City of Oakland California

Contact us at (510) 238-7283 (SAVE) or email recycling@oaklandnet.com

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Construction & Demolition Recycling  |  Garbage Services in Oakland  | Zero Waste

First Reduce, then Reuse, then Recycle and Rot
Cutting down on waste disposal through Reduce and Reuse activities provides more economic, social, and environmental benefits than recycling and composting alone. It takes resources and energy to manufacture and transport all products, including recyclables. Being a Sustainable City means making our city safe, healthy, and vibrant, with opportunity and well-being for all, while acting within the capacity of natural systems.

• Reduce
  Creating less waste in the first place conserves resources, saves energy, and avoids environmental harm. There are many ways you can help reduce waste at its source.
• Reuse
  Reuse and repair to extend the life of products and buildings are an important part of energy and resource conservation, an effective and fun way to save money and provide local jobs that help make our city safe, healthy, and vibrant.
• Recycle
  Recycling allows manufacturers to replace raw material inputs from natural resources with materials recovered from collection and processing of recyclables. This reduces the resource depletion and energy consumption impacts of making new products. Recycling not only saves valuable natural resources and energy, but also reduces air and water pollution, and adds sustainable jobs to the local and global economy.
• Rot
  “Rot” is nature’s original recycler. Yard trimmings, food scraps, and other products and materials that can decompose through a natural, biological process are known as ‘biodegradable’. Even though these materials may appear to be waste, they can be composted as a resource and returned to the soil as nutrients. Recycling food scraps and yard trimmings through available collection services for residents and businesses, and composting at home are effective ways to keep biodegradable items out of the landfill and in the continuous natural cycles where they belong.

Learn More about the 4R’s and Zero Waste
Oakland consistently ranks among the top ten “green” cities in the United States due to the tremendous dedication and efforts of individuals, community partners, and local government working together.

“Reduce” Tips

• Keep reusable bags in your car, bike bag, or backpack. If you forget to bring your bags into the store, go back to get them when you remember instead of “waiting until next time.” This is a more effective way to change your habit.
• Buy products made of post-consumer recycled materials (especially paper, bathroom tissue and many building materials).
• Whenever possible, buy products made locally. Less energy will be used transporting them to the point of purchase.
• When you have the option, request electronic instead of paper copies of newsletters.
• Consider electronic banking and electronic bill paying.
• Call the customer service number shown on the back of most products to let manufacturers know you prefer less packaging or you want products designed for reuse and recyclability. Your opinions count and can make a difference. You can also become a citizen producer responsibility advocate by responding to action alerts issued by the California Product Stewardship Council to support producer responsibility legislation and help educate legislators. California Product Stewardship Council Yahoo Group
• Buy energy-efficient electronics, appliances, and vehicles.
• Shop for things that will last – that are durable, well-made, useful, and beautiful enough to please you for a long time.
• Maintain products properly.
• Get to know your neighbors. You can purchase items in bulk together, share tools, equipment and periodicals, carpool, or even share a weekly or monthly meal – all ways to reduce waste and resource use.
• Keep a mug in your office instead of using paper cups.
• Use sponges or rags instead of paper towels.
• Make fewer copies. Print or copy on both sides, and don't make more copies than you need.
• Set up your computer programs for automatic two-sided printing. Proof documents on screen and preview before printing. Allow internal documents to be circulated with legible minor hand corrections rather than retyping drafts.
• Share copies. Circulate memos, documents, reports, and publications. Post announcements on bulletin boards.
• Eliminate duplicate subscriptions, and remove duplicate names and out-of-date entries from mailing lists.

“Reduce” Resources

• To reduce junk mail at home and at work: Guide for businesses. Guide for Residents.
• Reduce paper usage with electronic billing and newsletters options.
• To reduce waste when building or remodeling: Learn more about green building and construction/demolition recycling.
• To make your meetings, parties and events Zero Waste: StopWaste Special Events Best Practices Guide is a comprehensive planning guide for larger events. Events and Public Venue Recycling - Circle of Life Green Guide is a simplified guide well-suited for smaller events.
• Remember to bring a reusable cloth shopping bag to the store – Join the Bring Your Own Bag campaign.
• Many websites maintain and update “green” lifestyle tips and suggestion pages, often with interesting motivational challenges, lifestyle impact calculators, and resource guides. Some examples include:
  • Consumer Reports - Greener Choices, Products for a Better Planet
  • National Geographic - The Green Guide
  • Ecology Center - Eco Directory
  • New American Dream - Buy Wisely
  • Daily Acts - Daily Actions to Enrich Your Life
  • Have Fun • Do Good
  • Grist - Green Issues and Sustainable Living
  • WorldChanging - Stuff, Shelter, Cities, Community, Business, Planet
  • Redefining Progress - Ecological Footprint Quiz

“Reuse” Tips

• Before you recycle or dispose of anything consider whether it has life left in it. Can someone else use the item? Can the item be used for some new purpose? Empty jars store leftovers, old shirts become a pajama top or quilting material…
• Keep reusable bags in your car, bike bag, or backpack. If you forget to bring your bags into the store, go back to get them when you remember instead of “waiting until next time.” This is a more effective way to change your habit.
• Rent, borrow, and share items used infrequently.
• Keep appliances well maintained and regularly serviced to increase product life.
• Repairing can be a money-saving alternative to new purchases. Consider repairing before prematurely discarding anything that is damaged.
• Keep a mug in your office instead of using paper cups.
• Get to know your neighbors. Arrange to share items such as lawnmowers, specialty cookware, tools and ladders.
• Visit garage sales in your neighborhood. Hold one yourself or along with your neighbors. Consider providing a box marked "FREE" for items you'd like to give away. It's an easy way to lighten up your garage sale atmosphere and often enhance sales.
• When planning to set items out for Bulky Waste pickup, let neighbors know so useful items can find new homes.
• Check out a book at the library instead of purchasing it. Rent videos or DVDs.
• Refill pens and pencils, don't toss them.
• Use razors with replaceable blades instead of disposable razors.

“Reuse” Resources

Practicing reuse by repairing, refurbishing, and rehabilitating existing products and buildings can sustainably provide local jobs and good quality merchandise at a fraction of the economic, social and environmental cost of new goods. Patronizing a local business or non-profit organization where you can buy, sell, consign, trade, rent, repair, or donate reusable goods helps our local economy. Free exchange of goods and materials that you no longer need with your neighbors, or through a local web-based service strengthens our local community. By choosing to reuse, we can save energy, reduce waste, and support local businesses, non-profit organizations, and community.

A regional directory of reuse options in 104 product categories is maintained by StopWaste.org. Select “Materials to be Reused” from the Where Can I Recycle? dropdown menu after clicking on the following link: StopWaste.Org Recycling Wizard.

Many more businesses and nonprofits where you can buy, sell, consign, trade, rent, repair or donate reusable goods can be found in your local telephone directory or by searching online.

Online trading has become an easy and popular way to both find and give away reusable goods and materials. Use services such as E-bay, Craig’s List, SwapThing, or Freecycle. The Freecycle Network™ is a free grassroots individual-to-individual online exchange with more than 4000 local groups worldwide. The Freecyclesm - Oakland group has over 6000 participants. You may advertise any legal, all-age appropriate products that you want to give away (free and clear). The list is strictly for free items and is not to be used for barter, sale, or services.

The Temescal Tool Lending Library of the Oakland Public Library currently offers over 2700 tools available for loan, as well as books, how-to videos, and workshops. The tools can be used for a variety of purposes, including carpentry, gardening, plumbing, and electrical work.

If your family has been in Oakland for generations, your old family photographs and documents may be of interest to the Library’s Oakland History Room. Photographs, documents and even objects may be of interest to the Oakland Collection of the Oakland Museum of California.

The Oakland Museum of California is also a major supporter of reuse through its annual White Elephant Sale. Check the website for donation guidelines and sale dates.

The California Integrated Waste Management Board maintains a large and easy to use materials exchange website known as CalMAX. Although the primary focus of the site is business-to-business materials exchanges, it also serves nonprofits, schools and individuals.

Food scraps and food soiled paper are the largest single item in our waste stream - making up approximately 35% of what we still throw away in Alameda County. Food scraps and yard trimmings are a resource, not a waste. By participating in the food scrap recycling program or composting at home, you ensure that your food scraps and food soiled paper will be returned as nutrients to the soil instead of sent to a landfill. Food scraps and yard trimmings that go to a composting facility are processed into a valuable resource used by landscapers and farmers. To see the steps in this process check out The Endless Cycle of Food Scrap Recycling (PDF).

Oakland residents with Yard Trimmings recycling (green cart), can recycle food scraps in the Yard Trimmings cart. More information on food scrap recycling for Oakland residents.

Food scrap recycling is a clean, easy habit to begin. More information on how to make food scrap recycling “second nature.”

Home composting can be a valuable part of “Bay-Friendly Gardening.” Bay-Friendly Gardening mimics natural systems, which recycle everything—water, debris, and nutrients—endlessly. It requires attention to climate and local conditions and uses appropriate plants that are adapted to those conditions. It promotes maintenance practices that support the goals of conserving resources and reducing waste.

For more information go to Bay-Friendly Gardening.

The East Bay Municipal Utility District’s book Plants and Landscapes for Summer-Dry Climates is an excellent resource.