Blog: Waste Not Blog

Earth Month Tips for Reducing Your Impact

Happy Earth Month, Knoxville!

Earth Month is a great time to assess your impact on the planet and plan for a brighter future. There are various ways to minimize your environmental footprint, including shopping local and biking to work. The City of Knoxville’s Waste and Resources Office is here to help by providing info and services that can limit your contribution to our landfill. In 2020, where did Knoxville residents' waste go? Check out the graphic below to learn more and scroll down for tips on reducing waste in your household.

Waste Profile 2020

With more than 45,700 tons of garbage landing in our landfills in 2020, we always have room to improve our “diversion rate," which is the amount of material we keep out of our landfill.

However, we can pat ourselves on the back for all the leaves and brush we set at the curb last year; our yard waste collection kept a whopping 31,738 tons of yard trimmings out of the landfill and put them to use as mulch around the city. If those leaves and brush had been landfilled, they would have created tons of potent greenhouse gases.

Recycling is also an important facet of our diversion efforts.

In 2020, we kept 7,458 tons of recyclable materials out of the landfill. These materials were sold to regional manufacturers, stimulating various businesses in the Southeast, creating jobs, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

What can you do to help?
The first way to reduce what you throw away is to limit the amount of stuff you have to begin with! Bring reusable bags to grocery stores; swap items with friends; buy second-hand or DIY fun projects with scrap materials you already have around your house.

The second is to join Knoxville's free curbside recycling program. Find out if you are eligible for the program here. If you aren't eligible but want to join the community's recycling efforts, please visit one of the City's five free drop-off locations. Before you drop off your items, please review our guidelines about what is and isn't accepted. For instance, glass is only recyclable at the five City of Knoxville Recycling Drop-off Centers, not in the curbside recycling program.

Thirdly, remember to place all of your yard waste at the curb—not in your trash cart. Yard waste in your curbside garbage cart ends up in the landfill where it produces greenhouse gas emissions as it decomposes buried without oxygen. Yard waste placed loose and in piles, not bags, at the curb, however, is collected by City personnel and repurposed into mulch. Please review our guidelines for proper yard waste set out instructions.

Earth Month will be over before you know it, but it can be the start of your environmentally conscious journey. Check back here again to see more tips on how you can contribute to a healthy and sustainable future!

Posted by ptravis On 20 April, 2021 at 12:50 PM