At Your Service

Don’t Miss Battery Recycling Day

SPUMedia — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:33:33 +0000

Call2Recycle will host be hosting its second annual Battery Recycling Day, on Friday, June 28 at Westlake Park.

Area residents and organizations are invited to bring in their old batteries and learn more about battery recycling. There will be prizes!

Events scheduled for the day:

Collection Drive: 10:00 am – 2:00 pm. The Call2Recycle team will be on hand to collect batteries. Anyone who brings batteries for recycling will receive fun giveaways!

Tip the Scale Challenge: Noon – 2:00 p.m. Seattle residents are encouraged to ‘weigh in’ on battery recycling by bringing their used batteries to help ‘tip the scale’ and lift local celebrity guest John Curley off the ground.

Can’t make the event? Visit www.call2recycle.org to find a battery drop-off location near you.

Take this class BEFORE you go to the mechanic

SPUMedia — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 21:25:10 +0000

You won’t get your hands dirty when you attend a FREE Auto Leaks Class – a $125 value! But you will get your car inspected, discover if you have any leaks, and find out how much repairs cost BEFORE you go to the mechanic. A leaky car isn’t a reliable car. Plus it’s harmful to Puget Sound.

Check out these upcoming dates:

South Seattle Community College: July 20, August 20

Renton Technical College: July 6, July 20

Shoreline Community College: July 11, July 25

Watch a short video for a preview of the class: Don’t Drip and Drive FREE Auto Leaks Class.

Do yourself a favor and register today!

Mayor to be on NPR’s Science Friday

SPUMedia — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 23:21:42 +0000

Mayor Mike McGinn will be a guest on NPR’s nationally-acclaimed Science Friday program.

The show – 11 a.m. on Friday, June 14 – will be broadcast live from the Pacific Science Center.

Host and veteran science journalist Ira Flatow will be chatting with the mayor on what the city is doing to reduce its carbon footprint.

Learn more on how you can listen to the show and join the conversation.

Free and Discounted Toilets

SPUMedia — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 21:31:49 +0000

Toilets are a household’s biggest water user — old, leaky models can impact your utility bill. Consider replacing it with our help!

$30–$75 Rebates — Free Toilets

Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) is providing free toilets for income-qualified homeowners — a family of four making less than $4,819 a month may qualify. Properties must also be located within SPU’s service area and must have existing toilets installed before 1994. Installation and recycling of your old toilet are also provided free of charge. For more information, call 206-448-5751 or go to www.seattle.gov/util/FreeToilets.

For a limited time, customers who replace their old, water-guzzling toilets (made before 1994) with new WaterSense-labeled models are eligible for a $30 rebate. Or, choose one of the newer WaterSense Premium models and get a $75 rebate! Learn more at www.savingwater.org or by calling (206) 684-SAVE (7283).

Moving? Tips for Hazardous Waste

SPUMedia — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 22:47:21 +0000

Moving this summer? Helping an older relative move? There are some things you can’t – or don’t want to – take with you.

Cleaning products, oil-based paint, antifreeze, car batteries, fluorescent bulbs and other unused and unwanted household hazardous waste are harmful and are not allowed in garbage. Call 206-296-4692 or visit www.hazwastehelp.org to find a no-fee disposal facility near you.

Used motor oil: Call 206-296-4692 or visit www.hazwastehelp.org to find where to dispose or recycle.

Unwanted medicines: Find drop-off locations for safe disposal at www.takebackyourmeds.org.

Leftover latex paint: Dry it up with kitty litter and then place it in your garbage with the lid off.

Electronic or bulky items: Call 206-684-3000 for a $30 pickup of that old couch or laptop, or visit www.seattle.gov/util/lookitup for free drop-off locations.

Elderly or disabled persons may qualify for home pick-up of hazardous products. Get general help or advice for seniors from the Senior Information and Assistance Line at 206-448-3110 or www.seniorservices.org.

Rinse & Recycle Cups and Cartons

SPUMedia — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 20:09:01 +0000

What do disposable coffee cups and milk cartons have in common? Both are recyclable.

Both are made of basically the same thing: strong paper with a very thin coating of plastic film. The plastic separates from the paper fibers when the cartons and cups are reprocessed for manufacture into recycled-content paper.

Give them a quick rinse and toss them in your recycling cart.The same kind of paper is used to make take-out food cartons, so you can recycle them, too.

Only clean take-out cartons can be recycled. Rinse them out so there’s no food residue left. Otherwise, put dirty ones in the garbage. Brown paper/cardboard take-out food boxes should also be rinsed and recycled.

Never put coated-paper items in your food and yard waste cart. The plastic film prevents them from breaking down into compost.

Win Mariners Tickets

SPUMedia — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 21:04:41 +0000

Seattle Mariners fans hit a home run for the environment last year by diverting more than 2 million pounds of waste away from local landfills through recycling and composting at Safeco Field.

Way to go! Fans attending the Mariners’ Sustainable Saturdays games on June 22, July 13, July 27, August 24 and September 28 can take the BASF Trivia Challenge. Text the correct environmental answer and you could win a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2.0 with a year of unlimited data.

Subscribers to our free Curbwaste & Conserve e-newsletter will be entered to win a pair of tickets to each Sustainable Saturday game! Sig up at www.seattle.gov/lists/curbwaste.htm.

Paint the Town Out

SPUMedia — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 20:37:35 +0000

Paint out graffiti this July and August. Join Summer Paint Out.

Whether you are a group or an individual, you can tackle graffiti in your neighborhood. The City of Seattle supports volunteers with FREE paint (white-brown-gray), rollers, brushes, and gloves.

Spots Available for Saturday Auto Leaks Classes

SPUMedia — Fri, 31 May 2013 22:45:51 +0000

Spaces are still available for the Saturday, June 1 Auto Leaks Classes at West Seattle High School’s Automotive Center and Renton Technical College.

You won’t get your hands dirty. But you will get your car inspected, discover if you have any leaks, and find out how much repairs cost BEFORE you go to the mechanic. A leaky car isn’t a reliable car. Plus it’s harmful to Puget Sound. Do yourself a favor and register today!

The West Seattle class is from 9 am –1 pm, and the Renton class is from 1 pm – 5 pm. The classes – valued at $125 – are FREE!

Watch our video and hear what past participants have to say:www.youtube.com/FixOilLeaks.

Learn about rebates for rain gardens and cisterns

SPUMedia — Thu, 30 May 2013 20:02:05 +0000

Rain gardens can be thought of as a personal water quality system. A rain garden is a shallow, constructed depression that is planted with deep-rooted native plants and grasses. It is located in your landscape to receive polluted runoff from hard surfaces such as a roof, a sidewalk and a driveway. Rain gardens slow down the rush of water from these hard surfaces, hold the water for a short period of time and allow it to naturally infiltrate into the ground.

What: This is your chance to have a rain garden and/or cistern on your property! Both help control stormwater. Learn about how to get up to a $4,000 rebate from the King County/Seattle Public Utilities RainWise program.

When: Saturday, June 1, 2013, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Where: Highland Park Improvement Club

Also at this event:

Self-guided tour: what are your neighbors are doing to be green in their yards?
Fun giveaways: compost, car wash coupons, bike lights, and more!
Free raffles!