With six people living in our home, I’m the character who hauls out garbage, recycling and yard waste every week. And every week I find myself precariously balanced on top of the recycling container, stomping down the week’s deposits, trying not to fall into the bucket.

It’s ridiculous.

We’re a typical Seattle family: We recycle a lot but still feel like we throw away too much because we consume too much.

So I was thrilled to read today’s Seattle Times that has a wonderful story of using market forces to try and move behavior in a positive direction.

I’m all in to help–just reducing our family’s waste will help. Neighborhood, what’s our plan? Come on folks let’s win this!

The story is here and posted below:

Garbage collector issues $50,000 challenge to 5 neighborhoods
Cleanscapes, a garbage-collection company, is challenging five Seattle neighborhoods to reduce the amount of things stuffed into garbage, recycling and yard-waste bins. The winning neighborhood gets $50,000 for a project of its choosing.

Five neighborhoods south of the Ship Canal are competing for a $50,000 project, such as a new playground or park benches, offered by a garbage-collection company.

The contest, announced today by Cleanscapes, is part of its effort to reduce the amount of things stuffed into garbage, recycling and yard-waste bins in the city.

“Rather than governments passing a law we want to see what happens with a carrot,” said Chris Martin, president of Cleanscapes, which took over the garbage collection in certain Seattle neighborhoods last March.

Ray Hoffman, head of Seattle Public Utilities, said that every week Seattle loads 5,100 tons of garbage onto a mile-long double-stacked train heading to a dump in Oregon 300 miles away. Recycling is taken to Allied Waste in SoDo; yard waste is trucked to Cedar Grove in Maple Valley and Marysville.

Today, nine garbage trucks were lined at SPU’s north transfer station, illustrating what a 10 percent reduction in waste would mean: nine full trucks of waste, 72 tons of trash.

Martin said his company chose South Seattle for the contest because it has a poorer record in garbage reduction than north Seattle neighborhoods. He said homes north of the ship canal produce about 18 pounds of garbage a week; those south of the canal 22 pounds.

The most significant thing people can do to shrink their garbage footprint is to buy a mulching lawn mower so residents don’t fill up their yard-waste containers with grass clippings, Martin said. Another huge step would be canceling junk mail, which fills recycling bins, he said.

SPU officials say households should replace their disposable paper bags, cups, water bottles, paper plates and shopping bags, in favor of durable, reusable items.

The five neighborhoods eligible for the contest are divided by day of pickup and include Magnolia, Queen Anne, downtown Seattle, Capitol Hill and south Seattle. In all, it includes about 28,000 households.

The winner — the neighborhood with the biggest weight-reduction of what goes into its trash, recycling and yard-waste bins — will be announced in May. It will be up to winning neighborhood residents to decide how best to spend the prize money.

Pam Lewis, from Magnolia, said she is excited about the contest and stood at the transfer station jotting down ideas. She said community education is key, and it’s critical to reach children who will not only help their parents reduce but will learn a habit they’ll carry on with their own families.

Lewis said she’d like to see more collection bins for clothes and furniture so people don’t throw reusable items in the trash.

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com”>here and posted below:

Garbage collector issues $50,000 challenge to 5 neighborhoods; Cleanscapes, a garbage-collection company, is challenging five Seattle neighborhoods to reduce the amount of things stuffed into garbage, recycling and yard-waste bins. The winning neighborhood gets $50,000 for a project of its choosing.

Five neighborhoods south of the Ship Canal are competing for a $50,000 project, such as a new playground or park benches, offered by a garbage-collection company.

The contest, announced today by Cleanscapes, is part of its effort to reduce the amount of things stuffed into garbage, recycling and yard-waste bins in the city.

“Rather than governments passing a law we want to see what happens with a carrot,” said Chris Martin, president of Cleanscapes, which took over the garbage collection in certain Seattle neighborhoods last March.

Ray Hoffman, head of Seattle Public Utilities, said that every week Seattle loads 5,100 tons of garbage onto a mile-long double-stacked train heading to a dump in Oregon 300 miles away. Recycling is taken to Allied Waste in SoDo; yard waste is trucked to Cedar Grove in Maple Valley and Marysville.

Today, nine garbage trucks were lined at SPU’s north transfer station, illustrating what a 10 percent reduction in waste would mean: nine full trucks of waste, 72 tons of trash.

Martin said his company chose South Seattle for the contest because it has a poorer record in garbage reduction than north Seattle neighborhoods. He said homes north of the ship canal produce about 18 pounds of garbage a week; those south of the canal 22 pounds.

The most significant thing people can do to shrink their garbage footprint is to buy a mulching lawn mower so residents don’t fill up their yard-waste containers with grass clippings, Martin said. Another huge step would be canceling junk mail, which fills recycling bins, he said.

SPU officials say households should replace their disposable paper bags, cups, water bottles, paper plates and shopping bags, in favor of durable, reusable items.

The five neighborhoods eligible for the contest are divided by day of pickup and include Magnolia, Queen Anne, downtown Seattle, Capitol Hill and south Seattle. In all, it includes about 28,000 households.

The winner — the neighborhood with the biggest weight-reduction of what goes into its trash, recycling and yard-waste bins — will be announced in May. It will be up to winning neighborhood residents to decide how best to spend the prize money.

Pam Lewis, from Magnolia, said she is excited about the contest and stood at the transfer station jotting down ideas. She said community education is key, and it’s critical to reach children who will not only help their parents reduce but will learn a habit they’ll carry on with their own families.

Lewis said she’d like to see more collection bins for clothes and furniture so people don’t throw reusable items in the trash.

(End of Seattle Times story).

Your partner in service,

Reuven.