Kirstin Davis, Communications Manager, 509.625.7773
Thursday, November 14, 2024 at 1:08 p.m.
Updated 11/25/2024
Curbside yard and food waste customers will now be able to have yard and food waste picked up in the winter months. Based on customer feedback and in preparation for future required expanded services, City of Spokane will add one week of curbside yard and food waste green cart pick up in the winter months. The optional curbside yard and food waste collection service runs weekly from March through November and will include the first full weeks of January, February, and December in 2025.
“Expanding curbside services for yard debris and food waste has been a common request, and in future years, it will be a requirement,” says Solid Waste Management Director Chris Averyt. “This provides additional service our customers have been asking for and helps everyone adjust to disposing organic waste in the right place.”
Additionally, Thanksgiving feasts can produce significant amounts of food waste. Residents are encouraged to plan ahead to prepare adequately-sized meals to reduce the amount of food that is wasted and suggest guests bring their own “to-go” containers to take leftovers home. If there is food waste, it is best disposed of in green carts with yard waste.
How You Can Help
Stuff Your Green Cart - Residents who subscribe to the optional yard and food waste green cart service are urged to put as many leaves and yard waste as possible into their green carts between now and Saturday, Nov. 30. Never push leaves from the yard into the street. Take the time to make sure there is a clear path for stormwater and snow melt-off to reach the drains in neighborhood streets.
The 90-gallon yard and food waste green cart can be filled with all types of yard waste—leaves, pine needles, grass, pumpkins, pinecones, weeds, vines, thatch, plant trimmings, small amounts of sod, and branches. Please do not overload carts and make sure that the lids are fully closed.
Extra Bag Rules - Plastic bags do not belong in food & yard waste green carts. Green carts with plastic bags are billed as garbage. Paper leaf bags are acceptable in the green cart or left next to the green cart. Yard and food waste collection customers are eligible for a discounted fee for disposing of up to three extra paper bags full of leaves. The leaves are sent to the composting facility. If plastic bags with leaves are left out, there is a larger disposal fee per bag and they go into the trash.
Reduce Food Waste and Put Scraps in Green Carts – Make the most of Thanksgiving leftovers with these tips to reduce food waste. Green cart customers also can dispose of food scraps and food-soiled paper in the carts. Acceptable scraps include meat, poultry, fish, beans, dairy products, fruit, vegetables, breads, grains, pasta, eggshells, nutshells, coffee grounds, tea bags, and leftovers. Acceptable food-soiled papers include greasy pizza boxes, coffee filters, paper towels, paper napkins, uncoated paper plates and cups, paper egg and berry cartons, and paper grocery bags with food scraps.
The cost of the optional curbside service will be $18.01 per month in 2025 and will be billed every month with the additional winter collection weeks. The 2025 monthly amount is based on the number of annual collections. Customers can add the service by going online at Spokane311.org and submitting a Yard Waste Start Service request or by calling the City at 311 inside City boundaries or if outside (509) 755-2489.
Recyclers and composters can still recycle yard and food waste at the City’s Waste to Energy (WTE) facility. Clean green materials are accepted year-round at WTE, which is open from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The minimum charge is $7.12 for up to 200 pounds of clean green material. There is also a self-haul fee of $2.33.
