You can Slow Down the Flow of Junk Mail

If you find the inflow of junk mail irritating, you’ve got good reason.  EcoCycle estimates that we spend as much as 8 months of our lives sorting through the 41 pounds of it we receive each year.  Fully 62% of the mail delivered by the Post Office is direct mail.  That’s 63 billion pieces of mail which not only inconveniences us, it’s bad for the environment – cutting down 80-100 million trees to make the paper and generating greenhouse gases.  Why do we receive so much?  Because it’s more effective than email, social media, or digital display ads at getting you to spend your money.  It also costs cities $1 billion of your taxes to dispose of it every year. 

So, what can you do? 

One option to reducing junk mail is to use DMAChoice.org.  The cost is $4 per year and estimates to be able to reduce junk mail by 80%. You can also opt out the names of the deceased and opt out of email appeals. 

CatalogChoice.org is a non-profit that has compiled a list of 10,000 organizations – both for- and non-profit.  You can register with them for free and automatically send opt-out requests to the companies you want to stop hearing from. 

How to Dispose of Direct Mailers

In San Jose, direct mail flyers can go in the recycling cart.  

Because political speech is protected by the first amendment, you will continue to get political mailers as well as those addressed to “Current Resident.”  But using these tools will help you avoid wasting time managing these mailers for years to come.

Recycle Right This Holiday Season

 

San José Recycles Clean

If your usual garbage, recycling, and yard trimmings collection falls on or after Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, or New Year’s Day, your collection day will be one day later during that week. Go to www.sjenvironment.org/lookup to find your holiday collection day. Please set out carts and bins by 6 a.m. on collection day.

Empty and Scrape Food-soiled Containers before Recycling

This holiday season, recycle clean by emptying and scraping food-soiled containers before placing them in the recycling. Food and liquid-soiled containers go in the garbage. If they’re placed in the recycling, clean recyclables can be contaminated, making the entire bin or cart unrecyclable. For more recycling and waste reduction tips, and a complete guide of what goes where, visit SanJoseRecycles.org.

Too much holiday trash? Sticker it!

Buy Extra Garbage Stickers at San José City Hall, Lucky, and Safeway stores.

Request Services with San José 311

Visit sanjoseca.gov/311, dial 3-1-1 or call (408) 535-3500 to check your collection day or collection company, report missed collections and damaged carts, request an oil jug or filter bag, schedule a free Junk Pickup appointment, report illegal dumping, make inquiries about your account, or receive additional information about City services.

Recycle Your Holiday Tree

Curbside collection of holiday trees will be on your regular collection day from December 26, 2023 through January 26, 2024. Remove stands, tinsel and decorations. Cut into 5-foot pieces. On your collection day, set out by 6:00 a.m.   Multi-Family Dwelling Property Managers should contact GreenWaste at (408) 283-4800 to arrange for tree collection.

What goes where?  Click to learn how to properly dispose of real trees and artificial trees.

Want more recycling and waste-related content? Subscribe to our bi-monthly e-newsletter, The Loop, for the most current recycling, garbage and waste reduction news: bit.ly/TheLoop_signup

America Recycles Day – November 15!

America Recycles Day is November 15th. To celebrate, people all across the country use the day to organize, educate and improve our recycling systems. In San José, we’ve put together some family-friendly recycling activities and resources for residents to explore on our America Recycles Day webpage. 

Why Recycle? 

Why does recycling need a special day? The United States recycling rate has hovered in the mid-30 percent range since the mid-1990s although much more could be recycled into new products. In fact, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has set a goal to increase our national recycling rate to 50 percent by 2030. Recycling prevents us from using valuable natural resources, preserves our landfills, saves energy and prevents pollution.  

A common misconception is that recyclables don’t end up getting recycled and just end up in landfills. In San José, recycling collection companies sell the recyclables collected that meet today’s quality standards. In fact, San José has been doing well with a local recycling rate around 75 percent, well above the U.S. average. While we’re doing better than the country overall, we still have room for improvement here, too. America Recycles Day is an opportunity to commit to recycle right and make a difference in the community. 

Recycle right for America Recycles Day! 

With the current standard for high quality recyclables, not only is what we recycle important but how we recycle it is important as well. Here are a few ways to recycle right for America Recycles Day:  

  • Unsure of what goes where? Visit sanjoserecycles.org to find out.   
  • Be sure to empty and scrape any remaining food or liquid out of items so the rest of your recyclables stay clean (no need to rinse recyclables to conserve water). 
  • And last, never use your recycling container for garbage that you cannot fit into your garbage container!  It can contaminate the items in your cart so that they cannot be recycled.    

These three strategies will ensure that your recyclables really do get recycled and help us achieve our recycling goals.   

Visit ESD’s America Recycles Day webpage for videos, webinars, fun activities for all ages like word searches, crosswords and bingo, and more! 

Help us spread the word about America Recycles Day and the importance of recycling right. By committing to recycling right and sharing these resources with others, together we can #keepSJclean. 

Want more recycling and waste-related content? Subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter, The Loop, for the most current recycling, garbage and waste reduction news: bit.ly/TheLoop_signup 

Recycling Properly: How Clean Is Clean?

We all play a role in keeping San José clean. One of the simplest yet impactful ways to contribute is by recycling properly. 

The cleanliness of the items we place in our recycling containers is often overlooked. While they don’t need to be spotless, it’s important to make sure they are clean enough to prevent liquids or solids from leaking onto other recyclables. The process is easy: a quick empty and scrape of containers will make them clean enough—no need to rinse. Whether it’s the last bit of peanut butter, pasta sauce, or remnants of food in your recyclable takeout container, a small effort goes a long way. When containers are not emptied and scraped, they can also contaminate the contents of the recycling truck that comes to pick it up. 

Emptying and scraping out liquids and solids go a long way in maintaining the value of our recycling systems and ensuring that our recyclables are clean enough to be made into new products. Your small actions add up to big changes, and combined with everyone else, we collectively create a cleaner environment for all of us. 

Want more recycling and waste-related content? Subscribe to our bi-monthly e-newsletter, The Loop, for the most current recycling, garbage and waste reduction news: bit.ly/TheLoop_signup

To rinse or not to rinse… that is the recycling question

Have you ever pondered this recycler’s dilemma? Have you asked yourself – how clean do my recyclables have to be?  Do we need to rinse items before they go in the recycling? These are important questions, especially when we want to save water for more important uses.

The answer is no, residents do not need to rinse recyclables with water before placing in the recycling. To recycle right in San José, make sure to empty and scrape any remaining food from recyclable containers such as yogurt or hummus tubs, peanut butter jars, or plastic takeout containers before placing in the recycling. You want them just clean enough that food and liquid won’t ooze out over the other items in your recycling cart and contaminate them.  In fact, any food and liquid that goes into your recycling cart also goes in the recycling truck where it can even contaminate your neighbors’ recyclables as well!   If items are not emptied and scraped, or they are too soiled with food or liquid, they should go in the garbage instead. Placing soiled items in the recycling can ruin otherwise clean items and prevent them from being recycled.

Want more recycling and waste-related content? Subscribe to our bi-monthly e-newsletter, The Loop, for the most current recycling, garbage and waste reduction news: bit.ly/TheLoop_signup

Got Too Much Garbage? Here’s What To Do

Have you ever had too much garbage to squeeze into your garbage cart? It can happen to all of us, especially after a party, barbeque, or a big cleaning day.

If this happens at your home, the extra garbage should never go in the recycling. Garbage, such as food, liquid or food and liquid-soiled items, can ruin otherwise good recyclables.

Here in San José, we have a few ways you can avoid an over-filled garbage cart:

  • San José residents living in single-family homes have a choice among three garbage cart sizes: 32-gallon, 64-gallon and 96-gallon. If your garbage cart is often over filled, it may be time to consider increasing your cart size. Residents can change their cart size here.
  • Purchase extra garbage stickers (scroll to the bottom of the page) for $6.25 at local Lucky and Safeway stores and San Jose Library branches. This is a great option if you only have extra garbage occasionally.  Affix the extra garbage sticker to a 32-gallon garbage bag and place it next to your garbage cart for pickup (see the set-out instructions here). Each bag must have a separate sticker.
  • Use the City’s free Junk Pickup program to get rid of old junk and large items from your home. Make an appointment, set items out and we’ll pick up. It’s easy and free!

Want more recycling and waste-related content? Subscribe to our bi-monthly e-newsletter, The Loop, for the most current recycling, garbage and waste reduction news: bit.ly/TheLoop_signup

Top Troublemakers: Plastic Foam

 

Have you ever thrown egg cartons, meat trays or takeout containers made of white foam into the recycling bin?

Unfortunately, expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam – commonly referred to as “Styrofoam,” a trademarked name of a unique type of polystyrene – is not accepted in your curbside recycling. Here’s why.

There are two main problems with recycling EPS: 

  1. Contamination
    EPS is often contaminated with food debris or liquid and is difficult to sanitize. Food and liquid-soiled material can cause entire loads of clean recyclables to be rejected and sent to the landfill instead.
  2. Density
    Expanded polystyrene is approximately 5 percent plastic and 95 percent air. This means it is extremely lightweight and prone to flying away when collected from bins without a garbage bag. It also takes up a lot of room per unit of weight and is not cost-effective to transport. EPS foam is also problematic when littered. It does not degrade and breaks easily into tiny pieces, making it difficult to clean up. Those small pieces are often mistaken as food by fish and wildlife and are harmful to their health. To combat these problems and to protect the environment, San José has adopted a Foam Food Container Ordinance, requiring all restaurants to use non-foam food service ware for both dine-in and takeout. 
How you can reduce and reuse EPS: 
  • Choose wadded paper, shredded paper or newspaper instead of “packing peanuts” to protect fragile packages. 
  • Reuse foam packing peanuts for future packages, or to refill pillows, cushions, or stuffed animals. 
Need to dispose of EPS? Here are some alternative recycling programs for EPS: 
  • Home for Foam recycling programs provide curbside or drop-off opportunities.

If the alternative recycling programs for EPS are not an option for you, please place EPS foam in the garbage. 

Want more recycling and waste-related content? Subscribe to our bi-monthly e-newsletter, The Loop, for the most current recycling, garbage and waste reduction news: bit.ly/TheLoop_signup

Happy Earth Day 2022

 

Let’s celebrate Earth Day this April by sharing how and why we Recycle Right. Earth Day is an opportunity to bring awareness about the actions we can take to protect our environment and our planet. Throughout the month, we hope to inspire a new wave of San José residents to #Pledge2RecycleRight. Take the pledge today!

Recycling is a simple and easy thing you can do every day to make a positive impact on the planet. Recycling is important because it reduces waste, keeps recyclable materials out of the landfill, and helps protect the environment. Recycling also saves energy, valuable natural resources, and creates jobs.

We would also like to invite you to our Free Earth Day event on Friday, April 22, at the City Hall Plaza from 9 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Expect music, Recycle Right resources, and fun Earth Day activities. We hope you have a Happy Earth month! Be sure to visit our website to share resources or get into the #RecycleRight spirit. Remember, it’s Earth Day Every Day!

What Happens to Food Waste in San Jose?

You may have heared a lot about new state regulations designed to keep food waste out of the landfill, where it creates greenhouse gases. You may be wondering what this means for your garbage and recycling services and whether you need to do anything differently.

The short answer is that you don’t need to change how you dispose of your garbage, recycling and yard trimmings. But it’s important to dispose of food waste correctly.

The City’s garbage processor does something called “backend processing.” This means that, before the garbage goes to the landfill, it is sorted much like recyclables are at a recycling facility. In this process, food waste and compostable food-soiled containers are separated out. This organic waste is sent to a composting facility in Gilroy – the same one that composts the City’s yard trimmings. This system put San José in compliance with these new regulations, known as SB 1383, before they even went into effect! And without you doing anything differently!

There are some things to keep in mind though:

-If you’ve got a recyclable food container such as clear plastic clamshells, be sure to empty and scrape the food residue into your garbage before you put the containers in the recycling. No need to rinse in this drought, but we do want to keep food and liquid from contaminating other recyclables in your cart.

-If you have paper packaging that’s food-soiled, it should go in the garbage so that it can be composted.

-Food waste does not go in your yard trimmings pile or cart – even if it’s from your trimmed fruit trees! That fruit also goes in your garbage container.

At Z-Best, the composting facility in Gilroy, food waste and yard trimmings are used to make two different grades of compost. Compost from food waste is used locally in landscaping and median projects. Compost generated by yard trimmings is higher quality and can be incorporated into soil, used in agriculture and for growing plants. Both help keep soil healthy, and healthy soil can sequester carbon underground. Since we need healthy soil everywhere, you may also consider composting at home. And to reduce the amount of food waste we create in the first place, visit our Waste Reduction webpage for some handy ideas.

Want more recycling and waste-related content? Subscribe to our bi-monthly e-newsletter, The Loop, for the most current recycling, garbage and waste reduction news: bit.ly/TheLoop_signup

Don’t be Haunted by Waste this Halloween

Image by Benjamin Balazs from Pixabay


This year, we may find ourselves returning to more normal holiday celebrations with family gatherings and traditions. That could mean a return to the holiday buying and the waste that it can generate. So, this year, maybe we can build the holidays back better, with a focus on experiences rather than things. With its disposable costumes and unrecyclable candy wrappings, let’s start with Halloween.

To reduce holiday waste, the waste hierarchy applies: reduce, reuse, recycle, rot.

Reduce: for what you buy, buy less. If you need a costume, instead of buying a new one that is primarily made from plastic designed for one use, put one together with items you or others have at home. If you’re having a Covid-friendly gathering, set out reusable cups, plates and napkins rather than disposables such as single-serve water bottles or plastic utensils.

Reuse:  if you don’t have to buy something disposable – for instance single-use decorations, don’t! Use reusable ones that gather sentimental value over the years. If you’re on a budget, many thrift stores offer reusable decorations and costumes at this time of year. You can swap used costumes or find them at thrift stores as well.  Alternatively, create costumes out of materials you already have at home.

Recycle: any clean paper, metal, glass and plastic products that are accepted in San Jose’s curbside program. See the Recycling Guide on SanJoseRecycles.org for details. Remember to keep food and liquid out of the recycling container. Make it easy for your partygoers by putting signs on your recycling and garbage containers to let them know what goes where.

Rot:  Halloween treats are fun, but their wrappers are not. Unfortunately, these tiny multi-material wrappers are garbage and can easily rot the landscape as litter. As an alternative, reduce candy wrapper waste by making your own or offering fruit (that comes in its own packaging) such as bananas or oranges.  Any leftovers can be composted along with your pumpkin jack-o-lanterns. (Just keep them out of the yard trimmings pile or cart!) Be sure to remove any candles or decorations from the pumpkins first.

If fruit is a step too far, look for candies that come in cardboard and paper packaging such as milk duds, rather than plastic wrappers.

The holidays can create a lot of waste along with all the merriment. With some careful planning and creativity, you can minimize the waste and still maximize the fun.

Want more recycling and waste-related content? Subscribe to our bi-monthly e-newsletter, The Loop, for the most current recycling, garbage and waste reduction news: bit.ly/TheLoop_signup