How Long Do You Leave the Trash Toter in Your Yard After It Has Been Emptied?

I was driving home from work a week ago. It was a Wednesday. I am certain of that because it was "trash day" in my neighborhood.  Because I live on the west side of Owensboro, I was driving on Westview to get home. The sanitation department truck was rolling down that road, stopping every few feet or so, hoisting toters up in the air, flipping them upside down and dumping their contents into the top of the truck.  For a few houses, I was driving directly behind the truck and got to witness this.

As I was driving west, two different home owners came out of their houses to retrieve their toters IMMEDIATELY after the sanitation truck emptied them. Literally! Seconds later. It was almost as if the two men were sitting inside their houses just waiting for the truck to come down the road.

Now, I appreciate that kind of commitment, but cannot relate to that level of boredom. I mentioned this to my radio cohost Angel and she said "They're probably retired."  That may be.  However, if that's what retirement looks like, I will work until I am dead. I mean, I can think of a thousand things to do other than waiting for the sanitation truck to empty my trash toter.

Truth is, I barely pay any attention to my toter at all.  Case in point?  That same day, when I got home a couple of minutes later, I noticed that my toter had already been emptied. You know what I did?  I left it on the curb.

I was in a hurry. I needed to let my dogs out, eat lunch and get back to work. There was no way I was going to walk to the end of the driveway and schlep that thing back to the garage.  It looked fine on the curb and that's where it sat.

You want to know when I finally did drag my trash toter back to the garage?  On freaking Thursday.  24 hours later.

Now, I realize that may not be the responsible thing to do.  So, in preparation for this story, I decided that I would research the proper trash toter etiquette for here in Owensboro.

First, I found this.  I mentioned that Wednesday is "trash day" in my neighborhood. Here's the color-coded collection route for you.

And, here are some other important rules to follow (courtesy of the City of Owensboro):

• Have trash curbside by 6:00 a.m. Once drivers pass through your neighborhood, they cannot return for late set-outs.
• All trash intended for collection must be contained inside the mobile cart and the lid must be closed.
• Do not block the cart with cars or set them too close to fences, trees or poles. Automatic collection requires 4 ft. of clearance all around.
• Face cart towards the street (see arrows on top of your cart).

Notice, the rules mention what time you need to have your toter curbside, but they do NOT say anything about when you have to remove it from the curb.  So, that said, I'll just continue taking my sweet ole time lugging my toter back to the garage.