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04/24/12 Hybrid Garbage Truck Ribbon Cutting!
05/21/12 Bottle Dragon Work Party
06/01/12 Information Packets Mailed to Single-Family Households
06/01/12 Information Packets Mailed to Apartments and Businesses
06/04/12 Cart and Container Relabeling Begins
Check out this article about our cleanup efforts in Seattle...
Chris Martin is busting open garbage bags in a Georgetown lot—three days' worth of accumulated waste from two downtown office buildings. He won't say which buildings they are. That's because (a) the tenants are mostly environmental advocacy groups, and (b) the results of this "garbage audit" are not going to be pretty.
Martin and his crew dump the contents on the ground, forming heaps of banana peels, coffee cups, energy-bar wrappers, McDonald's packaging, plastic bags, water bottles, bunched-up paper, and other by-products of office life. They sort through it all with rakes and hands, separating out the recyclables from the true trash—that is, doing what the tenants should have done in the first place.
Continue reading at Seattle Weekly
In The News | August 25, 2008Check out this article about our cleanup efforts in Seattle...
Chris Martin, an entrepreneur from Seattle’s Pioneer Square neighborhood, has a knack for creating efficient systems. More than a decade ago, Martin began using his neighborhood, an area once known as a haven for raucous night owls and the down and out, as a test bed for a waste collection scheme that has proven to turn profits and reduce the amount of trash headed to landfills.
With his company CleanScapes, Martin set out to make Dumpsters a thing of the past and reduce the waste stream to boot. Customers receive color-coded bags for trash, recycling and compost, all of which CleanScapes picks up multiple times per day. The program nearly doubled waste reduction efforts in Pioneer Square.
Continue reading at Sustainable Industries Magazine
In The News | August 29, 2008Check out this article about our cleanup efforts in Seattle...
As Spencer Smissaert hauled the night's trash to the Dumpsters behind his work Thursday, he pointed to the spot where he often finds people smoking crack. It's even worse in the winter, he said, when transients seek out shelter in the Dumpsters between Fifth and Sixth avenues just east of Westlake Center. That's when it frequently reeks of urine and feces, pretty much what you'd expect from a downtown alley, he said.
"Sometimes you open the lid, and it will be in there," said Smissaert, an employee at Old Navy.Smissaert isn't the only one who could do without the foul odors and behaviors around downtown Dumpsters. Next year, Mayor Greg Nickels wants to expand a "Dumpster-free Alley" program that would remove them from public alleys in the downtown business district to curtail crime and promote recycling.
Continue reading at the Seattle PI
In The News | October 29, 2009Check out this article about how we've helped this family in their waste reduction efforts...
A family of four has moved from the farm to an urban Puget Sound community and is now plowing its way to zero waste. When the Peterka family moved to Shoreline, they brought part of the farm with them. They ripped up the backyard lawn and planted a large garden.They built a fenced chicken coop in one corner, and worm and compost bins in the other. Then they made some sacrifices."We stopped buying groceries that came in plastic, essentially which was a big deal, not an easy task," explained Brian Peterka.
Continue reading at King 5 News
In The News | December 21, 2009Check out this article about our Community Improvement Awards program...
Trash guru Chris Martin once proposed using cameras to catch people illicitly disposing of recyclables in the regular garbage. But now that the CleanScapes chief is a big-time garbage hauler, serving almost half the city through the contract it started last spring, he's taking a more customer-friendly approach to getting people to go green with their trash. Specifically, he's bribing them.
Seattle Public Utilities announced this morning that Georgetown-based CleanScapes will award $50,000 to the neighborhood it serves that most reduces its collective garbage by early spring-- including recyclables and compost.
Continue reading at Seattle Weekly
In The News | December 21, 2009Check out this article about our Community Improvement Awards program...
Five neighborhoods south of the Lake Washington Ship Canal are competing for a $50,000 project, such as a new playground or park benches, offered by a garbage-collection company. The contest, announced Monday by CleanScapes, is part of its effort to reduce the amount of things stuffed into garbage, recycling and yard-waste bins in the city.
Continue reading at the Seattle Times
In The News | December 21, 2009Check out this article about Queen Anne and our Community Improvement Awards program...
Last month we reported that garbage collection company CleanScapes and Seattle Public Utilities were going to be launching a competition to see which Seattle neighborhood south of the Ship Canal could reduce their waste output the most. And now the competition is on! Five neighborhoods “from Magnolia to Madrona” – Queen Anne included – are now knee-deep in a competition to see who can recycle the most and waste the least. The prize: $50,000 to invest back into a community improvement project of the neighborhood’s choosing – public art, pocket park, P-patch – you name is, CleanScapes will fork out the dough, install and maintain it!
Continue reading at the Queen Anne View
In The News | December 21, 2009Check out this article about our efforts to reduce waste in Seattle...
If you think you've done your civic duty by recycling your plastic bottles and sending away your yard-waste for composting, brace yourself for the next step. Seattle's garbage authorities say you really ought to be producing less waste overall. Seattle residents are doing a pretty good job at sorting out their recyclables and food waste. But overall, it still adds up to a lot of waste to be trucked to a far-away final destination.
Chris Martin, President of CleanScapes, a local garbage hauling company that earlier this year took over the contract for many Seattle neighborhoods, says, "It takes the same big trucks to pick it up and the same amount of energy to process it, etcetera."
In The News | May 06, 2010
Check out this article about neighborhoods competing for our Community Improvement Award...
That's the garbage-collection day for the neighborhoods that won CleanScapes $50,000 contest that will build something in their garbage-collection district.It's actually not one neighborhood that won the contest, but parts of six: Capitol Hill, First Hill, Madison Park, Madison Valley, Denny-Blaine and Montlake. They all have their garbage, recycling and yard waste picked up on Thursdays.
Continue reading at the Seattle Times
Community News | February 16, 2010When the Peterka family moved from their farm in Carnation back to Shoreline, they decided to bring the farm and their zero-waste strategy with them. They have become role models for neighbors and the Shoreline community as local leaders in urban farming and community gardening. The Peterka’s zero waste lifestyle has inspired the City of Shoreline to offer a new service: a 10-gallon monthly garbage pick-up option. How do they do it? Step by step.
As a parent and PTA member, Susie O’Donnell wanted to make a difference at her kids’ elementary school. After starting an environmental committee of the Echo Lake Elementary PTA she heard about a project that she thought the teachers and kids could get excited about….
Paper towels. They are convenient, easy-to-use and they add up to a surprising amount of waste in our landfills. Paper towels and paper napkins have long replaced cloth napkins, kitchen towels and cleaning rags as the solution for any mess or cleanup project at home or on the go. But, do we really need to use them for everything? Consider taking CleanScapes Paper Towel Challenge.
In the digital age of online directories and web-based search engines there is less demand for phonebooks. As a result, many delivered phonebooks go straight from the doorstep into the recycle bin. This past October, the Seattle City Council was the first city in the nation to require an opt-out registry for phonebooks. Seattle’s new phonebook Opt-Out Registry is expected to be available starting in 2011.
Today marks the one year anniversary of the Weekly Waste Reduction Tips! Looking back at a year's worth of waste reduction ideas, and forward to the year ahead, we wanted to pause to answer the question, "Why reduce waste?" The short answer is that everything we make, buy and dispose of has an impact on the environment and, as individuals we generate a lot of waste! Whether the next stop for that waste is the landfill or a recycling or composting facility, it all requires natural resources for transportation and processing.
This holiday season bring your own shopping bags. Put your cloth grocery bags to work around town, or reuse paper or plastic shopping bags. Tell store clerks you don't need a bag for small or oversized purchases. Alternatively, you can give gift certificates; theater, sports or concert tickets; donate to a cause in someone's name, or give homemade gifts instead.
The following scenario is probably all too familiar. You’re topping off that delicious hot chocolate with whipped cream, and slowly but surely you run out of gas and that fluffy topping is barely sputtering out. You take out the empty cartridge, glance left at the trash bin, then right at the recycling bin. As an eco-conscious barista, what is one to do!?
Coffee shops are full of odd disposable items. CleanScapes' Waste Diversion team did an audit for a local coffee shop and answered several questions about how to dispose of common coffee shop waste. Read on to find out how to green your coffee shop!
Reducing paper consumption is one of the most effective ways to save energy and natural resources. Paper accounted for 33% of the American waste stream in 2007, and though paper products are largely recyclable, the pulp and paper production industry is one of the primary consumers of energy and water in America. Better to reduce than recycle.
Seattle Public Utilities and The Glad Products Company have teamed up to challenge 10 local bloggers to go on a 4-6 week "trash diet". CleanScapes Waste Diversion Project Manager, Candy, served as personal Sustainability Expert and met one blogger and her family in their home to review recycling and composting guidelines, share resources and tips and provide an onsite sort of their garbage and recycling to see what trash “fat” she could cut.
Bloggers plan to post weekly updates on their experiences and what they are learning about recycling and composting along the way.
Continue reading at Growing a Baby Reviews
Weekly Tips | June 27, 2011Show your love for your country by minimizing the environmental impact of 4th of July festivities. Whether you are a host or a guest, this year challenge your friends and family to create a zero waste event!
When something breaks, we often think "Replace it!" In mancy cases, a simple fix may be in order. While many products are not designed to last forever, local experts can help extend the life of the products we buy.
One of the easiest ways to reduce waste is to fix and repair items instead of throwing them away. It is time for a repair revolution!
Other than meat, fruit, veggies and grains, most of the items we buy are made from a combination of many different materials.
From brooms to cell phones, the ingredients in our stuff come from all over the world. A variety of natural resources are consumed during the "life cycle" of our stuff: manufacture, transport, use and disposal.
Life cycle assessments identify the full environmental impact of the products we buy. Here are a few resources tha help tell the full story of the things in our day-to-day lives:
Whether you are a student making the summer transition off campus, or moving to a new neighborhood or city, there are many ways to reduce waste during the moving process.
As you sort through your stuff and setting aside items that are not moving with you, consider the new life all of those unwanted things could have!
Blew out your flip flop? You can recycle it!
SEATTLE, WA - (July 29, 2011) - On Monday, August 1st, Seattle and Shoreline elementary students and their famlies will gather at 6:30 pm with CleanScapes and Seattle Public Utilities' Solid Waste Director, Tim Croll at the Northgate Library to kick off a month-long student art exhibit featuring zero waste ideas.
Artwork from 56 students will be on display representing your artists from John Hay, Kimball, Wing Luke, Laurelhurst, and Lowell Elementary in Seattle and Meridian Park, Echo Lake, and Lake Forest Park Elementary in Shoreline.
Looking for an alternative to wrapping paper for gifts?
John and Anita in Shoreline recently shared a great waste reduction idea: homemade fabric gift sacks. This creative idea has helped their family save money and reduce their holiday paper waste year after year!
While stars are lining up along the red carpet, you can roll out the green carpet for your family and friends at your very own viewing party. Click on the link below for tips to help you reduce waste at your Oscars party...and walk away with the award for best environmental achievement!
© 2011 CleanScapes Inc. All rights reserved.
