• Recycling Guide
• Guía de Reciclaje

Curbside Recycling

• What goes in the cart
• Single-stream blue recycling cart
• What happens to my curbside recycling
• Bulky item collection

Reduce

• Junk mail
• Extended Producer Responsibility
• Reduce packaging

Drop-off recycling

• Locate buyback recycling centers

Holidays

• Tree recycling
• Holiday gifts

Related Topics

• About plastics
• Ordering debris boxes
• In parks

Reduce Packaging

We typically don't think much about the way a product is packaged. After all, it's the product we're after. If you buy a bottle of soda pop, you want the soda, not the bottle.

According to the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle), of the 66 million tons of solid waste generated by Californians each year, approximately one third is packaging! Aside from being wasteful, packaging often ends up as litter and is harming our environment and oceans.

What you can do to help:

1. Ask manufacturers to reduce their packaging. See wording on a sample letter.
2. Reduce the amount of packaging you use. For example when preparing your lunch for school or work, use reusable packaging, rather than single-use.
3. Look for packaging that is made from recycled content.