It's the perfect time to renew our commitment to environmental stewardship. Join us in celebrating the season of renewal by participating in our upcoming recycling events.

4/20 County Earth Day Event 

4/27 Annandale Earth Day Event 

4/27 Mount Vernon Environmental Expo 

4/28- Clean Fairfax Earth Daze

5/4 Culmore Community Day

Follow our social media for the latest information on upcoming events. 

Amidst the vibrant tapestry of spring's arrival, let's harmonize our actions with the rhythm of renewal. Whether we're parting ways with treasures of yesteryear during a spring cleanse, orchestrating the dance of relocation, or simply refreshing our wardrobes, let's ensure our choices echo with mindful intent.

• Donate with grace, offering new life to items that once held significance in our lives. Through the alchemy of generosity, our belongings find new purpose, sparking joy in the hearts of others.
• Repurpose with ingenuity, transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary. Embrace the artistry of creativity as you breathe new life into forgotten treasures, infusing them with renewed vitality and purpose.
• Dispose properly with reverence, acknowledging the interconnectedness of all things. By honoring the cycle of sustainability, we safeguard the delicate balance of our precious ecosystem, ensuring a legacy of stewardship for generations to come.

As we dance through the seasons, let's move intentionally, mindful of the footsteps we leave behind. Let's weave a tapestry of sustainability, where every action is a brushstroke of beauty upon the canvas of our shared world.

The average household has two or three containers to set out weekly for the trash and recycling collection crews. Some of our waste and recyclables are collected by an automated truck and some are collected by people who tip your cart or throw your bags into the truck. As you prepare for the weekly collection, here are some points to consider.

1. Try to put everything out the night before. The crews start very early in the morning!
2. Leave it out. If trash/recycling/yard waste is not collected on your street, it will be collected as soon as possible. If just your waste was missed, it may have been left behind for a reason. There should be a note explaining what you need to do. Contact your service provider.
3. Close the lid. This keeps wildlife from snacking on your trash. It prevents loose items from blowing out and littering your neighborhood. The lid will also keep rain out so your recyclables stay dry. If you’re using a container without a lid for yard waste, you can put some drainage holes in the bottom.
4. Give it some space. Try not to set your carts too close to cars, mailboxes, or utility lines.
5. Know the limits – bags or carts should weigh less than 50 pounds each.
6. Flatten and/or cut cardboard so it fits loosely inside your cart.
7. Don’t put recyclables in plastic bags. The bags get tangled in machinery and create safety concerns at the recycling processing center.

Take a minute to assess what you have set out for your trash and recycling curbside setup.  If you have questions about your service, contact your provider.  We all play a part in keeping our neighborhoods clean!

Not all materials are recyclable in a curbside collection program. Some recyclables can even end up in the trash due to contamination or the lack of feasible markets in which the materials are sold. The best way to ensure optimum sustainability and efficiency is for customers to know the limitations of their curbside program. With this in mind, we would like to remind you to “recycle right” and follow five simple rules to ensure everything you put in the recycling bin is recycled.

1. No plastic bags! Why? They get caught in the sorting machinery and shut down processing centers. It’s a big enough problem that some recyclers now prohibit sorters from opening bags, which often means that an entire bag of recyclables can end up going in the trash. The correct place for plastic bags is the drop-off centers outside most large-chain retail and grocery stores.
2. Don’t recycle anything smaller than your hand. Just like plastic bags, items like shredded paper, straws, bottle caps, plastic cutlery, paper clips, hangers, cords, and thousands of other small items cause processing machinery to jam, halting the recycling process and increasing costs. Stick closely to the recycling guidelines, which focus on paper, rigid plastic containers, and metal food and beverage containers. Remember: Recyclables should be CLEAN, LOOSE, AND DRY. Be mindful about throwing only these known commodities into the recycling bin. Better yet, find a reusable alternative and challenge yourself to have no recycling at all!
3. No Multi-material Items. Even simple items made from more than one base material should go in the trash, such as bubble wrap envelopes, laminated paper, and plastic-coated coffee cups can’t be separated in the recycling process and are considered trash.  
4. Avoid Wishful Recycling! Wishful recycling or “wishcycling” is when a resident places an item in the curbside recycling bin without knowing if it is recyclable but hopes that it is. Common wishcycling includes dirty diapers, plastic wrap, greasy pizza boxes, wax-coated boxes, pots and pans, ink cartridges, styrofoam, and broken eyeglasses.
5. Educate Yourself. Batteries, electronics, paint cans, toys, clothes, and wood cannot be recycled in our curbside recycling program. There are alternative drop-off centers or programs where these items can be recycled. Visit our website for more tips and updated information: What goes where? 

Stay calm about recycling! Search our Waste Wizard and learn how & where to dispose of everyday items instead.

Curious about what people most often search for on our Waste Wizard? Our top five items are scrap metal, furniture, mattresses, microwaves, and televisions! See for yourself what to do with these items and more. Click here