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Community Corner

Tips for recycling holiday food scraps

The busy holiday cooking season is in full swing, and with all the food being prepared, eaten and left over, it’s an important time for Newark  residents to make sure they’re properly recycling their food scraps to keep their home fresh and clean while doing their part to reduce waste. 

While more than three quarters of Alameda County residents agree that recycling food scraps is easy and convenient to do, two thirds of residents admit that they’re not putting as much into their green bin as they can.  Ready Set Recycle, which provides Alameda County residents with resources and rewards for reducing their waste, has put together six tips to make food scrap recycling easy this holiday season – and all year round. 

1.     Place your food scraps container on your countertop so it’s within easy reach while you’re cooking. Consider investing in a pretty, chic or sleek food scraps container for your countertop. There are many stylish options out there, so your holiday guests won’t even have to know what’s inside the container! Some examples can be found here. These also make a great gift for the holidays! 

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2.     Line your countertop food scrap container with a paper bag, newspaper, food-soaked paper (e.g., wax paper from Grandma’s sugar cookies), used paper towels, or parts of paper egg cartons to absorb liquids and make it easy to dump everything into your outdoor green bin. 

3.     Fried turkey or Turducken your tradition? Cooking oil never goes down the drain, as it can cause backups in pipes. Pour cooking oils and grease into an empty milk carton or other sturdy paper container before disposing in the trash can (if the grease is congealed, it can go in the green bin). If you have more than a milk carton’s worth, bring it to a drop-off center near you 

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4.     To prevent funky smells or fruit flies from invading your holiday parties, refrigerate or freeze your food scraps in a sealed container until you’re ready to take them out to your green bin. And, make sure you regularly wash your countertop bin, most can easily go in the dishwasher to save you time! 

5.     What about your holiday greenery? Throw your poinsettias, evergreen wreaths, mistletoe and other holiday plant debris into your green bin. 

6.     Not sure how to sort your holiday waste? Just enter the item that you’re trying to dispose of into the “Recycle Where” section of ReadySetRecycle.org and learn the proper method of recycling or disposal.

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