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Sustainability
The City of Bothell's sustainability program focuses on helping the community reduce their environmental impacts while improving their community and standard of living. Click through the tabs below to find useful information about:
- Learn more about King County's Zero Waste efforts
- Carry around your own reusable cup and utensil set
- Buy gifts for the experience instead of packaging
- Learn about the Commute Trip Reduction program
- Reduce your impact by unplugging electronics when not in use, hanging clothes to dry, or turning off lights when you don't need them.
- Lower the number of products you purchase by borrowing items from neighbors.
- Participate in clothing swaps with friends or in the community to update your wardrobe.
Sorting waste can be tricky to learn at first. Recology offers a what goes where tool, which can tell you how to properly dispose of an item or which bin it goes in.
The importance of sorting garbage
Did you know that waste stream "contamination" can ruin batches of recyclables or compostables? It can cause truckloads of reusable resources to be sent to the landfill and stay in the landfill.
Contamination is when too much of the wrong material is present in a waste stream, such as too much plastic in compostables or excess liquids in recyclables. This is why proper guidelines need to be followed when making garbage sorting decisions. Keeping your recycling empty clean and dry, and making sure only organic waste goes in your compost bin helps greatly with garbage diversion!
- Reduce polluted wash water from car washing, home repair, and maintenance
- Check for vehicle leaks
- Learn where and when to dispose of hazardous material
- See what King County's Wastemobile does and does not accept
- Learn how to redirect rainwater at home to reduce polluted runoff
- Use the Spill Hotline at 425-806-6750 to report spills that threaten water quality
- Choose safer cleaning products to reduce toxic chemicals in our environment
- Check the ingredients of products before you buy. Don't purchase cleaners or solvents with words like CAUTION or TOXIC. Read the warning labels and directions before purchasing.
- Learn the importance of properly disposing of pet waste