Spring 2012

Page 1Page 4

Thurston CountySolid Waste

2404-A Heritage Court SWOlympia, WA 98502

(360) 786-5269

A quarterly newsletterof Thurston County

Solid Waste

minionc@co.thurston.wa.uswww.ThurstonSolidWaste.org

Most of us want to recycle as much as we can. However, sometimes recycling is confusing. You can recycle a lot of plastics at the curb and at blue bin drop-off centers, but we don’t accept all plastics. Why? In order to accept a material, we need to have a market for it. That means someone who will take it to make a new product. An example is a company that buys old plastic bottles to make new fleece fabric.

Different containers and products are made using different kinds of plastic and we don’t have a

market for all kinds of plastics. For instance, even though they are both desserts,

chocolate chip cookies have a very different recipe from an apple pie. The same is true between a plastic bottle and a plastic food tray. The bottle can be recycled into things more easily than a food tray, so there is a market for bottles.

Because there is no market for them, the following items CANNOT go

into your recycling bin: v Clear plastic tubs that hold things like hummus or salsav Plastic clamshell containers, such as the containers that hold

grapes or strawberriesv Frozen food traysv Lids, caps, and pumps from plastic bottles and jugs

So what DO we accept?u Plastic bottles and jars: The top must be

narrower than the base. Good examples are water bottles, detergent jugs, and spaghetti sauce jars.

u Plastic dairy tubs: This includes margarine, sour cream, and cottage cheese containers.

u Plastic buckets: Handles and lids should be removed.

u Rigid plant pots: They must be clean.

The Problem with Plastic BagsPlease, no bags in recycling carts! Plastic bags clog machinery at the recycling sorting facility. In fact, plastic bags can shut down an entire sorting facility more than twice a day! During the shut-down, workers must use box cutters to cut out the plastic bags by hand. Please help make their jobs easier—do NOT put plastic bags into your recycling carts.

If you use bags to collect your recyclables, empty the items loose into your curbside cart or blue bin and keep the bag. Reuse the bag at home, or recycle it at your grocery store. The Thurston County Waste and Recovery Center also has a special bin for plastic bag recycling.

What else can you do? Use fewer new plastic bags by taking reusable tote bags to the store. Many stores even reward you for bringing your own bag!

Leadership Team Key to Food to Flowers Success

The Leadership Team at Pleasant Glade Elementary is an awesome group of 5th and 6th graders who work on projects to improve their school. One of these projects is the Food to Flowers composting and recycling program. Leadership Team students help younger students learn how to sort their lunch waste, making sure that all students put items into the right bins. If a student is not sure where something goes, no problem! A Leadership Team student is there to help.

The Leadership Team’s hard work is making a difference. The school now sends more than 5 tons of food to be composted each year! All of this food used to go to the landfill. This is not only better for the environment, but it also saves the school

Secondhand SafariGot a lot of junk in your attic or garage? Or maybe you found stuff you didn’t want when you put away your Christmas presents. If your old stuff is still in good shape, sell it at the Thurston County Community Garage Sale and Reuse Fair!

Even if you aren’t selling stuff, join us on Saturday, May 5, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Thurston County Fairgrounds. The event will have garage sale booths, entertainment, food, and more! Don’t forget to bring your old books and magazines for the free exchange table. Admission after 9 a.m. is just $1 (or $2 if you come early at 8 a.m.).

Sign up for your booth now! Team up with friends or neighbors, make it a family event, or use the opportunity to raise money for a scout troop, youth group, or charity. Outdoor booth space is $25 and a covered space is $40.

Goodwill will have a trailer on site to accept donations throughout the day. They will also accept your reusable leftovers at the end of the day. Remember—donate usable stuff, not broken junk, to Goodwill.

To reserve your space or for more information, please call 786-5453 or visit www.co.thurston.wa.us/fair.

money on its garbage bill. The Leadership Team is so popular that

now there is a Junior Leadership Team for 3rd and 4th graders. When we ask students why they are part of the Leadership Team, a common answer is, “It’s fun! And it feels good to help the younger kids.”

For more information about school composting and recycling programs, call Peter Guttchen at 709-3013.

Recycle Wherever You LiveRecycling is everywhere! That means at school, in public places, and where you live. If you live in a house, you can recycle at your curb. But did you know that you can also recycle if you live in an

apartment, condominium, duplex, or mobile home park? Recycling

is as close as a few steps out your door to the recycling containers. Sorting is a piece of cake. Cardboard, paper, and plastic and metal containers all go in the same bin. Only glass goes into a

separate bin. We keep glass separate to make sure our paper

and plastic stay clean.Recycling helps the environment

and may also reduce trash disposal costs for your complex. Most complexes have recycling bins located next to each

garbage dumpster. When you get home this afternoon, take a minute to find the garbage and recycling bins.

Quick TipsD Be sure items are recyclable before putting them into the bins.D Recyclables must be free of food waste and other contaminants.D Place glass in a separate container.D It’s not necessary to remove staples,

envelope windows, labels, or sticky notes from paper.

D If the bins are full, DO NOT leave materials on the ground. Be sure the site manager knows when the bins are full so that they can be emptied.

When In Doubt, Leave It OutIf you are unsure which items go in the recycling bins, just put them into the garbage bin. That is a better solution than contaminating the recyclables.

Take a Virtual Tour of a Recycling PlantEver wonder how plastic, metal, and paper get separated for recycling? All of the stuff you toss into your recycling bin at home goes to SP Recycling in Tacoma. Belts, blowers, and magnets shuffle it around until it’s sorted. Sound complicated? Thanks to the Internet, you can see how it’s done without leaving your classroom. To take a virtual tour, go to the “Publications” link at www.ThurstonSolidWaste.org and look in the “Videos” section.

Recycling Plastic Can Be Confusing!

Spring 2012

Page 1Page 4

Thurston CountySolid Waste

2404-A Heritage Court SWOlympia, WA 98502

(360) 786-5269

A quarterly newsletterof Thurston County

Solid Waste

minionc@co.thurston.wa.uswww.ThurstonSolidWaste.org

Most of us want to recycle as much as we can. However, sometimes recycling is confusing. You can recycle a lot of plastics at the curb and at blue bin drop-off centers, but we don’t accept all plastics. Why? In order to accept a material, we need to have a market for it. That means someone who will take it to make a new product. An example is a company that buys old plastic bottles to make new fleece fabric.

Different containers and products are made using different kinds of plastic and we don’t have a

market for all kinds of plastics. For instance, even though they are both desserts,

chocolate chip cookies have a very different recipe from an apple pie. The same is true between a plastic bottle and a plastic food tray. The bottle can be recycled into things more easily than a food tray, so there is a market for bottles.

Because there is no market for them, the following items CANNOT go

into your recycling bin: v Clear plastic tubs that hold things like hummus or salsav Plastic clamshell containers, such as the containers that hold

grapes or strawberriesv Frozen food traysv Lids, caps, and pumps from plastic bottles and jugs

So what DO we accept?u Plastic bottles and jars: The top must be

narrower than the base. Good examples are water bottles, detergent jugs, and spaghetti sauce jars.

u Plastic dairy tubs: This includes margarine, sour cream, and cottage cheese containers.

u Plastic buckets: Handles and lids should be removed.

u Rigid plant pots: They must be clean.

The Problem with Plastic BagsPlease, no bags in recycling carts! Plastic bags clog machinery at the recycling sorting facility. In fact, plastic bags can shut down an entire sorting facility more than twice a day! During the shut-down, workers must use box cutters to cut out the plastic bags by hand. Please help make their jobs easier—do NOT put plastic bags into your recycling carts.

If you use bags to collect your recyclables, empty the items loose into your curbside cart or blue bin and keep the bag. Reuse the bag at home, or recycle it at your grocery store. The Thurston County Waste and Recovery Center also has a special bin for plastic bag recycling.

What else can you do? Use fewer new plastic bags by taking reusable tote bags to the store. Many stores even reward you for bringing your own bag!

Leadership Team Key to Food to Flowers Success

The Leadership Team at Pleasant Glade Elementary is an awesome group of 5th and 6th graders who work on projects to improve their school. One of these projects is the Food to Flowers composting and recycling program. Leadership Team students help younger students learn how to sort their lunch waste, making sure that all students put items into the right bins. If a student is not sure where something goes, no problem! A Leadership Team student is there to help.

The Leadership Team’s hard work is making a difference. The school now sends more than 5 tons of food to be composted each year! All of this food used to go to the landfill. This is not only better for the environment, but it also saves the school

Secondhand SafariGot a lot of junk in your attic or garage? Or maybe you found stuff you didn’t want when you put away your Christmas presents. If your old stuff is still in good shape, sell it at the Thurston County Community Garage Sale and Reuse Fair!

Even if you aren’t selling stuff, join us on Saturday, May 5, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Thurston County Fairgrounds. The event will have garage sale booths, entertainment, food, and more! Don’t forget to bring your old books and magazines for the free exchange table. Admission after 9 a.m. is just $1 (or $2 if you come early at 8 a.m.).

Sign up for your booth now! Team up with friends or neighbors, make it a family event, or use the opportunity to raise money for a scout troop, youth group, or charity. Outdoor booth space is $25 and a covered space is $40.

Goodwill will have a trailer on site to accept donations throughout the day. They will also accept your reusable leftovers at the end of the day. Remember—donate usable stuff, not broken junk, to Goodwill.

To reserve your space or for more information, please call 786-5453 or visit www.co.thurston.wa.us/fair.

money on its garbage bill. The Leadership Team is so popular that

now there is a Junior Leadership Team for 3rd and 4th graders. When we ask students why they are part of the Leadership Team, a common answer is, “It’s fun! And it feels good to help the younger kids.”

For more information about school composting and recycling programs, call Peter Guttchen at 709-3013.

Recycle Wherever You LiveRecycling is everywhere! That means at school, in public places, and where you live. If you live in a house, you can recycle at your curb. But did you know that you can also recycle if you live in an

apartment, condominium, duplex, or mobile home park? Recycling

is as close as a few steps out your door to the recycling containers. Sorting is a piece of cake. Cardboard, paper, and plastic and metal containers all go in the same bin. Only glass goes into a

separate bin. We keep glass separate to make sure our paper

and plastic stay clean.Recycling helps the environment

and may also reduce trash disposal costs for your complex. Most complexes have recycling bins located next to each

garbage dumpster. When you get home this afternoon, take a minute to find the garbage and recycling bins.

Quick TipsD Be sure items are recyclable before putting them into the bins.D Recyclables must be free of food waste and other contaminants.D Place glass in a separate container.D It’s not necessary to remove staples,

envelope windows, labels, or sticky notes from paper.

D If the bins are full, DO NOT leave materials on the ground. Be sure the site manager knows when the bins are full so that they can be emptied.

When In Doubt, Leave It OutIf you are unsure which items go in the recycling bins, just put them into the garbage bin. That is a better solution than contaminating the recyclables.

Take a Virtual Tour of a Recycling PlantEver wonder how plastic, metal, and paper get separated for recycling? All of the stuff you toss into your recycling bin at home goes to SP Recycling in Tacoma. Belts, blowers, and magnets shuffle it around until it’s sorted. Sound complicated? Thanks to the Internet, you can see how it’s done without leaving your classroom. To take a virtual tour, go to the “Publications” link at www.ThurstonSolidWaste.org and look in the “Videos” section.

Recycling Plastic Can Be Confusing!