We Want Your Feedback On Garbage, Recycling and Organics Services!
RecycleSmart is in the process of soliciting bids for garbage, recycling, and organics services beginning in 2027. As part of this process, we are seeking community input.
We want to know which programs and services are most important to you, as well as any new or expanded services that you’d like to see.
Let us know in our short customer survey!
To talk to a member of our team to provide your feedback please call the RecycleSmart office at 925-906-1801 or email Authority@RecycleSmart.org.
Make a Difference When
You Dine
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), food and packaging make up almost half the landfill material in the U.S.
That’s why RecycleSmart is teaming up with ReThink Disposable and FoodWare To Go to encourage local businesses to opt for more sustainable practices.
ReThink Disposable helps restaurants reduce waste and cut costs by minimizing the disposable packaging items they use. FoodWare To Go provides to-go containers to restaurants that can be returned, sanitized and made ready to use again for the next takeout meal. Rising Loafer in Lafayette is FoodWare To Go’s first participant in central Contra Costa. Owner Maria Gastelumendi, pictured here, is expanding her many practices of waste prevention to her customers and has been testing out different sizes of reusable takeout containers since February.
You can learn more about Foodware to Go at FoodWareToGo.com and ReThink Disposable at
CleanWaterFund.org/Campaign/Rethink-Disposable
Bulk Cleanup
Houses
Reuse and Cleanup Days are right around the corner! Two weeks before your scheduled day, you’ll receive a Reuse and Cleanup Day brochure with a list of acceptable items and instructions on how to properly put them out for pickup. If you don’t want to wait for the brochure, you can look up your dates at RecycleSmart.org/Cleanup
Apartments & Condos
If your spring cleaning is leaving you with excess cardboard, e-waste and other recyclable materials, bring them to the Concord Recycling Center. They accept many items for free and offer on-site recycling and pick-up services. For more information visit ConcordRecyclingCenter.com
Let's Sort Smart. Text Me!
No really, text your recycling cart! We’re offering a new on-demand recycling resource called “Hello Recycling Bin.”
It’s easy—text “Hello Recycling Bin” to 925-940-5795. Then text what you want to toss (try “foam” “milk jug” or “junk mail” to get started!) and our binbot will reply with proper sorting instructions for your recycling, organics and landfill carts. Save the number to your contacts and you’ll be ready to ask anytime!
Labels that Help
Now That’s Sharp!
California passed a Producer Responsibility law requiring manufacturers of “sharps” (needles, lancets and other medical sharps) to pay for proper disposal. Now, residents can request a FREE mail-back sharps disposal box through California’s Sharps Disposal Program, or continue to use local free drop-off locations.
Now it’s easier than ever to make your home and local disposal facilities and workers safer by disposing of sharps properly.
Simply visit the website below to request a free mail-back kit. The kit will arrive at your home address within a couple of days. Fill it up with your sharps and send it back in the postage-paid box. Ta da!
You can request your kit at www.RecycleSmart.org/HHW
Green Cart Sorting
Redoing your yard or repotting your plants? Reduce green cart contamination with this sorting guide.
The following materials should never be placed in your green organics cart:
Save the Date for Spring Composting Events
This year’s compost giveaway dates are April 27 for Walnut Creek, Danville and Central Contra County communities, and May 4 for Lamorinda. Check out our website for details and registration info at: RecycleSmart.org/ICAW.
You can also find our composting workshop schedule at: RecycleSmart.org/workshops/
And remember: International Compost Awareness Week is May 5-11. This year’s theme is “COMPOST… Nature’s Climate Champion!” Learn more and get involved at CompostFoundation.org/ICAW/ICAW-Home
Clarissa B., Danville
Making My Cleaners Greener
Hi RecycleSmart,
My spring cleaning isn’t just going to stop at cleaning out my closet—I am also going to spring “clean” my cleaning products by opting for more eco-friendly cleaning solutions and even DIYing them.
And it turns out, making the switch can be pretty simple! Vinegar, water, baking soda and lemon juice are everyday items that I use, and also make excellent cleaners for all types of surfaces. Check out my first clean cleaning recipe below:
DIY ALL-PURPOSE CLEANER
- Soak your discarded lemon or orange peels in vinegar for a week
- Combine ¼ cup of your citrus/vinegar mixture with 2 cups boiled water
- Add 1 teaspoon phosphorous-free dish soap
- Fill a spray bottle, shake, and start cleaning!
Do you have any tips you’d like to share?
Send your ideas to Authority@RecycleSmart.org
Get Your (Re)fill
Want to reduce your plastic waste at home but don’t know where to start? Try visiting your local refill store! Refill stores can contain everything from dried goods to household cleaning items to personal hygiene products and more.
Planet Renu in Walnut Creek or Mighty Market in Lafayette are two women-owned refill stores in our service area that offer a variety of eco-friendly alternatives for household, beauty, baby and pet products as well as refillable home and bath essentials such as dish soap, cleaners, laundry strips, beauty products and lotions.
We met up with Amy Golan, founder of Planet Renu, who told us more about her refill store and all the benefits that come with switching to refillable options.
“My whole objective is to educate people and share what kind of options there are out there,” she said. “I encourage people to take a look piece by piece at their lifestyle—their behavior or how they operate—then slowly make changes”. For instance:
- Instead of purchasing a large jug of laundry detergent, opt for laundry strips or detergent concentrate where one tablespoon of solution is all you need.
- If you already bring your own shopping bag, fantastic! Up your sustainability game by also investing in reusable produce bags as well.
- Opt for beeswax wraps—which can be reused and composted!—to cover food instead of plastic wrap.
Originally starting out in 2018 as an online only business providing reusable produce bags at her local farmers market, Amy evolved her practice to include a store that offers reusable and eco-friendly home and lifestyle products as well as refillable home and bath essentials. Many of the products she carried are locally sourced and woman-owned brands.
What’s better is Planet Renu sells closed loop products, like Greatfill soap bags, that customers can bring back to Planet Renu once they’re done with the product that can be sent back to the manufacturer to get sanitized, refilled and ready to sell again.
“I’m really trying to just share with people what kind of options there are and then show them closed loop products where manufacturers are more responsible for their packaging,” Amy said.
Planet Renu’s work doesn’t stop at the storefront. Amy routinely hosts pop ups at farmers markets, outside of local churches and co-ops. She has done workshops and programs at schools and youth organizations as well as speaking events with local manufacturing companies and county green groups.
Her advice on getting started switching to refillable products: Start small.
“I tell people to pick two of the 10 things in your home that you want to switch out and make it into a habit,” Amy said. “It’s easier than you think!”
You can learn more about Planet Renu at PlanetRenu.com and Mighty Market at Mighty.Market—they also have online stores!
DIY Garden Whirley
Submitted by Billi H. and Maria S. in Walnut Creek
Upcycle plastic bottles into whirley flowers for your garden!
Supplies:
- Plastic bottle
- Wooden dowel stick
- Scissors for cutting
- Paints (any color) acrylic
- Beads
- Glue gun and glue sticks
- Duct Tape
- Wire
- A drill
Instructions:
Step 1: Take a clean plastic bottle and cut it in half horizontally
Step 2: Using the top piece, cut out 5-8 strips, stopping just before you reach the bottle cap
Step 3: Flatten the strips, bending each slightly in the middle so it looks like a helicopter
Step 4: Cut the edges of each strip so they’re curved like petals
Step 5: Paint the petals to your liking!
Have an adult help you with the following:
Step 6: Poke a hole in the middle of two bottle caps, and screw one of the caps back onto the bottle top
Step 7: Glue the other cap to the front of the spinner
Step 8: To assemble the spinner, cut a 5-inch long wire, insert the wire through the hole of the dowel, and add a bead
Step 9: Insert the wire through the backside of the spinner cap where the lid should be, and continue through the other cap
Step 10: Bring the two side corners up and tie them in a tight square knot at the top.
Step 11: Bring the two side corners up and tie them in a tight square knot at the top.