Make your spring cleaning zero waste
The past year, a lot of Boston residents have spent more time at home than usual to stop the spread of Covid-19. Now that warmer weather is upon us, many Boston residents will be spring cleaning. It’s important to keep in mind the right ways to discard the different materials in your home.
The City of Boston has resources for Boston residents to reduce, repair, and reuse the materials in our lives. The Zero Waste Boston initiative strives to take action through planning, policy, and community engagement.
Whether you are spring cleaning your entire home or just your bedroom, living room, kitchen, office, outdoor space, bathroom, and the refrigerator, check out our resources below to learn best practices on discarding your unwanted items.
Clothing and textile drop off locations
Did you know that about seven percent of solid waste is textiles? At our drop-off locations and recycling events, we take everything, including pants, coats, hats, and suits.
Download the free Trash Day App
The Trash Day App helps you view your collection schedule, search recyclable materials, textile and compost locations and more. Sign up for alerts to stay updated on changes to your service.
It is is available in Español, Kreyòl ayisyen, 简体中文, Tiếng Việt, Русский, Português, and Français.
Compost leftover food
Project Oscar compost bins give communities a place to drop off residential food scraps for composting.
Long-term Zero Waste goals
In the 2019 Zero Waste Plan, there are 30 near- and long-term strategies aim to
- reduce our consumption of natural resources
- increase the amount of materials we compost and recycle, and
- reduce the amount of waste we send to waste-to-energy facilities.
By taking these steps, we can more than triple the amount of waste we compost and recycle from about 25 percent to 80 percent.
In partnership with the Department of Public Works, we are deeply committed to making Boston a greener, more sustainable city. We’ve committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2050, and we’re preparing our neighborhoods for the impacts of climate change. Working to become a zero waste Boston is an important part of creating a healthier, more resilient Boston.
