Question: I was wondering if you can tell me where to recycle. I live in Los Feliz and I have no idea where to take my stuff. I just moved into this new place and it’s pretty clear that the people I rent from do not recycle. Let me know if you have a chance. Thanks — Jonathan
Answer: Good thing you didn’t move here earlier, or you really may’ve had to lug your recyclables around. But lucky you — Just a couple months ago, Los Angeles apartment-dwellers finally got their own recycling service. Since April 2007, the City of Los Angeles offers free recycling services to all multifamily residences, including apartments, condos, town homes, and mobile home parks.
The trick: The service is free, but you gotta ask for it. Either the tenant or the owner of the residence has to sign up. In this scenario, I’m guessing that’ll be you, the tenant.
So: Contact the Bureau of Sanitation by calling 866.933.1101, or email SRCRD@san.lacity.org. Have your contact info — as well as your building owner, property manager, or condo association’s contact info — handy. Tell them you want blue bins.
Once you sign up, you’ll get blue recycling bins and free weekly recycling service pickup once a week.
While you wait for that service to start up — or in case your blue bin quest somehow gets derailed — I would suggest making friends with your nearest blue-binned neighbor. Ask if you might share their bin on trash day. That’s the arrangement I had with my neighbors across the street when I lived in West LA. Downside: You’ll need to store your recyclables until trash day, then hurriedly haul it out when your neighbor rolls her / his blue bin out into the street. Upside: You might make a new friend :)
If all fails, you can recycle stuff with CRV value (bottles and cans) all over the place — Just plug in your zip here, then pick one, hopefully in walking distance. Used grocery bags can be recycled at Sa-Von or Albertson’s, but really, opt for reuseable bags.
But do first try to get your blue bin, and let me know how that works out –
(Blue bins photo by Clydehouse)
There’s also http://earth911.org/ which can help you find recycling centers.
Comment by don hosek — June 3, 2007 @ 11:53 am
This is great news. In our neighborhood–lots of apartments–we have to rely on recycling centers, the idea that our garbage companies do trash sorting, and the man who comes around to collect cans and bottles. I’m calling today.
Comment by Kate — June 5, 2007 @ 7:03 am
Follow-up: I called and provided contact information for me and for the management company that handles my building. I got two calls back today from the city. The first was to find out if there was anyone in particular to contact at my management company, and the second was to say that my building had been enrolled in the program. The woman from the city said that they were always happy to hear from people who live in managed buildings, because they can sometimes get the company to sign up multiple buildings. Apparently my call wound up getting 10-12 apartment buildings enrolled in the program!
Comment by Kate — June 7, 2007 @ 2:04 pm
I usually just dump my recycling in my neighbor’s bin under cover of night. No one is the wiser
Comment by Bike Girl — October 6, 2008 @ 8:24 pm