TOWN SAID GOODBYE TO GARBAGE 50 YEARS AGO

TOWN SAID GOODBYE TO GARBAGE 50 YEARS AGO

JASPER, Ind. (Wireless Flash) -- It was 50 years ago today (Aug. 1) the city of Jasper, Indiana, gave the garbage man his walking papers. The city was the first in America to stop regular garbage pick-up of anything other than paper, cans and bottles. Town officials entered into a contract with General Electric to install garbage disposals in every house in the city -- so citizens could stuff any "wet" garbage down the drain. Amazingly, nobody made a stink over the decision and, within two months, nearly two thirds of the city's homes were rigged with garbage disposals. In 1964 the city passed an ordinance requiring disposals be installed in all homes -- and to this day trash trucks won't touch any garbage littered with rotting food. To prevent slip-ups, sneaky citizens who get caught slipping even a banana peel in the trash are fined a few bucks.