Reduce and Reuse

Seattle Public Utilities publishes quarterly newsletters that has tips and information for residents. Here are some of the tips I thought I would share:

• Bring Your Own
• Water Bottle
• When you use a reusable water bottle, you can keep up to 217 plastic water bottles per year out of a landfill, and save an average of $260 per year on bottled water.
• Coffee Cup
• Bring your cup to the coffee shop instead of taking a disposable one. Many shops will also give you a discount for bringing your own cup, and this switch can prevent around 23 pounds of waste per year.
• Straw, just say no to plastic straws
• Switch to metal, glass, paper, or compostable straws--or simply stop using straws. Americans use 500 million plastic straws a year--enough to fill more than 125 buses with straws each day! This swap can reduce the harmful impacts of plastic straws on marine animals.
• Utensils
• Pack your own reusable utensils for meals on the go, and say, "No thank you" to plastic utensils when you order. This switch will help you reduce your contribution to the 6 million tons of disposable plastic utensils that go to landfills every year.
• The Recycle Bin
• Includes: paper, cardboard, plastic bottles/containers, glass bottles/jars, and metal cans. Make sure it is larger than 3 inches, and make sure it is empty, clean, and dry.
• No electronics: if it has a battery or has a plug, it needs to be separated into metal, plastic, and electronic components for proper recycling. TakeItBackNetwork.org lists places that do this on their website.
• No batteries or lightbulbs.
• Batteries can cause fires or explosions when tossed in the recycling.
• Lightbulbs break into shards of glass. Fluorescent bulbs contain toxic mercury that can be inhaled when bulbs break.
• All of these can be recycled when dropped off at a take back location. Call2Recycle.org and LightRecycle.org offer information on their websites.
• When in doubt, find out "Where Does it Go?" by checking our recycling guidelines at: seattle.gov/util/wheredoesitgo
•  The Compost Bin (officially known as Food and Yard Waste Bin)
• All food waste.
• Food soiled paper without a shiny coating. The shiny coating is plastic.
• Approved compostable bags and packaging. The word "compostable" will be on the item.
• Items with words like "biodegradable," "sustainable," and "plant-based" are not the same as compostable.