Why is Modesto encouraging residents to trash John Thurman Field on Saturday?

Modesto residents who have couches, mattresses, televisions and other household stuff they no longer want can drop off the items for free at John Thurman Field on Saturday.

The event is from 8 a.m. to noon at the west Modesto ballpark at 601 Neece Drive.

The city is holding the event for all households but with a focus on residents who live in apartments and other multifamily housing, which can be a source of a lot of the illegal dumping of household items in Modesto.

People will need to provide proof they live in Modesto, and the event is only for households.

The city will take such items as furniture, microwaves, refrigerators, washers and dryers, patio furniture, computers, monitors, printers and similar electronics. It will not take motor oil and filters, construction debris, yard waste, loose trash, light bulbs, batteries, liquids, household chemicals, medications and needles.

More information is available on the city’s website, www.modestogov.com.

The event is part of the city’s broader effort to reduce blight. That includes the city creating a committee, which recently created a slogan to capture the efforts, called “Modesto Mo’ Beautiful,” and the city working on starting a bulky item pickup program for people who live in apartments and other multifamily housing.

The city will look at how other communities offer similar programs and meet with residents, property managers and trash haulers in creating the program. The program could launch in January. Modesto could use some of its federal pandemic relief funding to start the program and pay for its first year.

Modesto now offers bulky item pickup for residents of single-family homes. Residents can put out old furniture, appliances and similar items along their curbs twice a year and a city trash hauler will pick them up.

The cost of the service is included in residents’ monthly garbage bills. More information can be found at www.modestogov.com/373/Bulky-Item-Pick-Up.

Modesto is conducting Saturday’s event in partnership with the California Department of Transportation’s District 10 and Bye Bye Mattress, a nonprofit mattress recycling program.

Residents with questions about Saturday’s event can call or email the city’s solid waste division at 209-577-5494 or swm@modestogov.com.