Many people in the neighborhood sent me a link today to the following article in the Seattle Times:

Out of all of CleanScapes’ waste pick-up areas in the city, Ravenna has done more since September 2010 to reduce the amount of waste — garbage, recycling and yard waste — than any other area in the city. And if we can keep it up until the end of the contest (September 2011), our area will win $50,000 to spend on the community project of our choice.

But the Ravenna neighborhood alone cannot take all the credit for this high ranking in the contest. From the above Seattle Times article:

The leader so far, said CleanScapes’ Candy Castellanos, is an area bounded by Interstate 5, Northeast 65th Street, 40th Avenue Northeast and Ravenna Avenue Northeast, also known as the Tuesday North district.

Turns out, by my calculations, that pick-up area covers some Ravenna, a little Roosevelt, and a chunk of Bryant, with a side of Wedgwood. Here’s another map, of just the Tuesday Morning North district:

CleanScapes' Tuesday Morning North waste pick-up area (map links to full city pick-up day pdf at Seattle Public Utilities)

Way to go, TEAM Tuesday Morning North!

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So, what’s the game plan? How does Tuesday Morning North keep that number one spot, and collect a large novelty check* come September 2011?

From CleanScapes’ Seattle Neighborhood Waste Reduction Rewards page:

Winning is easy: stop waste before it happens. Compost at home. Use a worm bin. Grasscycle. Use refillable water bottles and coffee mugs. Replace paper towels and napkins with cloth kitchen towels and washable napkins. Bring your own bag. Use Tupperware. Reuse. Repair. Buy in bulk. Buy local. Buy second-hand. Share. Trade. Swap. Rent. Donate or sell unwanted items. Print double-sided. Stop junk mail and phonebooks… you get the idea!

Now, I’d ask you to print out those waste reducing tips and keep a copy in every room of your house…but would you mind just writing down on some old scrap paper instead? We’d all appreciate it.

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*I have no idea if there will be an actual novelty check, but I sure hope so.