Garbage collector issues $50,000 challenge to 5 neighborhoods

Five neighborhoods south of the Lake Washington 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 Monday 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 (SPU), 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.

Monday, nine garbage trucks were lined up 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 the neighborhoods for the contest because they have poorer records in garbage reduction than other 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, they include 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 the neighborhood's residents to decide how 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