Hello, this is Sokchoeottae. It is now Thursday, September 24, at 11 p.m., and there is one hour left of the first day of the Chuseok holiday. If you fried jeon and went grocery shopping today, most households probably have one or two more trash bags than usual. If you were about to put them out by your front gate as usual, please wait a moment. Tomorrow, September 25, Chuseok Day, household trash will not be collected in Sokcho (속초). Bags put out tonight will stay on the roadside for at least a day, and rain is also forecast from tonight through tomorrow morning.
Collection takes one day off on Chuseok Day
The 속초시시설관리공단 (Sokcho-si Siseol Gwalli Gongdan; Sokcho Facilities Management Corporation), which handles household waste collection and street cleaning in Sokcho, announced yesterday (the 23rd) that it will continue household waste collection and cleaning of key areas during the holiday period except for the 25th, Chuseok Day. Expecting a big increase in trash as holiday food preparation overlaps with visiting family and tourists, it said it will also run a mobile work system focused on cleaning roads along National Route 7, multi-use facilities, and areas around tourist sites.
However, the corporation said collection will be partly limited on Chuseok Day and asked residents to check the disposal schedule in advance and refrain from putting out trash on the 25th. The key point is that collection stops on just one of the four holiday days, and that day is the day after the ancestral memorial table, when the most trash is produced.
- 24th (Thu, today): Collection in operation
- 25th (Fri, Chuseok Day): No collection, please refrain from putting out trash
- 26th (Sat)–27th (Sun): Collection and cleaning resume
In Sokcho, trash goes out after sunset until 5 a.m.
The enforcement rules of the Sokcho City waste management ordinance require household trash to be put out between sunset and 5 a.m. the next day. Bags put out at night are picked up by collection trucks at dawn. The same provision also states that trash is not to be put out from sunset on the day before a public holiday until sunset on the holiday itself. The rule is meant to keep bags from piling up on the street on days when the trucks are off.
Applying this rule to tonight: bags put out now will spend all of Chuseok Day on the street, since no truck will come tomorrow at dawn. Collection resumes on the 26th, so they will be cleared on the 26th at the earliest. The time when trash spends the least time on the roadside is after sunset on the 25th, the night right before collection resumes. Tomorrow's sunset in Sokcho is at 6:18 p.m.
Collection days and order may differ by neighborhood. If your alley normally has set collection days, follow that schedule first, and if you are unsure, checking with your community service center or the 속초시시설관리공단 after the holiday will make things easier for the next holiday.
Rain is coming tonight, making it even harder for bags to hold up
Sokcho is currently at 20 degrees with a few clouds, and today's chance of rain is 35%. However, the Korea Meteorological Administration expects rain to begin between 9 p.m. and midnight tonight along the northern east coast and mountain areas of Gangwon (강원), continuing until the morning of Chuseok Day. Tomorrow's daytime high will be around 27 degrees.
Picture volume-based trash bags on the roadside getting rained on, then the daytime temperature climbing to 27 degrees after the rain stops. Holiday trash includes a lot of things that start to smell quickly, such as leftovers from cleaning fish, oily paper towels from frying jeon, and fruit peels. Wet bags tear easily, and one rummage by a cat or crow at dawn is enough to make a mess of the alley. It is all the more of a shame because about 900 residents and institutions cleaned up 37 sections of these streets two days ago (the 22nd).
Tips for keeping trash at home one more day
- Drain food waste first: Strain broth or water from cleaning fish through a sieve to remove as much liquid as possible. This reduces both weight and odor.
- Wrap fish bones and fishy waste separately: Tie them once in a small plastic bag and put them in a container with a lid, and they will easily last a day. In an apartment, a cool spot like the balcony is best.
- Solidify cooking oil: Do not pour leftover oil from frying jeon down the drain; soak it up with paper towels or newspaper and put it in a volume-based trash bag.
- Reduce the volume of recyclables: Gift set boxes, Styrofoam, and fruit cushioning all come out at once. Remove the tape from boxes, flatten and tie them, and peel tape and stickers off Styrofoam so it is easy to put everything out at once after the 26th.
Apartment complexes and other multi-unit housing with their own recycling bins on site can follow their complex's rules. However, complex bins also fill up quickly during the holiday, so reducing volume before putting things out is a way to help your neighbors.
For visitors: handle accommodation trash the way your accommodation asks
Many people are also staying in Sokcho over the holiday. If you are staying at a pension, residence, or condo, please do not put trash out on the street outside the gate before checking out; use the recycling area or bins your accommodation has designated. Each place has different food waste bins and recycling sorting methods. If there are no instructions, asking a quick question at check-in is the surest way.
Please take home any food trash from eating on the beach. Since the swimming season has ended at Sokcho Beach (속초해변), there may not be temporary trash bins placed all around as there are in midsummer. Staff from the 속초시시설관리공단 picked up trash at Sokcho Beach on the 16th and created an environmental message out of the marine debris they collected, and a beach cleanup campaign with resident participation was also held recently. If more people visit the beach over the holiday, that effect will quickly disappear, so even just taking back one chicken box and one cup makes a big difference.
According to the real-time data Sokchoeottae collects every day, places such as 설악해맞이공원 (Seorak Haemaji Park), 테디베어팜 (Teddy Bear Farm), and 발해역사관 (Balhae History Museum) were recorded as very crowded again today. The more crowded a tourist site is, the sooner its trash bins overflow. If a bin is full, it is better to put your trash in your bag and take it back to your accommodation than to leave it on top.
Good to know during the holiday
- General situation room: Sokcho City is running a general situation room with 17 teams from the 24th to the 27th, and four of them — disaster safety, water supply, sewage, and public facilities — work 24 hours. If you find trash piled up heavily on the street or a broken facility, contact the city hall main number.
- Leave bulky waste until after the holiday: If you plan to put out furniture or appliances as part of your holiday cleaning, you must first report it and get a sticker. Items put out without reporting will not be collected, so it is safer to deal with them after the holiday.
- Access roads are clear right now: As of 11 p.m., traffic on Misiryeong-ro, Donghae-daero, and Seoraksan-ro is estimated to be flowing smoothly. However, if rain starts overnight, the road surface on the Misiryeong section may be slippery, so please slow down.
- Sea conditions: The water temperature is 23.4 degrees and wave height is 0.5 m, relatively calm. Since the swimming season has ended and there are no lifeguards, please refrain from going into the water, and it is also best to avoid walking on breakwaters or rocky shores on a rainy night.
In summary
We understand wanting to get rid of the trash tonight. Still, in Sokcho, collection trucks will not come for one day, tomorrow, Chuseok Day. Keep your bags in a cool place at home for one more day, then put them out after 6:18 p.m. on the 25th and before 5 a.m. on the 26th to avoid the rain and minimize the time they spend on the roadside. Visitors, please use your accommodation's recycling area and take your beach trash back with you.
Today we looked at the suspension of trash collection on Chuseok Day in Sokcho, when to put out trash, and tips for storing and handling trash during the holiday. Did you find it helpful? Although rain is in the forecast for Hangawi, we hope everyone has a warm and clean holiday. We will be back next time with even more useful information.
