Submitted by Thurston County Solid Waste
Parties are fun but can be a lot of work too. Luckily, holding a green event does not require much effort, catches people’s attention, and can start some great conversations. Thurston County Solid Waste has resources to make your next event both fun and environmentally friendly. So next time you have a BBQ or other family gathering, consider borrowing a free recycle kit from one of eight locations in our county. Most kits come with bins for recycling, food waste, trash plus bags and signs. They are easy to transport and assemble. And your guests will love having other options besides sending waste to the landfill. The best part is the kits are free and made available thanks to a state grant and partners’ help.
New to the event recycling program this year, is a partnership with Celebrations, the party story in Lacey. Now you can get a recycling kit for FREE and rent reusable water pitchers, plates, cups, and silverware on the same trip! Renting durable and reusable party items will reduce the amount of trash and even recycling you might have to deal with. It’s the “reduce” part of “reduce, reuse, and recycle.” Plus, with changes at Silver Springs Organics, the organics collection program no longer allows your paper plates, cups, and biodegradable forks. These items are now trash. Just go to Celebrations’ rental catalog at www.CelebrationsStore.com and click on “Recycling Kit.”
You have some options for the recyclables and organics you collect at your events. You might consider putting them in the appropriate curbside collections you already have. There are also drop locations in the county for trash and recycling. You can take food waste to Silver Springs Organics near Rainier, WA. Or LeMay can provide temporary trash, recycling, and organics pickup for your event by calling (360) 486-8603. If you are in the City of Olympia, you can also call them for service at 753-8368.
There are lots of green event planning resources online to make it easy. For more information, go to www.ThurstonSolidWaste.org and click on “Borrow Event Recycling Bins.” Also, make sure to check out these tips for your next event. For the most up to date information on what goes in the organics bin, go to www.SilverSprings.com.
