I have a house with too much stuff in it. Things get old, stop working, and need to be disposed of. As much as I hate driving all the way to the landfill, I'm not doing this.

Sometimes when it's near rush hour and I'm coming back into town from Canton, I will jog over to 476th Avenue, which becomes Southeastern Avenue in Sioux Falls, and avoid the traffic and silliness of drivers and busy intersections.

As I drove along the last mile of gravel before everyone's favorite roundabout at 69th Street, I couldn't believe what I saw. There was a freaking mattress sitting on the west side of the road, half into the ditch. Yes, a full-size or queen mattress, laying discarded less than a mile from paved streets of Sioux Falls. But that wasn't the only thing I saw.

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I get not wanting to go all the way to the landfill. It's usually more than a 20-minute drive for me to get there from the southeastern part of town. You have to tarp your load or incur an extra $25 fee if you don't have it tarped down. It costs $9 to dump a mattress plus another $9 if you want to get rid of the box spring along with it.

Andy Erickson/TSM
Andy Erickson/TSM
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If you have anything else to get rid of, like your kids' old kiddie pool or plastic sandbox, then it will cost another $18.

Andy Erickson/TSM
Andy Erickson/TSM
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On the bright side, it won't cost anything extra for you to throw in that old plastic kitty litter container and 5-gallon bucket that contained some kind of horror, no doubt.

Andy Erickson/TSM
Andy Erickson/TSM
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I have seen stuff on gravel roads on the outskirts of Sioux Falls for over a decade now. It's gross and illegal. Stop it. Don't be a complete loser and litter the ditches with your garbage. Take care of it properly.

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