Forget tulips and mud season. The nicest sign, in our mind, of this spring’s arrival is the creaking of garbage trucks scurrying around the city of Auburn, collecting bulky waste.

This year, the city’s traditional spring cleanup – after a two-year hiatus – is back.

City trucks will collect waste, such as yard debris, appliances, tires, etc., from April 23 through May 3, with the route determined by a resident’s normal day for trash collection. Re-starting spring cleanup was a campaign promise of Mayor John Jenkins, and a sorely missed public service.

In 2005, city leaders abandoned cleanup because of expense: the weeklong collection, and subsequent disposal, of bulky waste was untenable – about $100,000 – and become a budget victim. To be honest, the practice falls closer to the definition of luxury, than necessity.

Spring cleanup is one of those things, an Auburn official once observed, that residents love if they used it, and resent paying for it if they don’t. Nothing about this description has really changed.

Which means the return of cleanup this year shouldn’t be construed as permanent. It’s still an expensive public service, and if it was cut once, it could be cut again. When it was discontinued in 2005, residents vociferously lobbied for its return, which led to Jenkins’ mayoral campaign promise.

He’s held up his part of the bargain. The trucks start rolling in about two weeks. Residents of Auburn now can do their part to ensure the program’s continuance, by embracing the one behavior that near-guarantees keeping cleanup’s costs down: recycling.

City leaders are urging residents to use cleanup judiciously, and instead of dumping usable items, take them to Building Materials Exchange on Lisbon Street in Lisbon, Goodwill on Center Street in Auburn, or the Salvation Army on Main Street in Lewiston. They even recommend taking out classified ads.

All are fine notions, and we urge a step further. Aggressive recycling, beyond just bulky waste in the springtime, could provide the annual cost-savings needed to keep cleanup permanent.

Spring is the time of rebirth, and as promised, cleanup has returned. By increasing recycling, Auburn residents can ensure the program is reborn for years to come.