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Residential Recycling

Many communities in California offer curbside collection or drop-off sites for certain recyclable materials. Collecting materials is only the first step toward making the recycling process work. Successful recycling also depends on manufacturers making products from recovered materials and, in turn, consumers purchasing products made of recycled materials.

Do your part--"close the loop" and buy products made of recycled materials whenever possible.  To discover the many different and innovative ways to recycle, please take a look the Five R's below to find out how easy it is to reduce, repair, reuse, recycle, and rot your waste at home.

If you commit to these five actions, there is little that must be thrown away. Choosing to follow the Five R’s ensures that resources are saved and/or reused, and the volume of waste is reduced. By keeping these actions in mind when purchasing, using, and disposing of materials, you will have done more than your share to keep our county clean and beautiful.

Five R’s of Responsible Waste Management - REDUCE, REPAIR, REUSE, RECYCLE, AND ROT

The Five R’s (Reduce, Repair, Reuse, Recycle, and Rot) are an effective way to conserve resources and minimize the amount of waste that is generated. By committing to these five actions when purchasing, using, and disposing of materials, you'll be doing your part in keeping Riverside County clean and beautiful!

    The prefered waste management practice is to reduce waste at the source, i.e. to prevent waste from being generated.

    Minimizing waste at home can have a positive impact on both the environment and your wallet. Consider these waste reduction tips! 

    • Plan meals ahead to save money and stay healthy. 
    • Reorganize fridge with older items in front to eat first.
    • Ditch disposables in the kitchen.
    • Use reusable shopping bags.
    • Switch to paperless billing.
    • Opt out of junk mail.

    Repairing, upgrading, or reusing old items instead of throwing them away is a less wasteful and cheaper option than purchasing new items.  Examples of items that can be repaired include office furniture and equipment, lighting fixtures, electronics, and automotive parts.

    • Consider reupholstering, refinishing, or donating old furniture.

    • Have equipment repaired instead of buying new.

    Reusing is simply about extending the life of an item - using something more than once rather than discarding it after a single use. A synonym for reusing is upcycling! Upcycling reuses discarded materials or items to create something with a higher value.

    • Use pieces of paper and junk mail as scrap paper.

    • Reuse envelopes, folders and boxes when possible.

    • Repurpose glass jars and old coffee canisters as storage containers for bulk pantry items. 

    • Cut old clothes, towels, and bedding into washable cleaning rags.

    • Save old toothbrushes to scrub hard-to-reach places, like grout and underneath the fixtures on faucets. 

    Recycling means converting waste into usable materials. 

    • The following are a few items commonly found around the home that can be recycled.

      • Paper, cards, junk mail, magazines, newspaper 

      • Aluminum/steel cans 

      • Clean aluminum foil 

      • Plastic and glass bottles 

      • Empty and dry plastic/glass food containers

    • Take the next step and begin purchasing products containing post-consumer recycled content. 
    • For a complete list of recyclable materials, please contact your refuse hauler. If your refuse hauler does not provide recycling for a particular material, please contact the Riverside County Department of Waste Resources at 951-486-3200, check your local yellow pages for a recycler, or check out the Waste Guide for recycling options for many different waste streams. Prepare your recyclables according to the directions given by your recycling provider. This will make it easier and less costly for them to continue providing these services.
    • Use the information in our Waste Guide to recycle as much as you can!
    • For local recyclers in your area, go to the Earth 911 website or call 1-800-CLEAN-UP

    Rot, or composting, is all about reducing the amount of organic waste sent to landfills and decreasing heat trapping gases, such as Methane. 

    • Set up a compost pile to compost lawn and landscaping trimmings.