Drive around in Washington long enough and more than likely you’ll come across discarded toasters, mattresses and TV sets taking up residence along curbsides.

Many of the people who place such items on those curbsides expect those discarded items to be picked up weekly as part of the normal solid waste pick-up schedule for their neighborhoods. They are mistaken. People who believe the city is ignoring that bulky trash are mistaken, too.

City workers collect bulky trash four times every year, at no cost to the city’s residents and businesses that have their trash collected by the city. Those collections take place the second full week of February, May, August and November. Bulky trash — items that don’t fit in the green garbage carts — is picked up on the same schedule as regular solid waste collections. If one’s garbage is picked up Tuesdays, then one’s bulky trash will be picked up on the Tuesday of the second full week of the applicable month.

The remaining bulky trash collections in Washington this year will take place Aug. 11-14 and Nov. 10-13.

Place bulky trash items on the side of the street during each free week only. There is a limit of one truckload per resident during each free week of bulky trash collection. Bulky trash may be picked up during other times for a cost of $75 per trip. Such collections may be arranged by calling 975-9302. City residents also may carry bulky trash to a Beaufort County solid-waste convenience center at any time at no charge.

Some items will not be picked up, according to city officials. Items such as tires, hazardous materials, appliances that contain (or did contain) Freon, televisions, computers and computer accessories will not be picked up. Televisions and computers are accepted at the convenience center on Magnolia School Road.

Allen Lewis, the city’s public works director, said people who put out unacceptable items for pick up will receive “door hangers” telling them how to properly dispose of those items.

“The door hanger, basically, tells them that we don’t pick those items up. It should also direct them to one of the county roll-off sites that will handle those types of things,” Allen Lewis, the city’s public works director, said in an interview last year.