For many, St. Patrick’s Day is a chance to celebrate Irish culture and gather with friends. Green defines and also refers to sustainability. Here are some tips to pair St. Patrick's Day festivities with waste-reduction, environmental-friendly practices.

Conserve decorations

Borrow decorations from friends or family. Or re-use decorations from last year’s party to cut down the amount of waste that will later find its way to a landfill.

Recycle empty bottles and cans

Drinking responsibly also includes recycling. Instead of tossing out empty bottles and cans, take the time to recycle them.

Don’t litter

St. Patrick’s Day parades can generate a huge mess afterwards. Help your local clean-up crew and the environment by throwing away your trash. It’s a small gesture that has a huge impact. 

Reduce food waste

Use leftovers to make new recipes. Here are some great recipes you can try using leftover corned beef: https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/recipes-to-make-with-corned-beef/
 

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Every Spring we turn our clocks forward for Daylight Savings but why not look forward to ensuring a hazard-free household by checking our smoke and carbon monoxide detectors as well? Regularly checking both devices can help create a safe household. You can make sure your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are functioning properly by testing your devices monthly and replacing dead batteries when needed. Remember to recycle any dead batteries in your household by taking them to one of the County’s four Household Hazardous Waste Collection (HHW) Centers.

But what if I need to dispose of my smoke detector? It depends on what type of smoke detector you have. There are two types of smoke detectors: photoelectric and ionization-based. Checking the product description can help in identify which type of smoke detector you have. Photoelectric smoke detectors can be thrown in the trash after removing any batteries. Ionization-based smoke detectors however contain radioactive materials and do not belong in the trash. The County’s HHW Centers also accept smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. 

For more information, please visit our website.  Make sure to follow us on social media as well @OCWaste for recycling and waste management tips.

Have you ever wondered what to do with the dead light bulbs in your house? And did you know that there’s a different way to dispose of light bulbs depending on which one you use?

The two most common light bulbs in households are fluorescent and incandescent. When disposing incandescent light bulbs, you should throw them in the trash. They cannot be recycled, but they also are not considered household hazardous waste. Fluorescent light bulbs, however contain mercury, making them household hazardous waste. Orange County residents can ask your hauler if they provide a hazardous waste pick-up service, or take them to one of the County’s four Household Hazardous Waste Collection Centers.

But there’s more to learn about light bulb disposal. The newest type is the LED. It rapidly gained popularity because it expends a lot less energy than its counterparts. For example, they last as much as 25-50 times longer than incandescent light bulbs. Since they use less energy they are more environmentally friendly and in the long run may be more cost-effective for your household. Because LEDs are still a relatively new technology, recycling opportunities for LEDs will need to catch up. For now, your best option to dispose of LEDs is to take them to your local Home Depot, Lowe’s and Ikea. All have recycling programs for these types of light bulbs.

In today’s fast-paced lifestyle, we’re often hit with notification after notification from twitter, Instagram, from emails and so on. There’s no denying that our electronic devices like our cellphones and laptops provide a huge help in keeping track of it all. But have you ever found yourself asking what to do with all the old batteries from those devices? Sometimes batteries can pile around the house, especially after a new phone upgrade or when they just don’t work anymore. Good news though, batteries can be recycled! By recycling batteries, it can not only help keep the environment safe but also your local waste facility employee. If not properly disposed, some batteries such as those made out of lithium can be volatile and spark whenever their metal terminal touches something metallic, like the inside of a garbage truck or the various waste at a landfill, causing a fire. In 2017, 65% of fires at waste facilities were the direct result of improper lithium battery disposal.
 

 Recycling is a fantastic way to prevent that from happening! Although batteries can be recycled, they should not be placed in the recycling bin at home. Instead here’s some great alternatives:

·         Orange County residents can drop off batteries at any of our four different Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) collection centers for free.

·         While at the HHW collection center, be sure to pick up a free battery bucket for your home.

·         Most residents also live within ten miles of a Call2Recycle site.

·         Home Depot, Best Buy and Lowes are some of the local establishments that have battery recycling programs.
 

Be sure to test your knowledge on battery recycling with this quiz here!

CR&R has advised OCWR that there will be no residential collection today, Tuesday, January 22, and that residential collection will be delayed by one day for the rest of this week, January 22-26.   Cities effected are San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Dana Point, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Hills, Rancho Santa Margarita and Rancho Mission Viejo.  If you are a CR&R customer with questions, visit http://crrwasteservices.com/contact-us/  

Laguna Woods TV highlights benefits of Household Hazardous Waste Collection Center for OC residents

Did you know that Orange County has four free Household Hazardous Waste Collection Centers servicing County residents? Watch our recent news segment on Laguna Woods TV to find out everything you need o know about proper and safe disposal.

Did you know that Orange County has four free Household Hazardous Waste Collection Centers servicing County residents? Watch our recent news segment on Laguna Woods TV to find out everything you need o know about proper and safe disposal.

Facility Name: Prima Deshecha Landfill - Solid Waste Facility Permit No. 30-AB-0019 Address: 32250 La Pata Ave., San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675 (see map below) Date LEA Received Application: December 3, 2018 Date LEA Accepted Application: December 28, 2018More...

Residents can recycle their holiday tree instead of sending it to the landfill. Haulers have a variety of dates, times and requirements. For a list of Orange County trash haulers by city, visit our link here.

Be sure to:
 

-- Check pick-up/drop-off dates and times

-- Find out any special instructions on how to leave your tree

-- Determine what to do if you miss the first pick-up date

The holidays can be stressful. We travel near and far to be with family and loved ones, plan lavish meals and celebrations, and do everything we can to ensure we have the perfect gifts for the season. This is a lot to do while we continue to work, go to school and meet the demands of everyday life. The environment and our carbon footprint are generally the last things on our mind. But what if we could do both? Enjoy and celebrate the holidays while promoting sustainability and Eco-friendly practices.

This year we have you covered. Check out our Eco-friendly survival guide to making your holiday the best and the greenest yet!

1.    Departure from Stuff: Give the Traveler in your Life Gift Experiences.

·         Cooking course.

·        Walking or biking city tour.

·         City and museum cards.

·         Boat trip or city cruise.

2.    Reduce Packaging Waste in Amazon Orders.

Those concerned about packaging in their Amazon orders can email Amazon’s customer service team at cs-reply@amazon.com to request minimal plastic packaging inside their orders. Shoppers can also look for items that offer “frustration-free packaging.” This packaging is recyclable and often comes without excess packaging materials.

3.    Buy Eco-Friendly Holiday Gifts.

·         For the person with a green thumb, gift them an herb growing kit or vertical garden.

·         For the thrifter, visit your local charity thrift store and find the perfect treasure.

·         For the philanthropist, offer to donate to your loved one’s favorite nonprofit instead of buying them a gift.

4.    Reduce Food Waste. Use your holiday leftovers to create new dishes. Check out these recipe ideas from our friends at CalRecycle. Who knew leftovers could create so many delicious treats?!

5.    Recycle Right after the Holidays. The recyclable items below can be taken to one of our Household Hazardous Waste Collection Centers for free! If you have something to recycle that you do not see here, visit Earth911 to find out where you can recycle your item.

·         Recyclable:

Ø  Gift cards.

Ø  Holiday lights.

Ø  Used batteries.

Ø  Old electronics.

·         Not-Recyclable:

Ø  Tinsel cannot be recycled so if you do use it, repurposes it in another project.

Ø  Flocked trees contain chemicals that prevent composting and require the tree to be landfilled.

Ø  Cards and/or wrapping paper with glitter, metallic and/or plastic coasting use mixed materials that prevent recycling.