Tips for what to do with boxes, wrapping, food scraps, and batteries!
Kirstin Davis, Communications Manager, 509.481.7223
Monday, December 23, 2024 at 12:38 p.m.
As people get ready to celebrate the holidays with friends and family, it’s a good time to think ahead about household waste by knowing ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle all of it!
It’s that time of year when boxes and packages are arriving on doorsteps with packing materials and wrapped under the tree with pretty holiday paper, ribbons, and bows. Traditional recipes are being made, and battery-powered gadgets and toys are on gift lists.
Reducing waste is the first goal. Shop local or get creative and make gifts to reduce shipping and packaging materials. Freeze those food prep scraps for later, like vegetables for a soup stock and remind guests to bring their own take-home containers. Know where to throw and learn the best place for all waste to go!
Break them down! Be sure to flatten all cardboard boxes before you put them in your blue recycling cart and the lid can close. Plastic, bubble wrap mailers or paper envelopes lined with plastic should go in the brown garbage cart. Styrofoam packing materials and inflated bubbles should also be put in the brown cart.
TIP: Create an area to pile the broken-down boxes to put in the blue recycling card. Cut down styrofoam and pop those inflatable plastic bubble packing so they take up less room in the brown garbage cart.
Paper wrapping or bags that are NOT shiny or metallic can go in the blue recycle bin. Metallic paper and bags, tissue paper, ribbon and bows need to be thrown away in the brown garbage cart.
TIP: Know in advance what is recyclable and what isn’t and designate a space or bag for the items by recycle, trash, and reuse. Remove the handles from recyclable paper bags.
Receiving friends and family picture cards makes the season bright! If you’re not going to leave them displayed throughout the year, the paper cards can go in your blue recycling cart. Glossy photography paper and envelopes with glitter and metallic material need to be thrown away in the garbage cart.
TIP: Separate the “shiny” photo cards, metallic or envelopes with glitter from the others for quick, organized disposal.
You can set your fresh tree out for free pickup by the City of Spokane, starting Monday, Dec. 30 through Friday, Jan. 10. Make sure it’s cut in half if it’s taller than six feet and the trunk needs to be less than 3” in diameter. All lights and ornaments must be removed. Christmas lights should always go in the garbage cart, they are not recyclable and are a major tangling hazard for equipment.
Gadgets and toys are popular gifts and batteries, especially lithium-ion, should never be put in the garbage or recycling carts. All batteries should be taken to designated household waste areas at transfer stations or the Waste to Energy facility.
TIP: Learn how to buy, charge, store, and dispose lithium-ion batteries at BatterySmartSpokane.com!
Evaluate your electronics to see if they are part of the E-Cycle program (computers, monitors, cell phones, tablets, and DVD players) or donate them if they are working.
TIP: Search for your items in the Spokane Waste Directory.
If you are hosting holiday gatherings or expecting guests and using disposable products like plates, cups, silverware, and foil pans, know where they go. Compostable plates and paper products like napkins can go in your food and yard waste green cart until the next collection week, Jan. 6 – 10. Any coated plates, plastic silverware, and foil pans need to go in the brown garbage cart.
