By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
With the warmer spring weather and the chance to finally get outside, it seems like everyone starts taking a look at the “stuff” they have accumulated over the winter and that little urge to purge takes over.
And Wyoming City officials say purge away and bring all of your discarded stuff to Wyoming’s fist citywide Community Clean-Up Day set for Saturday, April 23. From 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Godfrey Lee Athletic Complex, 1824 Godfrey Ave. SW, Wyoming residents will be able to drop off trash, household hazardous waste and donations for the Salvation Army.
“In the past, there have been dumpsters placed in certain neighborhoods, but we have never had a citywide clean-up event,” said Nancy Stoddard, who works in the city’s treasurer’s office and is on the organizing committee for the Clean-Up Day event. The event was put together by the Looks Good Committee, one of three strategic planning committees made up of city employees. The other two committees are Feels Good and Sense of Place, both of which are helping with the April 23 event.
“We are excited to do something together,” Stoddard said. “We enjoy working with each other and this is a nice opportunity to be able to volunteer for the community, working to make it a nicer place to live and work.”
More than 30 volunteers will be on hand during the day at the drop-off site to help residents. Residents of Wyoming will need to bring proof of residency such as a picture ID or a tax or water bill with the person’s name and address on it. Only Wyoming residents will be allowed to drop off trash or general household items such as old furniture, appliances, building material scraps, etc. Kent County will be on hand for the collection of household hazardous waste, such as antifreeze, bleach and pesticides, and recycling, such as cardboard, metal cans and plastic shopping bags. For what is accepted in hazardous waste and recycling, visit the Recycle Kent website.
“Kent County officials said they would have one dumpster just dedicated to cardboard because at these type of events, they said they get a lot of cardboard,” Stoddard said.
The Salvation Army will be on site to collect gently-used items (for a list of accepted items, visit the Salvation Army website) and Plummer’s Disposal will be there for mattresses and box springs, which will be $12 each to drop off, and tires, which will be $10. The only item that will not be accepted is electronics, such as old computers and televisions. Stoddard said the organization that planned to help with that had to drop out due to another commitment.
Traffic will enter off of Joosten Street near the Godfrey Lee Early Education Center, curving through the site with various drop points before exiting on to Godfrey Avenue.
Being the first one, Stoddard said they are not sure what attendance will be like. She said she has handed out more than 300 handbills at the treasurer’s office and people have seemed interested.
“We have talked to the city of Kentwood, which has held a community clean-up day in the past and officials there said to expect about 300 vehicles,” Stoddard said. Kentwood’s annual Pride Day Community Clean-Up is May 7 from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the Kentwood Recycling Center, 5068 Breton SE.
In addition to the activities taking place at the Godfrey Lee Athletic Complex, the Wyoming Public Service Center Yard Waste Drop-Off site, 2660 Burlingame Ave. SW, will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 223. There are no limits to the size of branches or shrubs, however; residents must unload the yard waste themselves. All containers must be removed from the facility and proof of residency is required.
Also on April 30, the city has partnered with Metro Health for a Drug Take Back program from 10 a.m .to 2 p.m. at Metro Health Hospital, 5900 Byron Center Ave. SW.
For more information, visit the City of Wyoming’s website.
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