Everyone has that one drawer or shelf where they put small and hard to dispose of items. It’s like purgatory for items such as batteries, dead electronics, empty lighters and a whole host of other oddball objects. We get it. Who has the time to figure out what to do with these things? To save you time, we’ve assembled a list of common junk drawer items so you can clean out your drawer before it gets too full to open.

Common Junk Drawer Items
Click on items to see the correct way to dispose

• • Batteries
  • Electronics
  • Glue and Glue Bottles
  • Tapes and Tape Dispensers
  • Keys
  • Electrical Cords and Cables
  • Pens and Markers
  • Rubber Bands
  • Lighters

Find something else in your junk drawer? Search the recycling guide to find it.

Food requires a lot of resources, including land, water, and energy. It should come as no surprise then, that the food we waste accounts for a whopping six percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Fortunately, it is not hard to cut back on food waste. It can even be fun! Check out these five ideas for waste-preventing, emission-reducing inspiration.

1. Store food properly

How you store food makes a big difference in how long it lasts. First, check out this food storage guide from the EPA to learn which foods last longer when kept inside your fridge and which ones don’t. Next, find out what parts of your fridge are best for which foods.

2. Freeze, dehydrate or pickle food that is about to go bad

If you have too much food sitting in your fridge, do not let it go to waste! Extra bananas can be peeled and frozen for future use in breads and smoothies, while other fruit like peaches and berries can be frozen and stored for smoothies, pies, and other baked goods. Uncooked meat can be frozen for future meals, and cooked meals like soup can be frozen for an easy meal on a lazy day.

Have an abundance of fruit or veggies from your garden harvest or a deal at the supermarket? Try dehydrating and storing them for use later. This guide will help you reach the perfect level of dehydration for storage.

If you have extra veggies like cabbage, carrots, cucumber, or green beans, try pickling them to make them last. You don’t have to learn canning, either — quick pickling works just as well.

3. Eat veggies without peeling

Not only will it save you a lot of work, it will cut down on food waste, increase your dish’s flavor and give you more nutrients. The veggies you can stop peeling include beets, carrots, cucumbers, eggplant, ginger, parsnips, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Worried about dirt? Soak your veggies in water for a few minutes to get most of it off, then use a vegetable brush to finish the job.

4. Find ways to eat the parts of your food you would normally toss

If there is a part of some kind of food that you always toss, see if there’s a way you could make it edible. Here are some of our ideas:

• Add carrot tops to pesto or chimichurri.
• Make broccoli rice out of broccoli stalks.
• Wilt beet greens and add them to your beet dish, like in this beet salad.

5. Put your food scraps to work

Not all food scraps are destined for the bin. Try out some of these fun ideas to give your scraps a second life:

• • Make a broth out of carrot, celery and onion scraps.
  • Make an exfoliating coffee scrub out of used coffee grounds. Simply add a little oil of your choice (like coconut or jojoba) to freshly brewed grounds and exfoliate away! Use a drain catcher to keep the grounds from clogging up your plumbing.
  • Make potpourri from dried orange and other citrus peels.
  • Grow new plants out of food scraps.

From January through September annually, residential streets are swept bi-weekly (every other week). Weekly street sweeping is provided during Leaf Season (October through December annually).

To ensure a clean street:

• Do not pile leaves or other debris in the street or gutter. Street sweepers cannot pick up large pieces or piles.

• Keep palm fronds, long twigs, and branches out of the street or gutter.

• Pick up litter in front of your home or business.

• Remove portable basketball hoops from the street or gutter.

• Do not leave garbage, recycling or organics containers or bins on the street.

• Avoid parking vehicles, boats or trailers on the street on service day.

• Prune trees and shrubs so they do not block the street sweepers from reaching the curb line.

If you have (3) wheeled carts for trash, recycling, and organics (green waste), this means you reside within City limits and cannot pile leaves into the street. During Leaf season only, your service provider will collect up to 5 additional bags of leaves every week at no additonal charge. Just place bagged leaves next to your organics cart on your regular service day. These leaves are then sent to local compost facilities.

Leaf bags must contain only leaves. If bags contains leaves mixed with grass trimmings, branches, brush, or other non-leaf content, the bag will require an “Extra Sevice” sticker. “Extra Service” stickers are not required for bagged leaves during Leaf Season (October 1 thru December 31). After December 31, only bags with “Extra Service” stickers will be picked up.

*Street sweeping only picks up what falls naturally on the street. * 

**The City of Stockton has some San Joaquin County pockets within City limits. County residents are allowed to pile leaves in the street for removal, but city residents are prohibited from this practice.**

Please do not put leaves in the street.

The pantry can be a place where many single-use plastics live, including food packaging and plastic storage bags. However, there are a few easy ways to purchase the same great food while reducing waste. Consider the options below to help reduce plastic waste in the pantry.

Glass Storage Jars

Glass jars can be purchased or recycled from other food products, such as pickle jars for example. They are an ideal way to store food, as it is easy to see what’s inside, they typically fit nicely next to one another on a shelf, and their lids generally seal better than plastic food containers. When buying groceries, it is easy to put bulk items like beans or grains in a glass jar brought from home. Depending on the store, cashiers may ask to weigh your jar before you fill it, or they may ask you to self-weigh on store provided scales. This weight will then be subtracted from the total weight when it is time to pay.

Be sure to call ahead to see if there are any COVID-19 related bulk container restrictions at your store.

Silicone Storage Bags

This lightweight option is a great way to store smaller items or leftovers, like crackers or chips. It is easy to bring on the go, just toss it in a lunchbox or backpack when you’re headed out of the house.

Reuse Spice Jars

Once the original packaging of a spice is empty, it can be reused. Both glass and plastic spice containers are refillable, and often have a lid that can be unscrewed for easy refilling. Spices can be bought in bulk and are typically cheaper than their pre-packaged equivalents. When it’s time for more, simply bring the container to the store, have it weighed when empty, and refill it at the bulk bins.

Be sure to call ahead to see if there are any COVID-19 related bulk container restrictions at your store.

Beeswax Food Wraps

These handy cloths are made of fabric dipped in beeswax. They can be purchased from a local vendor or even made at home. They are great for protecting baked goods like breads or muffins. The cloth is wrapped around the items, and then naturally clings to itself creating a seal around the food.

America Recycles Day is November 15th! To celebrate, people across America are taking the day to organize, educate and make our recycling systems more functional! Keep America Beautiful, the organization who founded this celebration of recycling, says that November 15th is “a nationally recognized day dedicated to promoting and celebrating recycling in the United States.” They encourage the public to participate by utilizing toolkits provided through the America Recycles Day website and forming action groups with other community members.

Why Recycle?

So, why does recycling need a special day? The United States recycles less than 22% of materials discarded, though much of what is wasted could technically be recycled. A big part of the problem is caused by public confusion on how to recycle. If we can sort out the confusion, many of these items could be turned into new goods and prevented from entering landfills. For example, recycling five plastic bottles produces enough fiber to fill one winter jacket. Here is another surprising fact: every three months, enough aluminum cans are thrown into landfills in America to build the nation’s entire commercial airline fleet.

Get Involved

America Recycles Day is aimed at helping dissolve the confusion around recycling, offering many ways for the public to get involved, from attending an event, or organizing one to simply signing up to participate individually. Those who wish to take the recycling pledge can sign up on the website, and commit to a 3-step promise: learning more about their local recycling facility and how to recycle, taking action to reduce waste over the month beginning November 15th and sharing their new knowledge with others.

Ways to Take Action

1. The first step to creating meaningful change in recycling is to educate yourself on what is recyclable in your community. Our recycling guide includes disposal information for hundreds of commonly used items as well as alternative ways to recycle, ways to reduce, and ways to reuse.
2. Once you have got a handle on how to recycle, go the extra mile and attend a recycling or cleanup event. Check out Keep America Beautiful upcoming events to get involved.
3. Another way to support recycling is by spreading the word. Start the conversion in your community and contact your local government representatives to tell them that protecting the environment and recycling are important to you.

The San Joaquin County landfills recycle appliances for FREE. They will accept two per trip of larger appliances such as refrigerators, air conditioners, freezers and water coolers. They will accept nine per trip of medium to smaller appliances such as washers, dryers, microwaves, ovens, water heaters, stoves, space heaters, dishwasher, and/or trash compactors.

Please do not leave appliances on the street.

The following San Joaquin County Facilities accept appliances for free:

• North County Recycling Center and Sanitary Landfill
• Lovelace Materials Recovery Facility and Transfer Station
• Foothill Sanitary Landfill

Have a tough recycling question?
We’re here to help! Ask the Experts »

Q: What is biodegradable plastic?

A: Biodegradable plastic is a tricky topic! Why? Because it’s a blanket term applied to many different plastics. It’s made in different ways by different companies but called the same name because it’s designed for a similar end: biodegrading.

Let’s start by defining the term biodegradable. When something is biodegradable, that means it can break down into organic materials. Regular plastic cannot do this — it can only break down into smaller pieces of plastic, which is a synthetic material.

How Biodegradable Plastic Is Made

In general, biodegradable plastics are made from petrochemical (oil-based) polymers that are put through a chemical process to turn them into plastic. In this way, they are just like any normal plastic.

However, some biodegradable plastics are made from plant-based plastics — bioplastics — or a combination of plant-based and synthetic plastics. Plant-based plastics are made by taking polymers that exist in nature and putting them through a similar chemical process to turn them into plastic.

How to Dispose of It

It’s important to know that biodegradable plastics are not recyclable. And just because they are capable of biodegrading does not mean that they will. Some require very specific conditions or special microbes in order to biodegrade, and some require a very long time.

For instance, one of the more common types of biodegradable plastic has chemicals added to it that can help it break down in open air and sunlight, whether that’s out in a field or floating in the ocean. However, it is not designed to break down when buried underground (in a compost or landfill) or submerged in water. Without enough oxygen and sunlight, it may never biodegrade.

You wouldn’t really want this kind of plastic to break down in the environment anyway, though — or in a compost pile, or in your water supply. The chemicals that have been added to it can leave behind a toxic residue, and some types of “biodegradable” plastic will not actually break down into organic molecules at all. Instead, they break down into smaller pieces of synthetic plastic, also known as microplastics.

For these reasons, anytime you see something labeled “biodegradable plastic,” toss it in the trash. That way, when it breaks down, it won’t pollute anything other than the landfill.

Dishwasher & Laundry Detergent Pods

Dishwasher pods and laundry pods are the exceptions to this rule. These products are made from polyvinyl alcohol, often referred to as PVA or PVOH. They are designed to dissolve in water and are fully biodegrade with the help of certain microbes present in wastewater treatment facilities.

Scientists agree that single-use plastic is a big problem for our planet. Straws, takeout containers and plastic grocery bags are banned or in the process of being banned in many cities and states across the country. Unfortunately, single-use plastics seem to be built into many of our holiday traditions. Here are some simple tips to help you ditch the single-use plastic candy wrappers this Halloween.

Halloween Candy

Americans bought 600 million pounds of Halloween candy in 2019, and of the top ten most loved brands, eight are wrapped in plastic. For a holiday that encompasses just a single night, that is a whole lot of single-use plastic.

Unfortunately, it’s nearly impossible to recycle plastic wrappers. They’re too small to be sorted effectively by machines or by humans working on a fast-moving sorting line. So wrappers must be thrown in the garbage where they will end up in a landfill.

If you love candy, but hate the waste check out these sweet tips:

• Buy from the Bulk Bins
  Many stores and candy shops offer bulk candy which can be put directly into a container or jar. Even if candy is individually plastic wrapped, buying from the bulk bin eliminates the need for a big plastic package.
• No-Wrapper Candy
  (e.g. candy corn, gummy bears and chocolate covered raisins)
  No-wrapper candies are perfect for candy bowls at home. Some candies can be purchased from the bulk bins with no wrapper, which is the most environmentally friendly option.
• Foil-Wrapped Candy
  (e.g. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Hershey’s Kisses and gold coins)
  While the wrappers will still be too small to recycle, foil is non-toxic and decomposes more rapidly than plastic.
• Paper and Wax Paper-Wrapped Candy
  (e.g. Pixy Stix and Bits-O-Honey)
  Like foil-wrapped candy, these items are too small to be recycled but are less toxic than plastic.
• Paper-Boxed Candies
  (e.g. Nerds, Dots, Milk Duds, chocolate-covered raisins and Junior Mints)
  Paper boxes can be recycled once empty. Unlike plastic wrappers, paper boxes can be shredded into pulp and recycled various paper products. Place empty paper boxes into a paper bag and staple shut before placing in the recycling.

No matter how you celebrate this Halloween, do your part to minimize single-use plastic and reduce your impact on the planet.

Keeping old medicine in the home can be problematic. It’s proven to increase illegal consumption by undesignated users, both accidentally and recreationally. Improperly disposing medicine in the trash can also lead to illicit usage, while flushing it risks polluting our water systems. Traces of pharmaceuticals are already being found in streams and tap water across the country.

So, what can you do with unwanted medications? That’s easy: properly dispose of it at any one of the 300 or more designated disposal locations across California.

Thanks to a partnership between the California Product Stewardship Council, National Stewardship Action Council, and voluntary actions of over 13 local municipalities and grocery stores, there are many new safe take-back locations for California residents. The partnership known as the California Drug Take-Back Program has expanded for the disposal of unused or unwanted medication to more than 300 sites across the state!

Here’s how it works:

1. Remove pills from the bottle or other container.
2. Keep creams and liquids in original containers and remove or cover your name and other sensitive information.
3. Bring pills in a Ziploc bag and any liquids/creams in their original containers to a location on the map (below) and place in the proper bin.

Check out the map below to find a convenient location near you. More information about the program, including what you can and cannot include, can be found at www.takebackdrugs.org.