It’s a fair question: Who cleans up the trash left by 300,000 people?

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Megan Sefehik, 12, of Austintown drops her trash into an overflowing bin at the Canfield Fair Sunday August 31, 2008. Daniel C. Britt.

By ELISE FRANCO and KATIE SEMINARA

More than 300,000 pounds of trash is collected over the course of the Canfield Fair’s six-day run.

CANFIELD — One of the best parts of visiting a local fair is the food, and with more than 300,000 attendees walking from vendor to vendor over a six-day period, the garbage is bound to pile up.

That’s where Allied Waste and The Green Team come in.

Approximately 2,000 covered garbage cans are scattered throughout the fairgrounds, Brent Bowker, general manager of Allied Waste, said.

That’s a lot of garbage cans meant for a lot of garbage.

He said seven garbage trucks come in at midnight each night and take about two hours to haul the trash away.

“We have to move quickly because the street sweepers start right after the trucks,” he said.

Bowker said each day, between 20 and 30 tons of garbage is generated, depending on the day of the week. He said that totals more than 300,000 pounds of trash over the course of the week.

Jim Bacon of Petersburg said he has been coming to the fair for 57 years and began helping with volunteer clean-up efforts through his church group.

He said he and his team come in at 6 a.m. and do their best to make sure the grounds are spotless.

“It’s a courtesy for the people who come here,” said Bacon of the reason he continues to volunteer.

Allied has crews on hand throughout the day on Saturday, Sunday and today and stations a couple of trucks on site due to compensate for the rise of accumulate garbage, he said.

“This is a big week for us,” said Bowker, who understands the need for efficiency when working with mass amounts of garbage.

And for those who are eco-friendly, The Green Team sets up 25 cans to recycle bottles.

Kim Lewis, Rural Recycling Education and Awareness director for The Green Team, said she was happy with the number of bins on site this year.

“Each year we write a letter to the board asking for permission to put the bins out, and they tell me how many we are allowed,” she said. “They allow me a few more each year.”

During the week, Lewis said Mahoning County Sheriff’s deputies service the bins, making sure they are clean and empty. On the weekend, she said the 4-H group, Pocket Pets, takes over the duty.

In addition to the plastic bottle bins, she said The Green Team places a 30 yard bin next to the big rock for vendors the week before the fair begins.

“The last two years before the fair opens to the public we provide containers to vendors so they can recycle their cardboard,” Lewis said.

She said next year they plan to have smaller containers around the fair to make it easier for vendors to recycle their cardboard.

Despite the easily accessible recycling containers, Lewis said it’s impossible to get everyone to use them.

“Just a few minutes ago I saw someone fold up paper and stick it in the [recycling container], even though there’s a garbage can right over there,” she said.

Lewis said she will continue the efforts anyway.

“Any type of event recycling is very challenging,” she said. “It’s probably the most challenging of any type of recycling operation, but it’s worth it.”