The city of Huntington is collecting more trash right now than this time last year, thanks to recent weeks with a stay-at-home order. Crews are picking up an extra ton of trash along their routes, as more people order food and items online, plus they’re using their free time to clean out attics and basements.
Chris Weekley has been driving a garbage truck for the sanitation department for 22 years. “If they could just bag it up rather than just putting all loose stuff out there, bags would help tremendously,” Weekley said. “Breaking their boxes down. A lot of people are ordering more food from the internet and groceries from the internet, if they could just break all those boxes down and put them all together.”
Workers have been picking up trash non-stop since the pandemic hit. They’ve been given masks and hand sanitizer to reduce their risk of potentially exposing themselves to the virus. “A lot of guys after they’re done with routes are changing their clothes, taking their shirts off at least,” Weekley said. “Changing their shirts out cause that stuff, it’s been up against you sometimes. You try to keep it off you, but sometimes you just can’t help.”