Judging from my neighborhood, the household spring cleanup was a waste (no pun intended).

Over 90 percent of the goods people placed in their yards were left there by the hauler. A sampling of what was left: clothes unfit for Goodwill; damaged bedding material such as blankets, pillows and foam pads; pots for plants; plastic buckets; an entire garbage can filled with useless handles for brooms and yard tools; ripped plastic buckets; small wheels for tricycles and lawn mowers; rugs and large pieces of Styrofoam.

While some of these items were small, others were far too large for any garbage can and a real disposal problem for anyone without a pick-up truck.

The city has so limited the items it will pick up, I think it has lost the idea of helping people remove excess clutter from their houses and the program needs to be revised for practicality. Certainly anything too large for a garbage can that would be accepted at the transfer station should be taken as long as the amounts are not excessive. Accepted items should also include small amounts of building material such as a partial piece of sheetrock or an interior door. Only then would this be a true service to the citizens.

– Dan Shields, Auburn