Leave No Trace Camping Trips
It’s camping season! As summer approaches it’s a great time to explore the great outdoors. You’re probably familiar with the camping philosophy “Leave No Trace,” which offers guidance on how to keep wilderness areas unspoiled. But there are ways to “Leave No Trace” as we prepare for our trips here at home, too!
- Refill your fuel. An important way to make communities cleaner and safer is to buy refillable propane containers, and fill them up as needed. No more trekking to the HHW facility with your empty containers! You can find shops that sell refillables here: RefuelYourFun.org/Maps-Events. Single-use propane cylinders should never go into any of your carts or bins. They cause explosions in collection trucks and at recycling facilities.
- Pro tip! Sports Basement in Walnut Creek offers free 1 lb. propane refills if you join their membership community.
- Borrow, don’t buy. Need a backpack or sleeping bag? Ask a friend, a local buy nothing group, or rent at a sports store!
- Use it or lose it. If you have supplies you’re not using, take them to a consignment store, gear swap, or put them out on Reuse Day.
- Pack less packaging. Ditch the plastic pouches by prepping your camping meals at home. Then take your reusable containers back home with you.
- Maximize your water. Ditch single-use plastic water bottles and opt for a 5-gallon reusable container (and reusable cups and bottles to use on your trip!).
- Sort it yourself. Bring your own pop-up containers for recyclables and trash.
All of these make our impact lighter and our time outside brighter. Here’s to a wonderful outdoor summer!
Did you know you can call Republic Services for a FREE kitchen food scraps pail?
Place your pail on your counter or under your sink for an easy reminder to compost as you cook. Proper sorting will not only give your in-sink garbage disposal—and pipes—a break, but you will also be doing your part to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
Call Republic Services at 925-685-4711 to request a free pail. Dump scraps directly into your green cart—keeping items loose is best, or line your pail with paper bags or paper.
Dedicated to feeding the hungry, Moraga resident Jack Dice spent 19 years bringing surplus food from Contra Costa grocery stores and bakeries to Oakland food banks and shelters. He was instrumental in forming the all-volunteer food rescue group, Muffin People.
Jack’s efforts to recover edible food that may have otherwise been thrown away and provide that food to local community members preceded California state law by nearly two decades—proving his remarkable commitment and compassion.
All of us at RecycleSmart are inspired by Jack’s dedication to improving the lives of others. If you’d like to get involved, visit RecycleSmart.org/Food-Recovery
See the Future, Sort Today!
Lily Dang from Moraga is our latest poster art contest winner. A student at Joaquin Moraga Intermediate School, Lily created this poster for our “Five R’s” truck sign contest.
The signs are being installed now! Lily’s artwork will be on many of the trucks in the RecycleSmart service area starting in the next couple of months.
Congratulations to Lily! Keep an eye out for her inspiring artwork whenever you see a Republic Services garbage truck.
How Are We Doing?
RecycleSmart, with grant funding from CalRecycle, conducted a waste study at our transfer station last fall to see how our sorting is going. Our top findings: #1: We’re capturing so many recyclables! However, there’s still room to improve getting food scraps into our green carts. #2: We found Household Hazardous Waste (HHW), batteries and medical sharps in each of the carts, please keep those items out of all your carts. Visit RecycleSmart.org/HHW for free HHW disposal information.
Recycling Cart
Nice job, Recyclers! Keep your recyclables empty, clean and dry. All yard trimmings and food scraps go in the green cart.
Organics Cart
We’re doing a great job with yard trimmings. Now let’s get your food scraps in here!
Landfill Cart
The more food scraps, recyclables, and yard trimmings removed from the black cart and placed in the blue and green carts, the less landfill space we’ll need in the future.
Needles and all other types of medical sharps don’t belong in any of your carts! Instead they go in a sharps waste container like this one.
Get your own mail-back container at no cost at SharpsTakeBackCalifornia.org
Genevieve P., Danville
Paper, Schmaper! Choose to Reuse.
Dear RecycleSmart,
With my little ones’ messes, I used to go through so many paper towels. I love that I can put paper towels with food messes in the organics cart, but lately I’ve been switching to reusables. Here are my tips:
- Get a reusable Swedish dishcloth at Planet Renu in Walnut Creek. I love the cute designs on them.
- Use old towels, t-shirts, or other absorbent fabrics as rags. No need for new.
- If paper towels aren’t negotiable, invest in recycled! There are 30% and 100% recycled types available. *Just make sure you don’t put paper towels with cleaning chemicals (like bleach!) in the organics cart; those go in the landfill cart.
- These small switches to my household routine have made me feel better about my environmental impact.
Thank you!
Do you have any tips you’d like to share?
Send your ideas to Authority@RecycleSmart.org
A New Life to Clothes and Housewares
Wondering what to put out for Reuse Day? Consider donating clothes and household items that don’t get much use in your home. They can find new homes at places like the Youth Homes Thrift Shop at 15 Vivian Drive in Pleasant Hill.
Youth Homes is an organization that serves over 200 youth and young adults with mental health and behavioral challenges. The Thrift Shop provides free items to foster youth and their caregivers, and also offers items for sale to the public, using the profits to help fund their program. The shop stocks clothes, accessories, and household goods—many donated by folks like you on Reuse Day!
During Reuse Day seasons, Youth Homes staff and volunteers visit our Reuse Day service provider, Mt. Diablo Resource Recovery (shown above, left), every week to “shop” for donated items. Thanks to the RecycleSmart community, they are able to stock the Thrift Shop with lots of popular items.
We’re proud to support organizations like Youth Homes as we reduce waste. When Reuse Day comes around, clearing out your kitchen and closets can bring benefits beyond your front door!
Building a Worm Farm
Worms are easy pets and a great way to get involved in composting at home!
Supplies
- An adult helper
- Drill and 1/4″ drill bit
- Two same-sized, dark-colored plastic storage bins (we recommend 14 gal) and one lid
- Red wiggler composting worms
- Shredded uncoated paper (newspaper, if you have some!)
- Food scraps—1/4 to 1/2 cup only
- Water
Instructions
Step 2: Ask an adult to help you with this step: Drill lots of holes—up to 50!—in the bottom of one tub (this will be the “inner” tub). Drill several holes near the very top of the inner bin for air.
Step 2: Place the bin with holes into the other bin. There should be a small gap between the bins—add a brick or some rocks, if needed, to separate them.
Step 3: Fill the top bin about halfway: moist paper shreds, and food scraps. Then add the worms!
Step 4: Worms prefer a cool, dark environment, so place the lid on top to keep them contained and stay cool.
Step 5: About once a week, add a cup or so of veggie peels, coffee grounds, leaves, or crushed egg shells, to feed your worms.
Step 6: If your worms are running out of space, gift some worms to your neighbors and friends to start their own worm farm.
To learn more about worm composting, like where to buy worms and their favorite food scraps, visit RecycleSmart.org/WormComposting