FYI for Thurston County residents:

The Fourth of July is quickly approaching and fireworks will soon fill the air. Thurston County Solid Waste would like to remind residents what to do after the smoke settles. Once you clean up the debris from your fireworks display, these materials go in the trash bin only. Please do not place them in the recycling or the organics. While some fireworks packing does indeed contain paper or cardboard, there are many other items attached that make it non-recyclable such as the shiny coatings, plastic bases or tubes, and explosive residuals. These other materials contaminate the recyclables.

Speaking of contamination, we want to remind residents to please follow the recycling rule of “when in doubt, throw it out”. When residents are uncertain about the recyclability of an item, they often place it in the recycling bin “just in case”. Unfortunately this theory adds great expense to the recycling process due to extra sorting and having to dispose of the non-recyclable items.

The only plastics allowed in recycling are diary tubs and the narrow neck bottles and jugs. Plastic bags, deli containers, clamshells, toys, Styrofoam, and of course, diapers are prohibited. Ammunition and hypodermic needles do not belong in the recycling either and pose a danger to staff that work on the sorting lines. Placing incorrect items in your residential recycling may result in your bin being tagged by the hauler or not collected.

There are plenty of resources to help you determine what can and cannot be recycled. Just go to the Thurston County Solid Waste website for the Yes/No list. This information is also on your bin label and comes as a billing insert on the back side of your annual calendar. If you don’t find the answer for a specific item, please call your hauler or Thurston County at 357-2491 and we will be happy to help.

Terri Thomas
Education and Outreach Specialist
Thurston County Solid Waste

Visit our FREE materials exchange at
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FROM AN ASTUTE READER OF THE YELM COMMUNITY BLOG!

"As you are well aware, we have had one of the driest summers on record so far, and it doesn't look to get any better. I love the sunshine and mild temperatures, but I also wish for some rain.

Having said that, I would like to ask that everyone please be very safe and aware during your July 4 celebration. I like fireworks just as much as the next person, but, we do live in a rural area where there is a tremendous amount of potential fuel for a fire, and it only takes a very small spark to start a very disastrous conflagration.

So please, keep an eye out for yourselves, your kids, and your neighbors.
Keep a garden hose handy, and for the sake of your pets, put them indoors if
possible. (I had a beautiful dog go deaf because someone decided it would be
fun to throw firecrackers at her..)," quoting these wise Yelm Community Blog reader's comments.

HAVE A FUN 4TH EVERYONE!