The Zero Waste Initiative of Sustainable Bainbridge is dedicated to reducing the amount of trash generated on Bainbridge Island. We are diverting resources bound for the landfill by promoting waste reduction, reuse, recycling and composting.
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Contact us anytime at
MAY ZERO WASTE MEETING - Wednesday, May 15, 7 pm, Marge Williams Center, 221 Winslow Way West. You will be ASTOUNDED by what you learn! You will give us a FRESH PERSPECTIVE. Please come check us out!
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PRINTER CARTRIDGES - If you have an empty one...
Option 1 - Consider getting it refilled before buying a new or remanufactured one. Office Max in Poulsbo used to perform this service till their machine went down. It is unknown if/when they will resume this service. In Seattle, visit Cartridge World.
Option 2 - Drop it off at a local business, where it will be sent off to be refilled, if possible. Our Road Map to Zero Waste lists three such locations on Bainbridge:
1) Paper Products - Girl Scout Troop 41241 collects them as a fundraiser (in addition to cell phones and small electronics - MP3 players, digital cameras, handheld game players, video game controllers, iPods, calculators, etc.) and sends them to Planet Green.
2) Curves - Collects only the inkjet kind and sends them to BCS Recycling Specialists, with proceeds going to Helpline House.
3) Island Center Hall - Look for the collection box in the entryway. Girl Scout Troop 41241 collects them as a fundraiser (in addition to cell phones and small electronics - MP3 players, digital cameras, handheld game players, video game controllers, iPods, calculators, etc.) and sends them to Planet Green.
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EARTH DAY STYROFOAM and BUBBLE WRAP RECYCLING - Was a big success! We collected enough Styrofoam to fill two trucks, which will be driven to the Styro Recycle facility in Renton on regularly scheduled trips to that area. Of course, we’d rather not have to collect this undesirable plastic (toxic polluting process, inconvenient recycling, permanent Styro fleck litter on land and sea), so thank the manufacturers who send you items protected by curbside-recyclable, cardboard-molded packaging or compostable fungalboard, and let companies who persist in using undesirable Styro know that there are environmentally safer ways of sending their products.
The next opportunity to recycle Styrofoam will be July 20 & 21 at Bay Hay and Feed.
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#1 RECYCLING NO-NO at the curb and the recycling center? PLASTIC BAGS!!!
Solution: Recycle your plastic bags only at the grocery store.
Why? Our commingled (mixed) recycling goes to a materials recovery facility (MRF, pronounced "murf") in Tacoma. The recyclables are run through a machine that has "teeth," on which the plastic bags get stuck. The machine must be stopped to remove the bags. This costs the facility time and money.
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NEVER PUT COOKING OIL down your drain.
Now you can TURN YOUR COOKING OIL INTO BIODIESEL - Kitsap County Public Works is partnering with a local biodiesel firm to offer a new used-cooking oil recycling option at the Olympic View Transfer Station (OVTS) at no cost to residents. Go here for the details.
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THE ROAD MAP TO ZERO WASTE ON STEROIDS!
The first version of this “road map” was originally compiled by Liesl Clark, a Bainbridge Island resident who is passionate about her volunteer work as a “social garbage networker.” That original spreadsheet has grown into the Trash Backwards web app, compiled over the past year by Liesl and Rebecca Rockefeller. It's a free, curated database of reduce, reuse, recycle and rethink information to help move you toward zero waste. You can read a guide to using this free resource here, or just click "Trash Backwards" below and get started right now.
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CALLING ALL BAINBRIDGE OFFICE-BASED BUSINESSES
Do you want to save money while making less trash?
Read about this FREE Kitsap County program to make it happen.
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PLASTIC BAG BAN ORDINANCE
The ordinance went into effect on November 1, 2012.
Key elements of Ordinance 2012-06:
> Single-use plastic carry out bags are prohibited. This includes all plastic bags less than 2.25 milimeters thick provided at check out or point of sale.
> Customers (except those who document federal or state food assistance) must be charged 5 cents per large paper bag. Retailers keep the revenue from the 5-cent charge, which is taxable and must be shown on sales receipts.
> Large paper bags requiring the 5-cent charge must be a minimum of 40 percent post-consumer recycled fiber and the fiber content must be marked on the outside.
> Smaller paper bags may be provided with or without charge at the store’s discretion.
> Thick plastic bags — 2.25 milimeters or greater — are deemed reusable and may be provided with or without charge at the store’s discretion.
> Plastic bags used for restaurant take-out foods and meats and produce in grocery stores will still be allowed, because of the public health functions they provide.
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Want to see WHERE BAINBRIDGE'S TRASH ENDS UP? Watch this cool 12-minute video of the Columbia Ridge Landfill in Arlington, Oregon. Kitsap County sends a train of about 25 double-decker cars down there once a week.
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Check out the success stories section to find out how YOUR GATHERING CAN REDUCE LANDFILL WASTE.
