Bulging Christmas trash belies recession

If we're in the worst economic times since the Great Depression, you wouldn't know it by the overstuffed garbage cans on the day after Christmas.

Drive through any subdivision after the holiday and check out what's on the curb. Not only will you find the refuse of abundance, you'll get glimpses of what was in those wrapped packages.

Tall green cans, lids pushed open by plastic bags, are bulging with the evidence of the celebration. Paper plates, plastic party trays, empty boxes of Hickory Farms, cartons of Miller Lite and diet Coke all point to food playing a central part in the festivities.

Analysts say holiday retail sales are down about 4 percent compared to last year, but scope out a Gurnee neighborhood and you'll find plenty of crushed boxes that held the Nintendo Wii, Rock Band and Guitar Hero video games. Bags from Macy's, The Gap and Best Buy protrude from the cans too.

Some kids in Grayslake received Cabbage Patch Kids Babies, a talking bilingual Elmo doll and Tonka Titans.

And for the consumer-in-training, a Little-Tikes shopping cart.

Refuse hauler Waste Management says the volume of garbage is measurably higher.

"We collect about 15 percent more garbage during the week following Christmas than we do the week prior to Christmas," said spokesman Bill Plunkett. "Logic and reality say it's an annual expectation."

Plunkett says people should make the effort to separate all those recyclable materials from the regular garbage.

"All that wrapping paper, cardboard, beer and pop cans should be placed in your recycle bin," he said. "You can save those foam packing peanuts and styrofoam to reuse."

But what may be a sign of the rough economy, some folks apparently exchanged practical, if not sentimental gifts. A box that held a pot and pan set. A pair of Timberland snow boots.

And nothing says "Merry Christmas" like a new Hoover upright vacuum cleaner.