Ellsworth Springs

Annual Cleanup and Chipper Events

Get rid of accumulated refuse and junk & tree prunings for free

The actual date of the annual cleanup is set each year through application to the city. The current association officers intend this cleanup will be annual on the first Saturday in October (although the 2004 event was cancelled). In addition we expect to have an annual wood chipper for tree and shrub prunings only (no lumber) the first Saturday in March. Check the Community Calendar or Newsletter for the latest information. In addition the city sponsors free leaf disposal coupons and boxes once a year and free appliance disposal each Spring. Look to the newsletter distributed door to door in the neigbhorhood, usually one to three weeks prior to the event. We don't always get our preference. For example the 2009 event was the 2nd Saturday (10th), so it is important to look at the newsletter which can also be found at the City of Vancouver, Office of Neighborhood under Ellsworth Springs.

Your help is needed

The city pays for disposal costs in the annual cleanup, but the association must provide volunteers to plan and staff the event. If there are no volunteers there will be no cleanup event. The chipper event is actually operated by a Parks Department crew for safety reasons.

Look in your neighborhood newsletter and Community Calendar

Shortly before the annual cleanup a newsletter is distributed with the details on time, date and allowed items, which can vary from year to year, depending on the city budget. It is very important not to include liquid waste. Tim, the usual lead truck driver, at our annual cleanup explained why. Two otherwise fairly safe chemicals that were placed in the trash bags at two different households combined in his truck and set it on fire causing the loss of the dump truck. (Such losses impact your trash bill, and if traced to you may cause civil liability and criminal penalties.) Your liquid might not seem toxic, but it could be lethal in combination. Do you want a truck on fire in front of your house or one trailing a plume of toxic gas? The city provides free disposal of household liquid waste of up to five gallons a week. See the website links for details.

Our GOAL is to have the cleanup available from at least 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. the first Saturday in October and the chipper from 8 a.m. to noon the first Saturday in March.