You Can Make a Difference!

By reducing, reusing, recycling, and buying recycled-content products, every Californian can make a vital contribution to the fragile environment and help protect public health and safety at the same time. Follow the links below to learn more and find outhow you can help!

Find Your Nearest Recycling Center

• At the "Earth 911" Web site, enter your ZIP code to find local recycling centers for a variety of materials, including household hazardous waste.
• At bottlesandcans.com, enter your ZIP code to find local recycling centers that redeem empty California Refund Value beverage containers for cash.

Waste Prevention at Home
Links to information on how you can reduce waste at home, including junk mail and yard waste.

Electronic Waste
Discarded electronic products can present environmental hazards if not properly managed. Search this directory by county and/or product type to find an organization near you that may handle anything from televisions and monitors to cell phones and CPUs. To find out more about California's new electronic waste recycling law and what it means to you, please visit eRecycle.org.

Sharps Waste Disposal
Learn how to safely dispose of your home-generated sharps waste and find resources to help sharps manufacturers and collectors implement safe and efficient collection and disposal programs.

Medication Waste Disposal
Learn where to safely dispose of your home-generated medication, see related legislation, and find reports and other resources for stakeholders.

Home Gardening
Information on composting, grasscycling, xeriscaping, mulch, and more!

Used Oil Recycling Center Locations
Search this database to find the nearest location to take your used motor oil for recycling!

The Adventures of Vermi the Worm
This interactive, animated, Web-based game helps children to understand the waste management concept called "vermicomposting." By using worms to consume food scraps, which they turn into a nutrient-rich soil amendment (compost), we can keep garbage from going to the landfill. You (and the kids) can experience the full adventure with Vermi or visit a specific area within the adventure. Check it out!

Holiday Waste
Learn about a few simple steps that can help cut the amount of holiday trash destined for the landfill this holiday season.

Landfills play a vital role in California's total integrated waste management system. We will need landfills for the foreseeable future for those wastes which cannot be reduced, reused, or recycled. And California leads the nation in its standards for state-of-the-art, environmentally safe landfills.

Beyond 2000: California's Continuing Need for Landfills
Describes how a modern sanitary landfill is permitted, constructed, regulated, and closed, and the various systems in place to protect the environment and public health.