The simple act of living seems to produce a full garbage can every week. Maybe aliens bring stuff in during the night to fill it up. But every week it's full and every week it has to be drug out to the curb for the trash guys. Maybe we don't know where it all comes from, but we sure know we have to get rid of it before it stinks up the neighborhood.

According to City of Alliance Ordinance Chapter 937, "Each container placed at the curb or alley as designated above, and each other item set out for collection, shall be placed at the location no earlier than twenty-four hours prior to the regular date for collection in the locality as established by the contractor. The containers shall be removed from the required location within twenty-four hours after the collection has taken place." That means put your trash out the night before and put the empty can away the next day.

J and J Refuse, the city's designated trash hauler, will take almost anything you set out at the curb. But you have to package it correctly. "Sealed plastic bags, designed as refuse containers, with a mil thickness of at least 1.5 and a maximum capacity of thirty gallons or eleven pounds, and metal or plastic cans or barrels, with two handles and a tightly-fitting lid, are considered to be authorized containers for refuse or garbage." Anything you want taken away has to be in the proper container. If, God forbid, Fluffy should happen to pass away, they will even take her/him/it away for you. As long as you package her/him/it correctly that is.

Loose materials have to be bagged, boxed, or placed in trash cans. And please don't use cardboard boxes any more than you have to. If it should ever rain in Alliance they might get wet and fall apart. And when your Christmas tree dies, you can put it out on the curb and they will take it. It would be nice if they would also come in and sweep up all the needles off the floor, but hey, $8 a month doesn't buy that service.

In the City of Alliance it is mandatory to subscribe to trash and rubbish collection services from the city's designated contractor. If you live in a duplex or tri-plex, each unit in that building has to pay for their own service. You can't set it out on the curb altogether. J and J is tracking their routes more closely, along with customers who have or have not paid their bills. They are a business and we can't expect them to supply the service for nothing. Yes, there have been some mix-ups. The city administration and J and J have been working to get them straightened out.

By contracting for trash service with one company for all residents, the city is sort of buying in bulk like at Sam's Club. We get a cheaper price if we buy a bigger quantity. By having 8500 customers in one city, instead of 500 or 600 scattered throughout the city, J and J and any other refuse company is able to offer a lower price.

Commercial users of trash service are free to chose whomever they wish. Those folks who live in single family homes, duplexes, or triplexes within the city limits of Alliance must use J and J. It is up to the tenant and the landlord to work out who pays the bill, but someone has to or the trash will not be picked up. If you have questions, J and J Refuse can be reached at 330-823-8155 or 1-800-201-0005.