Philadelphia Streets Department

Now that you've hauled out the holly and looted the gifts from Santa, it's time to figure out how you're handling those dead Christmas Trees - in an environmentally friendly fashion, of course. The Streets Department has announced the 2012 Christmas Tree Recycling Program is running Tuesday, January 3 (aka today) - Saturday, January 14th. There is NO curbside collection, so here's the Sanitation Convenience Centers where to take your trees:

Good news for your recycling needs: The Philadelphia Streets Department & Mayor Michael Nutter announced you can now put carton containers (for milk, juice, soup, soy milk, broth, wine, etc) along with your single-stream recycling! Philadelphia Carton Recycling Rules The new “carton”...

Have some hazardous waste lying around or old tires you need to dispose of? The Streets Department is hosting a few upcoming events:

After I recently returned on a 2+ week journey to Australia (more on that later...), I was walking over the Whole Foods... and couldn't help but notice how beautiful our trashcans were in Philly. Say whattt? I'm not crazy. As a part of the Street Department's UnLitter Us movement, Litter Critter BigBelly trash compactors were designed and painted by artists & students as a part of Mural Arts’ Big Picture Program in part to celebrate Earth Month. The decorated BigBellies were painted to (Click through for the story and more pretty pictures!)

I must admit, I do love the lilac rain boots I purchased while sick of wet jeans and shoes being drenched in the rain. However, what if a street soaked up water like a sponge instead? The 800 block of Percy St between Catherine & Christian became Philadelphia’s first porous Street to do just that! Made of permeable materials including porous asphalt and a layer of stones underneath, the street allows water to soak through the surface and eliminates storm-water runoff. This wasn’t just constructed to decrease rain boot sales - Philadelphia has a combined sewer system that includes

Mayor Nutter Announced the 4th Annual Philly Spring Cleanup at Kickoff Event in North Philly yesterday! There's about 1 month until residents can “Keep Up the Sweep Up.” The Spring Cleanup will be on Saturday, April 2 (rain date: Sat, April 9). and has has been designated as a Great American Cleanup National Kickoff Event by Keep America Beautiful. Want to get involved? Visit www.PhillySpringCleanup.com to volunteer or submit a project. Deadline is 3/18 for project submissions. Last year's cleanup in 2010 accomplished:

Need to get rid of some household Hazardous Waste? Drop it off at the final Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) collection for 2010 is this Saturday, November 6th from 9 AM -3 PM at the Street Department’s Northeast Sanitation Facility at Delaware Avenue (between Castor Avenue and Lewis Street, near I-95's Allegheny Exit). Bring HHWs to recycle or dispose including:

One of the most popular questions we are asked is "Can I recycle this?" Now that we've gone over what you can recycle for curbside efforts in Philadelphia - plastics and beyond - here's a list of what you can't recycle:

Good news for Philadelphia! You no longer have to worry about asking me what you can & can't recycle checking those pesky numbers on your plastics containers - they're ALL recyclable (which just started August 1st). Here's what you can recycle: