Recycle The Unrecyclable

There’s this whole set of stuff that I can’t get rid of. It’s not sentimental, it’s garbage, but garbage that doesn’t fit in my can AND that our otherwise excellent curbside recycling program doesn’t take.

This Saturday, we have an opportunity to purge it. The City of Seattle is holding a special recycling and reuse event this Saturday, March 31st, from 9 am – 1 pm at the Woodland Park Gravel Parking Lot (west of the Upper Woodland Tennis Courts).

Accepted items include:

• Appliances (e.g., washers, dryers, and refrigerators)
• Clothing / linens (any condition except wet)
• Electronics (e.g., computers, DVD players, and TVs)
• Small furniture items (this one they ask for “good condition only”)
• Household goods (e.g., books that you don’t want to put in your local Little Free Library, dishware, games)
• Styrofoam (clean, please remove tape)
• Compact fluorescent lightbulbs

There’s a full list of what they’ll accept on the Waste Management website. Not on that list are things like automotive waste, broken furniture, construction waste, hazardous waste, batteries, and just anything that is garbage.

The clothing / linens one is an interesting bit: did you know that the average American today buys five times the amount of clothing versus an American in 1980? Do we have more limbs? Are we just really into layers? Check out this Atlantic Article, for the full rundown.

(Thanks for the info, Mike Ruby!)