The King County Green Team came to the the home of the Loenardson family in Kent to give a demonstration of spring cleaning the green way.
According to information from the county, 40 percent of all trash that finds its way into landfills are recyclable materials.
The Green Team went to the Loenardson home and helped them sort through the clutter and waste and set up a recycling system.
A few of the tips for green spring cleaning included;
- Jettison junk mail. Those foot-high piles of papers in your office include a lot of junk mail, don’t they? Catalogs and coupons and fliers. Aiiee! Get in the habit of either filing incoming mail or putting it directly in the recycling bin. Better yet, get off of mailing lists by using the free non-profit service www.CatalogChoice.org.
- Pitch packing material. Get rid of that Styrofoam stuff sitting in the corner because you don’t know what to do with it. To find stores that will accept your clean used packing peanuts (they reuse them), go to www.loosefillpackaging.com or call the polystyrene industry’s Peanut Hotline at 800-828-2214. For those bulky Styrofoam packing chunks, recycling options are limited, but V & G Styro Recycle in Renton (www.styrorecycle.com) will take them at no charge.
- Unplug your electronic waste. Under the state’s E-Cycle Washington program, the electronics industry pays the recycling cost for computers, monitors and TVs, so you don’t have to! Find recycling and reuse locations and info (you may have to pay to recycle some items, like printers) at www.ecycleWA.org and www.takeitbacknetwork.org.
- Free your food. You know those canned or packaged goods just taking up space in your cupboard, that you’re never going to use? If they’re still in good shape, donate them to food banks. With perfect timing, the annual food drive at your home by mail carriers is Saturday, May 14. See www.helpstampouthunger.com for details.
- Corral your containers. Does it seem like your Tupperware-type containers are breeding? Weed them out! Turn them into containers for your kids’ crayons or other supplies.
- Donate, donate, donate! Thrift stores can really use your stuff, and your donations often benefit non-profits.
- Let recycling multiply. To capture all your paper and other recyclables, make sure you have recycling bins in the home office, kids’ rooms, bathroom, even the garage and basement.
These tips are just a start. You probably have your own great ideas, and visit www.kingcounty.gov/recyclemore for more. Reduce, reuse, recycle, and rein in the clutter.
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