Pitch for a greener holiday season

Mariners team with King County to raise awareness about reducing holiday waste

Decking the halls doesn’t have to add up to more waste this holiday season. This year, King County is teaming with the Seattle Mariners to educate residents about how to create less waste and more memories by pitching….fruitcake.

Thursday, Dec. 15, at Safeco Field, retired Mariners’ pitcher Bill Krueger, University of Washington softball player Kelli Suguro, kids from Chaffey Baseball Inner-City and King County EcoConsumer Tom Watson will demonstrate how easy it is to recycle your holiday food scraps by pitching fruitcakes, dinner rolls and potatoes into a curbside yard waste cart.

A speed gun will show the exact speed of the hurled fruitcake. Watson will also highlight tips for less wasteful gift-giving, decorating and entertaining.

“Americans generate 25 percent more household waste each year between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, including three times as much food waste as other times of the year,” said Watson, who manages King County’s Green Holidays campaign.

In addition to recycling holiday food waste, another great way to reduce your holiday footprint is to give an “experience gift” instead of stuff. Experience gifts include tickets to sports events, illustrated by the Safeco Field location for this educational event.

Safeco Field is also an apt location to promote Green Holidays because it’s one of the greenest sports stadiums in the nation and has pioneered the collection of food waste at stadiums.

“We’re excited to be part of this effort,” said Scott Jenkins, Vice President of Ballpark Operations for the Seattle Mariners. “We have seen how cost-efficient it is to go green, and how popular it is with the public.  In just five years, Safeco Field’s recycling rate has gone from 12 percent to more than 80 percent.”
To help consumers cut down and green up this holiday season, King County’s Green Holidays program offers many tips for consumers including:

• Give experiences instead of stuff. This year, King County’s Green Holidays is offering a drawing with a chance to win an experience gift from 10 local businesses and organizations who have donated experience gift prizes, including event tickets, gift certificates for restaurant meals and more.
• Use eco-friendly lights. Energy-efficient LED light strands use 90 percent less energy than traditional lights and come in lots of different colors and shapes.
• For holiday meals and parties, use as many locally-grown and organic foods as possible. Farmers markets are a great source for foods, holiday greens and flowers, and some are open through December.
• Recycle your food scraps. Holiday meals are filled with great food but the scraps usually end up in the trash. Your food scraps and food-soiled paper can be recycled in your yard waste cart. Instead of going to the landfill, it gets turned into nutrient-rich compost.
• Consider a living tree. These potted Christmas trees, available at many nurseries, are usually smaller than cut trees. They should only be kept in the house for about a week, so they don't start sprouting new growth. You can keep the tree outside, haul it in to enjoy it at Christmastime for several years, and then eventually plant it in the yard or give it away.

For a full list of ideas and tips for greener holiday celebrations, visit the King County Green Holidays website at www.KCgreenholidays.com.

Related information

Green Holidays

King County Solid Waste