


In 1999, Marin County started measuring the state-mandated recycling percentage of recycling by aggregating over the entire county. Now, for the county as a whole, we are over 65%, meaning that for every 100 tons of all material that might have been collected, 65 tons is recycled or not generated in the first place. However, Sausalito is not doing its share. We need to increase our recycling to make sure we don’t cause the county to suffer a heavy fine.

Compost and Recycling is picked up from the curb. This is different from your GARBAGE cans, which are collected from your backyard or wherever you keep it.

The curbside recycling occurs on the same day as your garbage pickup. Please use the Compost (green) and Recyclables (blue) toters provided by BCRS.

Hazardous materials should not be put into curbside collection containers. Check below for safe disposal methods. Toxic materials include household batteries (state law), all paint, pressurized cans, and the many other materials listed in this document. In order to protect the environment, their workers, and their trucks, Bay Cities Refuse Service will not pick these items up.

So what can you do with the bad stuff?

The following paragraphs will help you deal with hazardous waste, but if this doesn't answer your question, try the website run by the Marin County Joint Powers Authority or write to the Wizard of Waste.

iReuse is your online group marketplace to Find Stuff, Post Stuff, and Get Rid of Stuff locally. Founded in 2005, and launched initially in Marin County, California, iReuse saves you time, money, and energy by making it easy to be green.
iReuse has five goals:

  1. Save customers time, money and energy by promoting reuse as an alternative to discarding unwanted items.
  2. Develop a community-based marketplace to support the reuse of items locally.
  3. Combine multiple acquisition and removal solutions into one place.
  4. Make a valuable contribution to preserving our environment.
  5. Build a profitable company that is socially and environmentally responsible.

The county also runs a recycling site  Check it out for things you might want or want to get rid of without putting it into the landfill.

Household batteries must be treated as hazardous waste. They may be placed in the special blue plastic container found just outside the Library entrance. Many merchants who sell you battery-operated electronics also accept your old batteries. For example, Waterstreet Hardware, Best Buy, Cingular Wireless, Circuit City, Radio Shack, Home Depot, Sears, Staples, Target, and Wal-mart. ARC Battery Co., at 90 Gate 5 Road, is happy to take old car and boat batteries. ARC is open 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 pm on weekdays and 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 pm on Saturdays. They actually manufacture high quality marine and automotive batteries right there.

Take them to the Recyclery Thrift Shop, 610 4th St., San Rafael. They are open Noon to 6 Tues-Fir and 10-4 on weekends.

Put all metal and plastics in your recycling container. Please rinse them before recycling. Tin, steel, and aluminum are all recyclable. It's OK to leave labels on. No pressurized cans or scrap metal. The deposit money for containers is estimated and returned to the city.

Big pieces of cardboard can be flattened (4' x 4' max.) and bagged or weighted down so it doesn’t blow around on the street. Smaller unflattened boxes are OK.  Waxed cardboard is garbage. Uncorregated cardboard can be put into the blue toter as if it were ordinary paper.

Consider sharing catalogs and magazines with your friends or co-workers.  If you need to recycle them, place them in your blue toter for curbside pickup.  All recyclables can share a single container.

There is a clothing and shoe collection box behind Scott of Sausalito at Bridgeway and Colma. Goodwill and the Salvation Army are always interested.

Christmas trees are excellent candidates for greencycling. Please remove the stand, tinsel and other ornaments. Sorry, artificial and flocked trees are not recyclable through our greencycling process and must be dealt with as ordinary trash. Then put them out at the curb on your normal garbage day.

Your obsolete computer can be refurbished for use in schools or other non-profits, be used to teach computer repair, or be completely recycled. In any event, they should be kept out of the landfill. This is especially important for monitors and old TV sets which contain toxic lead and other heavy metals. It is illegal to put them into the garbage! Dead or defective monitors and TV sets can be taken to the Hazardous Waste Facility for disposal. Marinship Self Storage 2340 Marinship Way (behind Molly Stone's) is an e-waste depot also.  They are open most days 9:30 to 5:30.  Renew Computers in San Rafael will take almost any electronics you need to get rid of also.  

Unneeded drugs should not be flushed down the toilet.  The chemicals in drugs can adversely affect sealife in the Bay.   The Sausalito Police Department maintains a drop box for drugs at the Main Police Station.  The County of Marin maintains a list of other locations.  Click here  to access the list.

Place clean bottles and jars in a recycling container for curbside pickup.  All recyclables can share a single container.  It's OK to mix colors together.  Unfortunately, all other types of glass, such as drinking glasses, light bulbs, window glass or mirrors are not recyclable, as they contain lead and other contaminants.  Take them to the Hazardous Waste Facility.

put these into the recycle.  They can gum up the works in the sorting facility.  We're sorry, but you'll have to take them back to the grocery store.

Consider sharing newspapers and magazines with your friends or co-workers.  If you need to recycle them, place them in your blue toter for curbside pickup.  All recyclables can share a single container.  It's OK to mix colors.  Window envelopes are OK.  Remember, only clean paper! 

Needles used for injections can be infectious.  And even if they are not, they pose a hazard to the waste collectors. You can dispose of them at various locations in the county.  Click here to find a place.

Place plastics labeled Numbers 1 through 7 in your recycling container for curbside pickup.  All recyclables can share a single container.  Medicine bottles can, in theory, be recycled but because they typically contain three different types of plastic and are easily shattered into dangerous, unusable shards put them in the general waste.   If there are unused medications inside, give medicines back to your druggist or take them to the Police Station where there is a drpp box.  Put empty bottles into the your blue toter. 

Styrofoam blocks can no longer be put in the container in the City Hall/Library parking lot. You can take "peanuts" to the Ship n' Mail store at 1001 Bridgeway, (at the corner of San Carlos Avenue) or to The UPS Store at 3001 Bridgeway.

Compost or Greencycle is picked up on your normal garbage day.  You may put an unlimited amount of yard waste at the curbside. For your greencycle, you can use the green toter, large, reusable, 30-gallon paper bags available at the hardware store, or set it on a tarp. Containers and tarps will be returned. Plastic bags are not accepted, since they are difficult to empty and cannot be sent to the composting process. No rocks or soil please. If you have a lot of it, separate it into manageable portions for the waste collectors who will be loading it onto their trucks. In addition, you can put all food scraps and lumber (No nails, less than a 2x4 and definitely no pressure treated lumber (the green stuff)) into the greencycle.

Last updated: 9/11/2014 4:34:53 PM