Going blue and green in South Lake Tahoe

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The rollout of the new three-cart trash system is well underway in South Lake Tahoe, with the carts now making their way into the El Dorado county portion of the South Shore. As with anything new, things have been confusing for some, drawing numerous complaints from others, with most ready to try out the new way of disposing of garbage, green waste, and recyclables.

South Tahoe Refuse (STR) was told to expect exactly what they are experiencing, with hundreds of phone calls to customer service daily, some being angry, others not sure of what to do. Literature distribution to customers has been plentiful over the last few months, as have public meetings and presentations at the City Council and the Board of Supervisors.

"We designed the new collection program to be compliant with new California state law regarding separation of materials, but we’re hopeful it also will allow us to increase diversion and send cleaner material for recycling and composting," said Catherine Howells, environmental compliance manager for

South Tahoe Refuse & Recycling. "In addition, reducing the amount of containers that our collection department co-workers have to lift every day is expected to greatly improve worker safety."

Cart trash systems are in place around the globe, with other mountain communities successfully using them, including those in "bear country" including Incline Village, Truckee, and Mammoth Lakes.

Customers received blue carts (for recyclables), green carts (for yard/green waste), and black carts. There is a lot to learn and the service guide is full of the information needed.

"Guidelines for what should (and should not) go in each cart are on the lid and also available in the service guide that was delivered with the carts," said Howells.

Blue Carts

Being responsible environment-friendly consumers isn't new to those living in South Lake Tahoe from the single-use plastic bag ban to a ban on plastic water bottles.

South Tahoe Refuse has had a recycling buy-back center for years that has collected items residents can turn in for money. That will not be changing with the new blue carts recently delivered to residents for recyclable items. People will not get paid for the items collected in the blue carts, but an increase in recyclable items that won't end up in the landfill is expected.

Contents from the blue-lid recycling carts will be taken to STR where they will be sorted by material type and sent to market. Some plastic markets are no longer available, but there continues to be strong markets for plastic #1, #2, and #5 in addition to aluminum, metal, cardboard, paper, and glass. Recycling that material saves landfill space and conserves natural resources.

Items must be clean and dry when they go into the blue carts so they can go to the recycling markets. Food and liquid can contaminate the rest of the items in the cart and render them useless in the market. Plus, items placed into the blue carts that are clean and dry will not attract wildlife.

Green Carts

When organic material, including yard waste, decomposes in the landfill it creates methane, a greenhouse gas-causing super pollutant. Diverting organic material from the landfill is the primary goal of California’s SB 1383 and using the yard waste cart is a simple way to reduce air pollution. The material from the green-lid yard waste carts will be sent to either Bently Ranch or Full Circle Compost and composted into soil.

Many residents have expressed concern with the large amount of pine needles collected each spring, but STR has plans in place. Residents received a 95-gallon green lid cart(s) that will be collected every other week. Should a customer have more than that, an additional 32-gallon container can be left out (without plastic bags) as well as a paper yard waste bag during green-lid collection days. Thirty pounds max per bag or container.

Only items from the yard - pine needles, pine cones, twigs, and dead foliage can go in the green lid carts. Dog waste, plastic, paper, and other trash do not go inside as they will not be able to be sent for composting.

Residents are always welcome to bring unlimited amounts of yard waste to the STR Resource Recovery Facility all year long. They will not accept the waste in plastic bags. STR will also schedule special Spring and Fall pickup dates.

Black carts

The black carts are used for all other garbage. Food scraps can also be diverted and placed in a pail and dropped off during the week at STR. Plastic #3, #4, #6, #7, plastic packaging, garbage bags, styrofoam, painted or treated wood, and receipt paper go inside as they aren't recyclable.

The cart lids should have been delivered without the locking pin, but if they were it needs to be removed. The lids are wildlife-resistant if the pin is removed.

Enforcement

"STR recognizes this is a big change for our community and the focus for the time being is on education about what goes where and how to adapt to the new program," said Howells. We have “Oops” notices that we may leave on the cart if items are in the wrong place, and we’ll reach out to customers directly to let them know the guidelines. The hope is to get everyone educated on the system in the first few months."

The different jurisdictions in that region require enforcement, so eventually fines will be involved, but now it's about education.

If people find they ordered the wrong size carts for their needs there will a time to exchange after November 1. STR wants to get all of the carts distributed before swapping them out. There is an online form to complete if a different size is needed - https://southtahoerefuse.com/cart-change-request/.

For information on the 3-cart system, read the service guide that came with the carts, or visit https://southtahoerefuse.com/services/residential/.