General
In 1999, Marin County started measuring the state-mandated recycling percentage of recycling by aggregating over the entire county. Now, for the county as a whole, we are overt 65%, meaning that for every 100 tons of all material that might have been collected, 65 tons is recycled or not generated in the first place. However, Sausalito is not doing its share. We need to increase our recycling to make sure we don’t cause the county to suffer a heavy fine.
Recycling is picked up from the curb. This is different from your GARBAGE cans, which is collected from your backyard or wherever you keep it.
The curbside recycling occurs on the same day as your garbage pickup. ALL RECYCLING CONTAINERS will be returned to the curb for reuse. This includes all boxes, the large lawn waste bags, and plastic or metal buckets.
Hazardous materials should not be put into curbside collection containers. Check below for safe disposal methods. Toxic materials include flashlight batteries, all paint, pressurized cans, and the many other materials listed in this document. In order to protect the environment, their workers, and their trucks, Bay Cities will not pick these items up.
So what can you do with the bad stuff?
The following paragraphs will help you deal with hazardous waste, but if this doesn't answer your question, try the website run by the Marin County Joint Powers Authority.
ALMOST ANYTHING OF VALUE
iReuse is your online group marketplace to Find Stuff, Post Stuff, and Get Rid of Stuff locally. Founded in 2005, and launched initially in Marin County, California, iReuse saves you time, money, and energy by making it easy to be green.
iReuse has five goals:
- Save customers time, money and energy by promoting reuse as an alternative to discarding unwanted items.
- Develop a community-based marketplace to support the reuse of items locally.
- Combine multiple acquisition and removal solutions into one place.
- Make a valuable contribution to preserving our environment.
- Build a profitable company that is socially and environmentally responsible.
The county also runs a recycling site http://www.marinrecycles.org/ Check it out for things you might want or want to get rid of without putting it into the landfill.
BATTERIES - HOUSEHOLD, TOY, AND CAR BATTERIES
Household batteries may be placed in the special blue plastic container found just outside the Library entrance. Many merchants who sell you battery-operated electronics also accept your old batteries. For example, Waterstreet Hardware, Best Buy, Cingular Wireless, Circuit City, Radio Shack, Home Depot, Sears, Staples, Target, and Wal-mart. ARC Battery Co., at 90 Gate 5 Road, is happy to take old car and boat batteries. ARC is open 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 pm on weekdays and 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 pm on Saturdays. They actually manufacture high quality marine and automotive batteries right there.
BICYCLES AND PARTS
Take them to the Recyclery Thrift Shop, 610 4th St., San Rafael. They are open Noon to 6 Tues-Fir and 10-4 on weekends.
CANS
Put all metal and plastics in your recycling container. Please rinse them before recycling. Tin, steel, and aluminum are all recyclable. It's OK to leave labels on. No pressurized cans or scrap metal. The deposit money for containers is estimated and returned to the city.
CARDBOARD
Cardboard must be flattened (4' x 4' max.) and bagged or weighted down so it doesn’t blow around on the street. No waxed cardboard. Uncorregated cardboard can be put into the single stream container as if it were ordinary paper.
CATALOGS AND MAGAZINES
Consider sharing catalogs and magazines with your friends or co-workers. If you need to recycle them, place in recycling container for curbside pickup. All recyclables can share a single container.
CLOTHES and SHOES
There is a clothing and shoe collection box behind Scott of Sausalito at Bridgeway and Colma.
CHRISTMAS TREES
Christmas trees are excellent candidates for greencycling. Leave them for curbside greencycling during the first full week in January. Please remove the stand, tinsel and other ornaments. Sorry, artificial and flocked trees are not recyclable through our greencycling process and must be dealt with as ordinary trash.
COMPUTERS AND ELECTRONICS
The Sausalito Chamber of Commerce is working with several non-profit computer recyclers. Your obsolete computer can be refurbished for use in schools or other non-profits, be used to teach computer repair, or be completely recycled. In any event, they are kept out of the landfill. This is especially important for monitors and old TV sets which contain toxic lead and other heavy metals. It is illegal to put them into the garbage! The Chamber of Commerce accepts your donations from 9:00 am to noon and 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm on weekdays. Dead or defective monitors and TV sets can be taken to the Hazardous Waste Facility for free disposal.
GLASS
Place clean bottles and jars in recycling container for curbside pickup. All recyclables can share a single container. It's OK to mix colors together for recycling. Unfortunately, all other types of glass, such as drinking glasses, light bulbs, window glass or mirrors are not recyclable, as they contain lead and other contaminants.
GROCERY PLASTIC BAGS
DON'T put these into the recycle. They can gum up the works in the sorting facility. We're sorry, but you'll have to take them back to the grocery store.
NEWSPAPER, MAGAZINES, JUNK MAIL, OFFICE PAPER
Consider sharing newspapers and magazines with your friends or co-workers. If you need to recycle them, place in recycling container for curbside pickup. All recyclables can share a single container. It's OK to mix colors. Window envelopes are OK. Remember, only clean paper!
PLASTIC CONTAINERS
Place plastics labeled Numbers 1 through 7 in recycling container for curbside pickup. All recyclables can share a single container. Medicine bottles can in theory be recycled but because they typically contain three different types of plastic, are easily shattered into dangerous shards and there could be unused medications inside, it is our policy to gie them back to the druggest.
STYROFOAM
Styrofoam blocks can no longer be put in container in the City Hall/Library parking lot. You can take "peanuts" to the mailing store at 1001 Bridgeway, (at the corner of San Carlos Avenue) or to The UPS Store at 3001 Bridgeway.
YARD WASTE - GREENCYCLING
"Greencycle" is picked up on your normal garbage day in the week containing the 1st and 3rd Monday of the month. You may put an unlimited amount of yard waste at the curbside. For your greencycle, you can use the large, reusable, 30-gallon paper bags available at the hardware store, or place it in a container, or set it on a tarp. Containers and tarps will be returned. Plastic bags are not accepted, since they are difficult to empty and cannot be sent thru the composting process. No rocks or soil please. If you have a lot of it, separate it into manageable portions for the garbage men who will be loading it onto their trucks.
TOXIC TAXI
The San Rafael Fire Department sponsors the “Toxic Taxi”. For a $35 fee, you can call the taxi to pick up as much as 35 pounds of toxic materials for proper disposal. The taxi will pick up almost anything except contaminated soil, asbestos, explosives (it will accept calcium carbide and road flares), medical waste (it will accept used syringes), and radioactive waste. Call 1-888-869-8294 for a pickup appointment.