GreenTown Los Altos
GreenTown Los Altos

Waste: Shrink Yours!

Waste. It’s not an, ahem, pretty topic, but it is a necessary one for our collectively healthy future. Which is why GreenTown has a program focused on it. And it has and continues to deliver collective benefits for us all.

Waste Reduction Initiative

Goals Accomplished

  • Launched the Business Co-Op to help local restaurants go compostable.

    Thanks to eco-conscious business owners like Mary Clark Bartlett (pictured with GreenTown’s Margie Suozzo) our business co-op to supply compostables, was created.

  • Partnered with Mission Trail Waste Systems to educate residential, business and community users on waste reduction best practices
  • Facilitated the waste contract implementation to meet the 78% landfill diversion target by September 2013

Results

  • The City of Los Altos incorporated all of GreenTown’s recommendations into its waste contract RFP to meet community needs for improved service and achieve a 78% landfill diversion by 2013 (a 44% increase over current diversion rates), putting Los Altos in top 1% of all cities nationwide in waste management and diversion
  • GreenTown team members researched and provided recommendations on waste diversion strategies, especially the impact of food scrap composting, preventing the City from spending $200,000 on consulting fees
  • Diverted 75-80% of waste from the landfill at 3 community events by increased recycling, compost collection, and education
  • Provided guidance to many organizations, large and small, to help them
    with green events. See our Green Event Guidelines.

Los Altos Selected Mission Trail Waste Systems

In 2010, Los Altos won an environmental victory over waste and greenhouse gas pollution when Los Altos City Council unanimously voted to award an expanded waste contract to Mission Trail Waste Systems on March 23, 2010. Services now include:

  • Weekly pick-up of garbage, recycling and organics/compostables for both residential and commercial customers
  • Single stream recycling – (all cans, bottles, and paper go into one rolling bin)
  • Residential service pricing should remain the same or less than current pricing.
  • Side yard pick-up will still be available at an extra charge
  • Basic Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) will be collected curbside weekly (water-based paints, cooking oil, compact fluorescent bulbs, dry-cell batteries, small electronics)
  • On-call at-residence HHW will be available for a fee (oil-based paints, fluorescent tubes, pesticides)
  • Recycling, compostable and garbage collection at all City-sponsored events

Read the COMPLETE DETAILS about the New Los Altos Waste Service or check out the Mission Trail Waste Systems FAQ.

For more information, contact: waste@greentownlosaltos.org or visit Mission Trail Waste Systems.

Read More…

Check the Events Calendar for upcoming GreenTown Los Altos events.

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