~ from the Office of Neighborhoods

As Earth Month comes to a close, the City of Knoxville’s Office of Waste & Resources has shared some great information and services to help you reduce your contribution to the landfill.

First: limit what you throw away by limiting what you have to begin with. You can bring your reusable bags to the store, exchange items with friends, shop second-hand, and use scrap materials you already have for DIY projects.

Join Knoxville’s free curbside recycling program if you are eligible (find out here) ). If you are not eligible, you can still utilize one of the City’s five free drop-off recycling centers, just be sure to check the guidelines before you go.

Lastly, place all your yard waste at the curb not in your trash cart. Yard waste in your curbside garbage cart ends up in the landfill where it produces greenhouse gas emissions as it decomposes buried without oxygen. Yard waste placed in loose piles, not bags, at the curb, however, is collected by City personnel and repurposed into mulch. Please review the guidelines for proper yard waste set out instructions.

Last year, more than 31,000 tons of yard trimmings and 7,458 tons of recyclable materials were kept out of landfills in Knoxville. However, 45,700 tons of garbage still ended up in the landfill. Use these tips to reduce that number this year!