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Contain that garbage!

Dear Readers: Today’s SOUND OFF is about people who don’t bag their garbage:

“Dear Heloise: My pet peeve is people who dump loose garbage into their cans instead of placing it in a tied bag. When the garbage gets dumped by the garbage trucks, all the loose papers fly out as the truck leaves. Now the ditches are filled with trash.”

— Roberta, via email

Roberta, you can call your city’s refuse-collection department and ask them to send a letter to the neighbors who don’t bag their trash, requesting that they do so in the future. Many cities won’t pick up someone’s trash unless it is bagged, and if they continue to ignore the warnings, they won’t get their trash picked up until they comply.

— Heloise

FAST FACTS

Dear Readers: Here are some uses for old tires:

* Spray-paint an old tire in a nice color, fill with dirt and use as a planter.

* Paint the outside, then stuff a large pillow inside in the middle for a pet bed.

* Suspend from a tree with a heavy-duty rope for a tire swing.

* Attach to an exterior wall and use it to hold your garden hose.

— Heloise

READERS SPEAK OUT!

Dear Readers: Apparently, the reader who wrote in about people who leave their garbage cans out in front of the house struck a nerve with many of you. Here are a few comments.

— Heloise

Richard G.: “I took an interest in the garbage receptacle location at my residence, and will look at my place for other avenues of storage. Yes! They are unsightly in our area.”

Lottie R.: “You were right on the money about garbage cans being a tacky thing to leave out in front of a house. Put those cans in your garage, where they belong!”

Bill: “My wife and I are both 75, and we both have severe physical problems, so we leave our garbage cans out because moving them is too difficult for us. Instead of complaining, maybe the neighbors should volunteer to move the garbage cans for an elderly person.”

Marla H.: “Contact the city clerk to inquire about an ordinance that prevents display of trash cans after pickup day. Ask the city clerk, ‘What is the procedure to enact or enforce such an ordinance to protect property values?'”

CLEANING CUP HOLDERS

Dear Heloise: To clean the cup holders in my car, I put a little warm water in each one and then put in a denture-cleaning tablet. After 10-15 minutes, I take a sponge and soak up the water, and then dry it out.

— Gail S.,

Spokane Valley, Wash.

BATHING WHILE CAMPING

Dear Heloise: I love to go camping, but after a week (or less), we all need a bath. I take a small, plastic, inflatable child’s swimming pool that I can blow up with a small hand pump, and fill it with a little water from a pump or stream. Then I bathe in my tent.

— Michael H.,

American Fork, Utah

SEND A GREAT HINT TO:

Heloise

P.O. Box 795000

San Antonio, TX 78279-5000

Fax: 1-210-HELOISE

Email: Heloise(at)Heloise.com

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