11-19-2017

No country produces food as efficiently as the United States, yet ironically, no nation wastes as much food as we do. Approximately 40 percent of the food grown and raised in the U.S. is wasted each year — either rotting on the way from the farm to our kitchens or simply being tossed out by consumers.

Though the food waste issue is nothing new, these two short videos from Yale Environment 360 are. They’re called Wasted, and they investigate the problem and potential solutions of food waste from the perspective of two countries handling it very differently.

In the first Wasted video, we look at the country wasting the most food — the U.S. Visiting Washington, D.C., we follow waste along the city’s food chain, meeting the people and organizations who are working to reduce and repurpose it.

In the second Wasted video, we look at the country recycling the most food — South Korea. While the United States has taken relatively minor steps to combat food waste, Seoul, South Korea, is making great strides to curb it.

Inspired to take action after watching these videos? Check out these tips to reduce food waste in your daily life.

11-15-2017

What is the Think Before You Toss Campaign?
It is a campaign to educate Stockton residents about what belongs in their Green/Food Waste carts. This pilot program will not impact all residents, only those on the selected pilot routes.

Why is the campaign needed?
People are using their Green/Food Waste carts for trash. Based on a recent content study, one Green/Food Waste truck had over 1,160 lbs. of trash mixed in the Green/Food Waste material.

What’s wrong with putting trash in Green/Food Waste carts?
In the Green/Food Waste cart trash like plastic bags, glass, garden hoses and plant containers get shredded and mixed into the green material for compost. These contaminants ruin the compost meant for farming and must be disposed of as trash.

Has outreach been provided to those on the pilot route?
Yes. In July, all City residents received an educational notice included in their invoices detailing the proper items to put in a Green/Food Waste cart. A week before the program begins, all customers on the pilot route will receive an educational Think Before You Toss postcard.

Before I get “tagged,” will I receive a warning first?
Yes, the week before the inspections begin each customer on the pilot route will receive on their Green/Food Waste cart a pre-inspection tag. This tag will inform the customer that inspections of the carts will begin the following week.

Inspections? Who is inspecting the carts?
The City of Stockton, Republic Services and Waste Management have partnered with the Greater Valley Conservation Corps to inspect the Green/Food Waste carts on the pilot route for obvious contamination. They will lift the lid, look at the contents and if they see anything in the cart other than grass, branches, plants & flowers, or food waste, the resident will get a tag notifying them of what was in their cart.

How long is this program and what days will the inspections occur?
The pilot program will occur over an eight-week period. The Greater Valley Conservation Corps will be inspecting the Waste Management routes on Thursdays.

I am a Republic Services Customer will I be affected by this Pilot Program?

No, not at this time.

Where are the Pilot Routes and how were they selected?
The pilot route was identified on the provided map and was selected based on average contamination rates from content studies provided by the processing locations and a comprehensive review of all green/food waste routes.

What can I do if I get a tag?
Take time to review the tag, refer to the Think Before You Toss mailer to see what belongs in the cart or visit stocktonrecycles.com to access recycling guides and other important recycling information.

How many times will my cart get tagged if I continue to put trash in my Green/Food Waste cart?
Three. For the first and second warnings, the Green/Food Waste cart will not be serviced. Customers will be offered the opportunity to call their service provider to schedule an extra trash pickup to empty the Green/Food Waste cart.
On the third incident, the service provider will remove the Green/Food Waste cart and the customer will be offered the opportunity to call their service provider to increase their trash container size.

Waste Management: (209) 946-5711

Can I get my Green/Food Waste cart back?
Yes. Following the completion of the pilot program, the customers that had their Green/Food waste cart removed will be contacted by the service provider’s customer service representatives to discuss and assess their service needs and will be provided with additional educational material on recycling.

11-12-2017

Thanksgiving is around the corner, and we all know how labor-intensive preparing for the big day can be. What we’re not always as aware of is how much extra waste we tend to generate. According to the EPA, household waste in the U.S. increases by 25 percent between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. With their heightened activity, the holidays too easily become a time to think less and waste more. This Thanksgiving, try giving thanks for the environment by adopting some of these easy tips to green your holiday.

Reduce Waste From Packaging and Disposable Items

Remember to bring your reusable bags along when shopping, and choose products with minimal packaging, or packaging that can be recycled. It’s easier to avoid waste by shopping at farmers’ markets, from fresh produce sections and from bulk bins. Canned foods might save you a little time, but they’re less eco-friendly than fresh produce.

At home, skip the aluminum tray and invest in a roasting pan instead. A roasting pan will last for a long time, and the aluminum trays getting tossed around the nation add up quickly. Break out your reusable dishes and silverware for the holiday instead of serving on disposable plates. Use cloth napkins instead of paper napkins — you’ll add elegance and reduce waste at the same time. Opt for tap water over bottled water when serving beverages, and avoid plastic wrap when storing leftovers by using reusable containers or glass jars instead.

When preparing your decorations, use natural objects such as gourds or pinecones to brighten your space. You can also make your own eco-friendly decor by cutting shapes out of old wrapping paper or construction paper, or having kiddos make figurines from Baker’s clay and color them using non-toxic paint.

Reduce Food Waste

Food is traditionally the centerpiece of this holiday, but consider preparing less food this year, especially if you’ve never been short. Buy a smaller bird, or skip a couple of unpopular side dishes. You can also try serving food on smaller plates, so that people are more likely to finish what they take instead of tossing it in the trash once they’re full. Come up with a plan for your leftovers ahead of time — you can find a lot of creative ideas online, such as these from Eat This Not That.

Think Local

Close to 50 million Americans travel 50 miles or more from their home on Thanksgiving. Reconsider your travel plans this year — see if you can stay close to home, carpool or celebrate with nearby friends or neighbors.

You can also shop for local, organic produce — from the bird you buy or the wine you bring, to farmer’s market produce or beeswax candles from a local boutique.

Reducing waste and recycling are important, but no matter how you choose to celebrate, remember to be thankful for who you’re with and all you have.

11-5-2017

November 15th is America Recycles Day! Each year, this day offers an opportunity to remember why we recycle in the first place. Here are some great reasons:

• Recycling reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills and incinerators — by 34.6 percent nationwide, and by 44 percent in California.
• Recycling has created a multibillion dollar industry that provides millions of Americans with well-paying jobs.
• Recycling conserves natural resources such as trees, water, oil and metals.
• Recycling reduces the need for new raw materials, thereby reducing pollution.
• Recycling saves energy. We save the energy equivalent of the power that 14 million U.S. households would use in a year — that’s about 4.5 times the number of households in New York City.
• Recycling reduces greenhouse gas emissions from landfills — the equivalent of removing about 13 percent of cars on the road in the U.S. for a year.

America Recycles Day is also the perfect time to get motivated about using less and recycling more. Need inspiration on where to start? Let us give you some ideas:

• Take a recycling pledge on AmericaRecyclesDay.org.
• Throw a waste-free party.
• Teach your kids sustainable habits.
• Spearhead sustainability initiatives in the community.
• Educate yourself on how to be a responsible consumer.
• Learn new ways to reuse.
• Start your own compost or worm farm.
• Donate items you no longer need instead of throwing them away.
• Learn how to recycle almost anything using our Recycling Guide.

Happy recycling!

10-22-2017

As everyone gets into the flow of the new school year, parents across the country are spending countless minutes in their cars, waiting for their kiddos and friends to make their way from classrooms to their rides. Over the course of a school year, how many hours do you think those minutes of car idling add up to? Quite a few, right? And probably one of the last things on everyone’s mind is questioning whether or not it’s a good thing to let your car idle while you’re waiting.

But, it’s not a bad thing to consider. Old advice warns us that restarting our cars uses a lot of gas or might be hard on our starters, so we should just leave cars running. However, what most people don’t know is that with electronic ignition, it only takes 10 seconds of idling time to equal the power of restarting your car. So if you’re idling your car for longer than 10 seconds, it makes economic sense to turn it off.

Is this mechanically sound advice? Most organizations advise somewhere between a 10 and 60 second rule. There is an added strain on your starter and battery, but that amounts to minimal cost, and some experts say that idling is much harder on your engine than restarting it. Either way, the cost of maintenance isn’t much compared to what you’d be saving in gas.

The average driver spends about 16 minutes a day idling. If you have a small 4-cylinder engine and can cut out only 5 minutes of idling per day, you will save about $30 per year. If your car has a larger engine or you can reduce your idling by more — say, 10 minutes per day — you could save up to $200 per year. Even in cold weather, most cars in most conditions don’t need more than 30 seconds of idling to warm up. After that, they warm up better while in motion (and it’s better for them). You just need to avoid accelerating quickly for the first few minutes.

Not only do you save money when you refuse to let your engine idle — you reduce your carbon footprint too. Nationwide, the U.S. wastes 3.8 million gallons of gas each day by idling. However, if we could stop idling altogether, not just for one day, but all year, that would be like taking over 2.6 million passenger cars off the road — that’s more than all the passenger vehicles in the state of Connecticut.

Are you in the habit of idling your car? Here are common places for idling:

• Schools
• Driveways
• Drive-throughs
• Car washes
• Gas stations
• Banks

A lot of idling also occurs in traffic, but it can be dangerous to turn off your engine in these instances, and it is illegal to do so in several states.

The bottom line? If you’re going to be idling for longer than 30 seconds, and you don’t need the heat or AC on to keep anyone from freezing or burning up, turn the car off. You’ll be saving money and the environment at the same time.

10-15-2017

Halloween is fast approaching, and as you work your way through the never-ending supply of candy, remember that candy wrappers are not recyclable. They need to be thrown in the trash.

Candy wrappers can’t be recycled because they are made of a mix of materials — plastic and aluminum — that are expensive and difficult to separate. Wrappers are also so small that they are difficult to separate from the rest of your recycling.

However, if you’re organizing a big halloween party, and there’s going to be a ton of candy, consider ordering a TerraCycle Candy and Snack Wrappers Zero Waste Box. This way the wrappers can be mailed in to be recycled and reused appropriately.

10-8-2017

All businesses that sell food and beverages in Seattle will be required to stop using disposable plastic straws and cutlery by July 1, 2018. The plastic straw and cutlery ban is the next stage of a 2008 law phasing out plastic items from Seattle’s food industry.

In support of a campaign called Strawless in Seattle, about 200 restaurants agreed to make the switch to compostable straws last month. Instead of waiting for the ban to be implemented, they are trading in the plastic straw now. Its replacement? A paper option proven to biodegrade within 45-90 days.

Strawless in Seattle was launched by the nonprofit Lonely Whale Foundation, and expects to prevent 1 million plastic straws from being used in its first month. Ocean plastics are a huge dilemma for ecosystem health — scientists estimate that nearly 300 marine species are affected by eating or getting caught in plastic in the ocean.

Learn more about the disposable straw campaign here.