear outside the Keep Alliance Beautiful Recycling Center all the time. Members of our crew who work on weekends or the first person to arrive Monday morning are never surprised to find a few boxes and bags piled next to the overhead door. Likely someone unaware of our 8 a.m.-3 p.m. weekday hours or they found one or more trailers full. The same goes for the north side of the lot, which we try to police daily. Then there are deposits far from what we accept. Giving the anonymous recyclers the benefit of the doubt, I think they assume it will be processed and are not just pawning off junk.
Last week, the south end of one trailer supported a door. Someone had leaned a heavy metal and glass screen door next to the bin labeled glass. Other than worn mesh, the door appeared serviceable. However, components of a home do not make our list. So, we moved the door inside the center to avoid attracting similar items and may have an employee that can use it. A couple days later, I think, a white wooden door showed up at the same spot. We removed it again and it was taken home by a coworker.
Oddball items that appear after hours make me wonder, at times, where did they come from? Was that toilet, to use an actual example, from a regular patron or a passerby with a wild hair? The case of door number 1 and door number 2 turned out to be perhaps the only instance where the mystery person reached out to me for further information about recycling.
I received a call asking if KAB would bring a pickup to remove and recycle unwanted items from a backyard in Alliance. On occasion we do provide totes for people to fill when cleaning out a residence or business, so I stopped by that afternoon. Nothing, except perhaps a sheet or two of siding, fit the bill. What I saw would be destined for the salvage yard and/or landfill. Unfortunately, getting it there is not a service KAB provides.
Talking to the woman as we walked around the property, she shared that she does not have a way to haul the leftovers from the previous resident herself and has limited funds to hire others to do so yet managed to find a way to walk both doors down to the center. She had talked to somebody who suggested KAB. I came up short when offering other options and would still like to return solid advice.
People I have known in similar situations rely on neighbors, friends, family or their church family to clean out a yard. Absent these connections the task may be more of a challenge to check off. I am unaware of any service or volunteer organizations that routinely remove junk for people that lack the resources though I would like to ask for assistance on this individual’s behalf. For information, reach out to our downtown office at 308-762-1729.
Keep Alliance Beautiful coordinates and equips litter cleanups. Perhaps we can cooperate with the City of Alliance to promote cleaning and hauling junk for our neighbors without the means during the next Communitywide Cleanup.