by Timothy Rutt

Athens Services is continuing to pick up green waste from the big windstorm, route supervisor Luis Sanchez told the Altadena Town Council Tuesday night, even though the amount of green waste has almost tripled since then.

Sanchez told the council that Athens usually collects 36 tons of green waste a day, but since the windstorm, it has increased to 100 tons per day.  Sanchez said there was no limit to the green waste that residents can leave to be picked up, as long as it is placed in the green waste collection carts, or bagged, boxed, or bundled in quantities that one person can handle.  Sanchez said that old trash barrels can also be used.

Athens has put out three to four additional trucks per day to help in the cleanup, Sanchez said.

There is now an increasing problem with people commingling green waste in the regular black trash can, which Athens discourages, and people leaving bulky items with the tree debris along the curb.  Bulky trash will not be picked up with the green waste, but Sanchez says that residents can call Athens up to four times a year for bulk pickup.

In an unrelated matter, Sanchez said Christmas tree collection will start Monday, Dec. 26, and continue through Jan. 14.