Think Ahead For Holiday Recycling Options: Denver Public Works

From The City of Denver: It’s the most “wasteful” time of the year! It’s estimated the average household generates 25% more waste between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. With the upcoming holiday season, America Recycles Day today is the perfect day for people to start thinking about reducing their waste by taking advantage of Denver’s seasonal recycling and composting programs.

Below are some tips for reducing waste this holiday season:

• This will be the last weekend Denver residents can drop-off raked leaves for composting at weekend LeafDrop sites. Weekday LeafDrop sites will remain open through Friday, December 7. A list of Denver LeafDrop locations and hours can be found at denvergov.org/leafdrop.

• The Denver Composts program is perfect for keeping holiday leftovers, bones, dairy, vegetable scraps, and paper napkins out of the landfill to reduce waste by up to 75 percent. Composting these items will put them to a better use, turning them into a high-quality soil amendment that can help plants grow and thrive! Residents can sign-up for the Denver Composts program at denvergov.org/compost.

• Planning is the first step to reduce food waste – Americans waste more than 40 percent of their food! The Natural Resources Defense Council’s Guestimator tool makes planning a Thanksgiving meal as easy and as waste-free as ever! Don’t worry, the tool lets you plan for leftovers too! Try it out at www.savethefood.com.

• Starting to pull those holiday lights out of the garage? Beginning Tuesday, November 20, Denver residents can drop-off broken, burned out or impossibly tangled sets of holiday lights at the Cherry Creek Recycling Drop-off (S. Quebec Street and E. Cherry Creek South Drive). You can recycle your holiday lights through January 19, 2019.

• Most holiday food packaging, such as empty bottles, cans, cartons, and tubs are recyclable. Plain wrapping paper and holiday cards (no glitter or metallic material) can be placed in purple recycling carts too! (Please note, tissue paper is not recyclable.) For more information on what can and cannot be recycled, please visitdenvergov.org/denverrecycles.

denvergov.org/treecycle.

These seasonal recycling and composting programs will help further Denver’s goal of increasing its recycling rate from what is now 22 percent to 34 percent, as outlined in Mayor Michael B. Hancock’s 2020 Sustainability Goals.

For more information, please visit denvergov.org/denverrecycles.

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