If holiday entertaining leaves your garbage can bursting with food scraps, paper plates and napkins, remember you can lighten the load by recycling foodwaste and food-soiled paper in your yard waste cart.
Redmond’s curbside program accepts all types of food and table scraps, including meat and poultry, bones, cheese, fruits and vegetables, eggshells and coffee grounds and filters.
You can request a handy free kitchen food scraps bin to store your food scraps on the counter, or under the sink, until you are ready to take them to your yard waste tote. Your food scraps bin will come with a sample roll of compostable bags to line the bin. The bags will break down completely in the composting process.
For more information or to request your free kitchen food scraps bin call 425-556-2897.
Extra Garbage and Recycling:
If holiday gatherings have left you with more garbage than will fit into your regular container with the lid closed you can set out the extras in a bag or can next to your regular garbage. Waste Management will charge you $4.58 for each additional can or bag.
Extra Recyclables
All wrapping paper can be recycled except the shiny, metallic kind. If you have more paper than your cart can hold, place it in paper bags and set it next to the bin for collection. Please do not use plastic bags or cardboard boxes for this purpose. There is no charge for extra recyclables.
Avoid Foil-coated Paper
Foil-coated wrapping paper, cards and boxes cannot be recycled. If you can't reuse them, dispose of them as garbage.
Don’t Burn Wrapping Paper
All paper creates toxins when burned, but the colored or glossy wrapping papers have even more poison in the smoke. The inks and coatings are commonly made of plastics, toxic metals such as copper, lead and chrome and other hazardous materials. When burned, these materials become tiny particles that lodge deep in the lungs. Poisons in the paper can damage nervous systems, kidneys and other organs.
Green Holidays
Green can be your holiday color! Visit this helpful website for tips on eco-friendly holiday décor, entertaining and gift-giving.
Kids Go Green
In this issue of Kids Go Green we have some things you can do to REDUCE garbage! If you use less stuff, that means less garbage. You can try doing these things:
- Use a lunch box. If you use a lunch box, instead of taking and throwing away a bag every day, you could reduce trash by up to 180 bags during the school year. If nine of your friends did the same, together you would reduce trash by up to 1,800 bags!
- Use both sides of your paper when writing and drawing. That way you use less sheets of paper.
- When you go to the store take a reusable bag with you to reduce trash. If you buy something small, you can put it in your pocket and don’t need a bag at all!
Thanks for doing your part to keep Redmond green!
Curbside collection
Yard waste customers can recycle Christmas trees at curbside. Trees are collected ONLY as yard debris – they should not be placed in your garbage can. Flocked trees are the exception, as they cannot be composted. Flocked trees must be placed in the garbage. Make sure to remove all lights, tinsel and ornaments!
- Trees must be cut into 3-foot lengths and trunks can be no larger than 4 inches in diameter.
- Place the cut-up sections in your yard debris cart. Or, securely tie the cut-up sections into bundles and place them next to your cart for collection. (Bundles can be no larger than 4 feet by 2 feet.
- Please use only sisal twine. Do not use plastic twine as it will not break down in the composting process).
- Christmas trees count as part of your yard debris. That means if you put your tree out for collection in addition to a full cart of yard debris, you will be charged $2.70 for each extra bag or bundle of branches.
Find a drop-off location near you
or call 206-296-4466.