There is a reason why Sacramento has such a reputation as a beautiful city. It’s because the residents take pride in their surroundings. A function of that pride has been one of the most comprehensive recycling programs across the country. In fact, many other city managers from around the county come to Sacramento to see how they pull off these programs.

It all starts with recognizing how fragile our environment is and that most of the problems are related to the garbage we throw away. When we can recycle, repurpose and reuse that refuse then we’re cutting back on the toxins being released into the atmosphere and reducing our dependence of carbon burning energy. That’s a pretty tall order, but luckily for the folks living in Sacramento they’ve got recycling down to an art form.  Here’s some of the recycling processes done in California’s capital:

Curbside Recycling

The most popular and oft used Sacramento recycling program is the curbside recycle bin pick up. Once you get into the habit of separating your garbage, recycling is a breeze. The list of what should go into a curbside recycling bin is easy to remember. Start with anything paper. That means newspapers, magazines, cardboard, food containers and of course all that junk mail. Finally, the junk mail can be put to good use! Next comes all the metals with aluminum soda cans, tin cans like tuna and pet food, and empty aerosol cans. You can also toss in wine bottles and other glass bottles as well as rigid plastic bottles like milk jugs or water bottles.

What you shouldn’t put into your curbside recycling bin are any hazardous products, motor oil, wet food, Styrofoam, wood, metal pipes, diapers, clothes or garden waste. That’s for other recycling drop-offs. The recycling bins are collected every other week on your normal garbage pick-up day. Just put the full bin next to your other bins and away it will go!

Garden Recycling

The city of Sacramento provides for scheduled pick-ups of your garden refuse. This means raked piles of leaves, chopped up tree limbs and even the Christmas tree. As long as the pile isn’t bigger than two cubic yards (which is about the size of 3’ x 3’ x 6’) then it will be good to go. Just remember to make it only garden stuff. If there is other garbage in the pile like chunks of concrete or dog poo it won’t be picked up.

*If its a larger load – give Junk King a call to come and take it away for you (dog poo and all!).

Hazardous Waste Recycling

If you can’t break it up, can’t ingest it or it isn’t made of paper chances are it is hazardous waste. Into this category you can add all kinds of batteries, electronic gear, paints, solvents, cleaners, or pesticides. Pretty much anything that comes with a warning label should be considered hazardous material. There are specified recycling centers where you can either drop off these items or have a professional team pick them up and drop them off for you. These centers are spread out all over the Sacramento area. You might even find some repurposed products at these centers like cheap latex paint or refurbished computers.

The bottom line is that keeping Sacramento clean has never been easier and the city is a model of recycling programs across the US.

Junk King Sacramento has made a commitment to help keep Sacramento environmentally friendly by recycling over 60% of all the junk we haul away.  Give us a call at 1-888-888-JUNK or a book a free on site estimate online.