A Solution For Pierce County s Food Waste

Transcription

1 Earth Matters November 2012 E N V I R O N M E N T A L N E W S F R O M P I E R C E C O U N T Y A Solution For Pierce County s Food Waste The average household receiving this newsletter throws away 50 pounds of food per month. In fact, in 2010, Pierce County residents threw away 105,000 tons of food waste. We know managing food waste is a common struggle. Last night s leftovers are easily forgotten when we pack today s lunches. And the expiration date on that gallon of milk can sneak up on us. We need to find a solution that manages food waste and works to reduce it in the first place. Residents help decide the fate of food waste A year-long study has led us to three reasonable options that would work in Pierce County. Now we want you to take a look at them and tell us what you think. Take the survey, get free tickets to Fantasy Lights Many of you attended the workshops we held around the county in August and September. We displayed food waste solutions and asked attendees to review the options and take a survey. If you missed a workshop, check out the virtual workshop on our website piercecountywa.org/foodwaste The first 100 people to take the food waste survey online before November 21 will receive free admission for one vehicle to Fantasy Lights. Join the conversation on food waste We want to continue to build a recycling program that meets the needs of our community. But the best way to do that is to hear from you. We will use the results of the survey to develop a program for managing and reducing food waste. A recommendation will be presented to the Pierce County Council in the coming months. You can still participate by attending the virtual workshop. To look at the displays and take the survey visit piercecountywa.org/foodwaste Food for Thought Who is wasting food? Nearly 30 percent of the trash going to the landfill is food waste. If we each worked to reduce food waste, we could reduce the amount of trash in the landfill and overall waste. Why don t we compost food waste? Many jurisdictions have food waste composting programs. Pierce County s yard waste collection and composting program produces high-quality PREP compost. The introduction of food to our composting program may put a strain on capacity, processing time and quality of the product. It would also cost more and increase your rates. What happens if we don t do anything about food waste? The 304th Street Landfill plans to generate electricity from the methane gas it produces. Leaving food waste in the trash will contribute to methane production, but at least a third of that food will decompose and release greenhouse gasses into the air before they could be captured for beneficial use. Printed on 10% post-consumer recycled paper and recyclable through Pierce County s curbside recycling program. Funds for printing and mailing this newsletter were provided by a grant from the Washington State Department of Ecology. Pierce County Executive: Pat McCarthy Pierce County Council: Joyce McDonald, Chair; Roger Bush, Tim Farrell, Stan Flemming, Dick Muri, Dan Roach, Rick Talbert

2 Pierce County Embraces Recycling for Jars, Plastic Tubs and Buckets We began accepting more plastic items for recycling in May and from what we hear, you couldn t be happier about it. The addition of plastic jars, tubs and buckets was our first major change since We want the material collected in our curbside recycling carts to be recycled into new products so we take great care when considering which items to accept in our program. Residents keep 41 percent of waste out of landfills Your participation in recycling proves that small changes make a big difference. For the year ending June 30, 2012, single-family residential households recycled the following: 30,475 tons of paper products 1,222 tons of metal 1,734 tons of plastic 55,309 tons of yard waste was diverted to composting Did You Know Recycling and composting reduced the release of harmful gasses from the landfill equal to the emissions from 14,987 passenger vehicles driven for a year. The amount of harmful gasses reduced by recycling and composting is equivalent to conserving 58.4 gallons of gasoline per household and the power content of a coal train over four miles long. Those same households sent 126,067 tons of garbage to landfills. Curbside recycling and yard waste collection services resulted in 41 percent of waste generated within the home and yard being diverted from the landfill. Need help remembering what s recyclable? Download the Recycling Reminders list or request a handy reminder magnet at piercecountywa.org/recycle

3 Environmental Education Corner Environmental stewardship and sustainable living efforts continue to grow throughout Pierce County. Last school year our environmental educators reached 45 schools and a total of 3,200 students. In the classroom The education program combines multiple lessons with each classroom and culminates in a community action project that lets students apply what they ve learned and improve their communities. The projects are customized based on the goals, resources and availability of each class. Last year 53 projects were completed throughout the county. Project work over the past year focused on: Installing rain gardens at schools to improve water quality Improving school recycling programs Habitat restoration and gardening In the community Our educators can also work outside of the schools with service groups or clubs who want to complete a project in their community. The program is free to schools and community organizations in Pierce County (outside of the City of Tacoma). Fill out a request at piercecountywa.org/enviroed Ford Middle School students tend to potato beds that will feed them a few months later. Rocky Ridge Elementary students test water quality at Morse Wildlife Preserve. Recycle at Work Fifteen percent of the waste that goes to our landfill is from businesses throwing away recyclables like mixed paper, plastic bottles and aluminum cans. A recent survey of Pierce County businesses showed that a lot of them, particularly in large shopping complexes, only have access to cardboard recycling. We are partnering with the local garbage and recycling haulers to encourage more businesses to recycle. One of the misconceptions about recycling is that it is an added business expense. In reality, it costs less to recycle than to throw something away. Recycling at home and at work saves money because you can reduce the size of your garbage can or the frequency of collection. Get started with one month of free service We are coordinating with business owners and property managers to help businesses start recycling. We are also providing indoor recycling bins and recycling reminder posters. See the impact of the changes at your business, and experience the savings before you pay for the service. Thanks to the generous support of our local hauling companies, businesses who add recycling get the first month free. How can you get started with becoming more efficient and saving money? Schedule a waste assessment by visiting piercecountywa.org/recycleatwork

4 Fantasy Lights Adds LEDs Pierce County Public Works and Utilities is once again a proud sponsor of Fantasy Lights at Spanaway Park. An 18-year tradition, the twomile drive along Spanaway Lake features nearly 300 elaborate displays and thousands of sparkling lights. This year, a portion of our department s sponsorship went toward purchasing energy efficient LED lights for the tunnel. LED light sets last longer, are more durable and pose less risk of fire than traditional incandescent light strings. Fantasy Lights runs from November 22, 2012 through January 1, 2013; 5:30 9 p.m. For more information visit: piercecountywa.org/parks Don t forget to take our food waste survey by November 21. The first 100 people to respond will get free admission for one vehicle to Fantasy Lights (one admission per household). piercecountywa.org/foodwaste Is It Recyclable? Plastic Bags Plastic bags are recyclable but NOT in your curbside cart. It s a common misconception. Pierce County s curbside recycling program is designed to be convenient. That s why the different types of recyclables are mixed together in your curbside cart. But we don t accept plastic bags, because they jam the equipment at sorting facilities. You can, however, recycle clean, dry plastic bags at participating grocery stores. These bags are accepted in grocery store programs but NOT in your curbside cart: grocery bags bread bags produce bags dry cleaning bags newspaper bags The material collected in a curbside recycling program is only valuable if there is a market for it to be recycled. The less contamination we have in our recycle bins, the more valuable our recyclables will be. This keeps your rates low and assures the material collected is recycled into new products. Please do your part by reusing your plastic bags. And when you are ready to recycle them, remember to take them to a participating grocery store. Holidays bring celebrations, time with family and, unfortunately, extra trash. Whether it is gift wrap, plastic packaging or leftover food, we generate a lot of waste between Thanksgiving and New Year s Day. Here are some simple steps you can take to reduce waste during the holidays and still have plenty of time to enjoy the festivities: REDUCE UNNECESSARY PACKAGING Packaging makes up almost a third of America s trash. Much of it is not recyclable in your curbside container. As a consumer you have the power to demand something different. So before you buy something, take a look at how it is packaged. Is it possible to buy something without all of the twist ties and plastic wrap? Reduce Waste This Holiday Season PLAN WASTE-FREE HOLIDAY MENUS Websites and magazines abound with holiday menu ideas and creative ways to use leftovers. Plan your meals ahead and resist the urge to buy more than you need. TREECYCLE Don t forget to treecycle your Christmas tree. Remove the stand, tinsel, decorations, and any nails or staples. If you have curbside yard waste collection you may place the tree in your yard waste container for pickup on your regularly scheduled collection day. The tree must fit into the closed container so you may have to cut it into pieces. Pierce County s transfer stations also accept Christmas trees. Please note: Flocked trees cannot be treecycled. For locations, visit piercecountywa.org/treecycle Holiday Collection Schedule There is no recycling and garbage pickup on Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year s days. Pickup will be one day later during the rest of the week following these holidays.

5 Community Garden Program Did you know there are 53 community gardens in Pierce County? Pierce County Public Works & Utilities partners with the Tacoma-Pierce County Community Garden Program to support food waste reduction, use of compost and demonstration sites. The Community Garden Program exists to foster and sustain a culture of community gardening throughout Pierce County. We achieve this through community building, education, advocacy and celebration. We are working with the program to establish compost demonstration sites at community gardens in Pierce County. Edible Garden Series We collaborated with the program to offer the Edible Garden Series: Grow it, Eat it, Preserve it. The monthly classes ran from March to October and were held in Gig Harbor, Puyallup and Tacoma. Look for the popular series to return in 2013 with an additional location. Looking for a community garden near you? Check out a map of community gardens in Pierce County: tinyurl.com/dxzv977 Pierce County Responds Celebrates 10 Years Pierce County Responds has been working with residents to make Pierce County more livable since The program was originally created to respond to the problem of illegal dump sites and junk vehicles. In 2009 the program was expanded to coordinate all code enforcement issues in unincorporated Pierce County. Pierce County Responds is the place to turn for handling problems caused by illegal dumping of waste, the storage of junk vehicles, and violations of Pierce County s zoning and development regulations. Voluntary compliance, not enforcement, is the preferred approach. Pierce County Responds assists property owners in the identification and removal of junk vehicles, the safe removal of illegally-dumped waste, and help in applying for appropriate development permits. Community-based solutions The Community Assistance and Public Education (CAPE) program was created in 2005 to focus on prevention. CAPE offers litter credits to help with disposal costs, Junk Vehicle Affidavits to assist in removal of vehicles without titles or proof of ownership, and garbage containers for community groups organizing cleanups. By the numbers SINCE ,326 complaints answered 23,000 tons of trash removed from private properties 3,818 tons of trash removed from the County right-of-way 12,910 junk vehicles removed 775 litter credits issued 3,352 properties assisted

6 Pierce County Debuts New Website: piercecountywa.org On November 15, Pierce County will unveil a new website. When we decided to revamp our 10-year-old website, we had two specific goals in mind: A new website had to be easier for you to use and less expensive for us to operate. Improved search features and simple navigation are two key changes. On every page of the site, for example, you ll find a new How Do I button. Here you ll find quick links to common County services, contact information and upcoming workshops. Watch for our online survey after the site launches. We ll use that additional customer feedback to make adjustments that improve the site even more. Curbside Collection Contact Info Garbage, Recycling & Yard Waste Murrey s Disposal American Disposal DM Disposal murreysdisposal.com (888) LeMay Enterprises Lakewood Refuse Pierce County Refuse lemayinc.com (253) University Place Refuse Westside Disposal uprefuse.com (253) For More Information: PIERCE COUNTY PUBLIC WORKS & UTILITIES SOLID WASTE DIVISION...(253) Website... piercecountywa.org/solidwaste ...pcsolidwaste@co.pierce.wa.us PIERCE COUNTY RESPONDS...(253) Website... piercecountyresponds.org ... pcresponds@co.pierce.wa.us FOR HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH INFORMATION: TACOMA-PIERCE CO. HEALTH DEPT Website... tpchd.org Find us on Facebook: PierceCountyPWU Solid Waste Division Public Works and Utilities th Street West University Place, WA