• SHS Recycling Drive
• Holiday tree recycling
• Recycle non-working holiday lights with Recycle+
• Donate cardboard or use it in your yard

SHS Recycling Drive

Saturday, January 6, 10-2, Sunset High School, 13840 NW Cornell Rd, free

Save up your styrofoam from this gift-giving season and come to Sunset High’s Climate Change Club’s recycling drive! We accept styrofoam, number 6 plastic, Brita filters, and select Terra-cycle items. See website for details.

Holiday tree recycling

We published a list of tree recycling fundraisers in the December issue. If none of those works for you, Walker Garbage will take your tree if you follow their instructions.

If you have room in your yard debris cart, you can cut up your tree so it all fits inside the yard debris cart with the top closed. If your cart is full, you can set out a tree (6 feet and under) next to it. Trees set out in addition to a full yard debris cart will be charged at: $5 each in Washington County and Portland and $3 each in Beaverton.

Trees set out without a yard debris cart will be picked up on your regular yard debris collection day at no charge. Additional sections (over 6 feet) will be charged as an extra unit of yard debris at: $3 in Washington County, $3.75 in Portland and $3.45 in Beaverton.

If your tree is over 6 feet it must be cut down into smaller sections. Trees need to be placed next to your containers, out at the curb (or wherever they are normally placed for pick up). If its windy on your yard debris day please try to secure the tree between containers so it doesn’t end up in a neighbor’s yard.

Artificial/flocked trees will be picked up as garbage and will be charged as an extra unit of garbage at: $6.25 in Washington County, $5 in Portland and $4.85 in Beaverton.

If you have room on your property, another solution is to put the tree behind a bush somewhere and wait until summer when all the needles will have fallen off to become compost. Then you can either trim off the branches and use the trunk as a pole or cut it up and place it in yard debris.

Recycle non-working holiday lights with Recycle+

January 2-31, 2024

The Recycle+ service includes special collections a few times each year of specific items or materials for recycling or donation. You can include string lights this month.

Include: LED string lights; string lights with small bulbs; string lights without bulbs

Do NOT include: rope lights; novelty lights if you cannot remove the novelty bulb; inflatable yard figures; other holiday décor.

Prepare string lights for collection. Remove novelty or large bulbs often identified as C6, C7 or C9. These are commonly found on older or outdoor lights. Put bulbs in the garbage or save as replacement bulbs for other string lights.

You can add the Recycle+ schedule to your Google, iCal, or Outlook calendar on this page. If you’re interested in adding Recycle+ to your garbage service, click here.

Donate cardboard or use it in your yard

Do you have lots of cardboard after the holiday gift-giving season? Did you know that you can do better than recycling it? You can reuse it, or you can gift it through the Cardboard Connection online tool.

This online tool is designed to connect people who are looking for cardboard for sheet mulching projects with people who have cardboard they don’t need. Posts are typically published the next business day, and anyone can post! Learn more on the East Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation website.

See Garden & Nature for ways to use sheet mulching and more information.