The Fourth of July kicks off the summer cooking season with lots of outdoor barbecues, fresh summer produce and family fun. Seattle Public Utilities offers the following tips to help make this summer greener and less wasteful.
Stop, think, and sort your take out! A new Seattle ordinance, which requires all food service businesses to stop throwing away single-use food service ware, such as coffee cups and take-out containers, and use compostable or recyclable containers instead, takes effect July 1. When you order take out, look for educational signage or ask restaurant staff to find out if your container is recyclable or compostable. The new ordinance will divert as much as 6,000 tons of material from the landfill each year!
Leftovers aren’t garbage anymore! Seattle residents can now put corn cobs, hot dogs, banana peels, paper napkins, and even greasy pizza boxes in their food and yard waste cart. Last year, Seattle residents helped turn more than 27,000 tons of kitchen scraps into compost for local parks and gardens!
Go blue to recycle! There are now more than 300 public recycling containers located throughout Seattle to help you recycle when you’re out and about. Look for the blue bins to recycle your bottles and cans. Recycled aluminum cans can be remade and back on your store shelf in as little as 60 days. Unfortunately, more than 10,000 pounds of soda cans were sent to Seattle’s landfill last year. Why waste a good thing? Recycle!
Pack it in, pack it out! If you take your family out to a local park or beach for a picnic, take everything home with you to prevent litter and ensure items are properly recycled.
North Transfer Station closed on July 4. The City of Seattle’s North Recycling and Disposal Station in the Fremont/Wallingford area will be closed on Sunday, July 4. The South Recycling and Disposal Station in the South Park area will be open during their regular business hours: 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Seattle garbage, food and yard waste, and recycling collections will be on normal schedule next week.