Clean Up the Outdoors
The city of Superior Public Works Department has street sweeping April through the fall
and the brush pickup is happening in late April. Sand was applied to roads during the winter
time for driving safety. Now that the
snow is mostly gone the sand remains.
The city picks it up and it heads to a temporary site and then to the
landfill. Some cities do not use
sand. However, there are temperatures
that salt doesn’t work (too cold) so sand was a way to add traction for safety
during those icy times. We don’t want
the sand – or loose soil – to go down storm drains to head to local
streams. Ensure that soil erosion is
reduced by having plant roots in place to hold the soil and find ways to reduce
the flow of stormwater such as by putting in a rain barrel or having less
impervious surfaces. Water picks up
things as it flows over surfaces. If the
surfaces are clean or held in tack it won’t move things.
There are two free landfill days scheduled - one on April 25 and the other on May
2. From 8 AM until 2:30 PM on those days
the City of Superior residents can drop off household trash, brush, tires, grass
clippings and used motor oil for free. To drop-off of a mattress you will have to pay
$10 each or $13 to drop one off if damp, wet, or heavily soiled. From the tour we had at the landfill in the
fall, about 18,000 mattress are brought to the Superior landfill each year and
not very many of them are recycled because they come in wet. So keep your unwanted mattress dry so that it
can go through the program at Goodwill that recycles all the materials.
As a reminder recyclables, electronics,
appliance, demolition/construction material, batteries, fluorescent bulbs, and
household hazardous waste are not accepted at the landfill.
Also, be sure to pick up pet waste as you walk your
dog. It’s natural material and would ‘go
away’ in time but by picking it up you are removing the chance for stormwater
to move some of the pet waste and have it travel down a storm drain.
Finally, inevitably there is litter around. The wind blew it, the rain moved it, or
someone litters on purpose. Put on a
pair of rubber gloves and do some litter pickup for areas in town. It will be a great way to bring beauty to our
city. Parks, yards, and areas in town will
soon have flowers in bloom. Let’s let
the flowers color the lawns and not litter.
Enjoy the warmer days and longer days ahead. Get out and go for a walk. Admire our local streams and the shore of Lake Superior and bay. We really do live in a beautiful place.
