Get Your Green On

Did you know that each household in OKC generates approximately 4.5 pounds of waste per day? That is quite a bit of trash. Thankfully, not all of it is really trash. Sure you don’t want it in your house anymore, but that doesn’t mean you have to send it to the dumpster. A good portion of it can either be recycled or composted, helping to make your home and our community a little greener.

Recycling
The City of Oklahoma City makes being a good environmental steward easy and convenient for residents with weekly curbside recycling. Just get a Little Blue recycling bin, fill it with your permitted recyclables and leave it out the same morning as your regular trash service.

Check out these other recycling resources provided by our friends over at OKC Beautiful.

Composting
Now that you’ve pared down your trash by discovering which items you can recycle, let’s talk about another way to get rid of waste – composting.

Here are the City’s simple steps for outdoor composting:

• Select a dry, shady spot near a water source for your compost pile or bin. Add equal parts of three basic ingredients, chopped or shredded:

• Browns (dead leaves, branches and twigs) for carbon.
• Greens (grass clippings, vegetable waste, food scraps and coffee grounds) for nitrogen.
• Water, moistening dry materials as they are needed.

• Mix these items well, stirring frequently for about six months. Make sure you don’t let the mixture become too wet or too dry. You can even cover the top of the compost with a tarp if you’d like.
• When the materials on the bottom are dark and rich in color, your compost is ready to be used.

The City also provides a list of things that should be left out of your composting combination:

• Black walnut tree leaves or twigs
• Coal or charcoal ash
• Citrus rinds
• Dairy products (butter, egg yolks, milk, sour cream, yogurt, etc.)
• Fats, grease, lard or oils
• Meat or fish bones and scraps
• Diseased or insect-ridden plants
• Pet wastes
• Yard trimmings treated with chemical pesticides

If you’d like more information on the magic of composting and how you can get started, contact Utilities Customer Service at 405-297-2833 or [email protected] for a free guide!