Transfer Station / Recycle Center

How To Practice Conscious Consumption

By Kaitlynn McCumiskey

One way to have a significant impact on waste reduction is to practice conscious consumption or make the decision to consume less. While consuming less may appear to be simple, it doesn't always mean that it is easy. The average American sees thousands of ads daily from TV commercials, billboards, social media, websites, and search engine ads. To combat the pressure that we need more stuff to be healthier, happier, more attractive, more productive, and smart a conscious effort must be made to consume less stuff.

Keep the following tips in mind as you make decisions about what you consume, whether it be a small item or a larger purchase.

• Determine need versus want. 
  • Defining what we need for ourselves and our families can be a challenge and can vary greatly, but thinking before making a purchase is the first step in practicing conscious consumption.
• Make it or buy local. 
  • By making something yourself you can control the materials and packaging. You also reduce the need for additional packaging and resources to ship the product long distances. These are also benefits when buying locally made goods, which support the local economy and keeps money in your community.
• Buy used. 
  • Buying items second hand is good for your wallet, reduces the resources needed to manufacture and ship new products, and keeps waste out of the landfill. Second hand items can often be of a higher quality than newer, cheaply made items.
• Repair instead of replacing. 
  • Often by spending the time to repair something you can save money and resources. There are many resources online to learn a new skill that you can use in the future to repair items for yourself or friends and family.

When it comes to reducing waste it's best to start small. It's OK to not be perfect all the time. Do the best you can as often as possible. Small actions add up to a big impact!

Strategies to Inspire Reuse

Reuse is the practice of using an item, material, or product either in its original form, for its original purpose, or repurposing for a new use. Reuse reduces waste and reliance on landfills. It also saves energy by not having to create a new product or reprocess an existing material. Reuse keeps money and goods in local communities and can help support programs that provided assistance to community members in need. The hardest part of reuse is connecting items with the people that want or need them. Below are some strategies to help inspire reuse in your community.

1. Take advantage of online resources. Buy nothing groups and marketplace sites can help you connect with people locally. You can list your item for free or for sale, depending on the platform.
2. Start a swap. A swap is usually an informal event where everyone brings items they no longer want or need and others can take them home. Any items left at the end of the swap can be donated. Clothing and books are two materials that lend themselves well to organizing an exchange with friends, family, or neighbors.
3. Work with community groups. Community organizations such as churches, clubs, rotaries, or service groups can be a great resource for organizing a reuse program. These networks can facilitate the sharing of clothing, books, and household goods, connecting items with community members who want or need them.
4. Connect with schools, BOCES programs, or local homeschooling groups. Schools are often in need of office supplies and items that can be used for craft projects. Some programs might even take donations of old electronics or building supplies. Schools often also have students in need and may have programs available to collect clothing or hygiene items.
5. Be a role model. You can be an example to other people in your community about how items can be reused. It can be as simple as using reusable produce bags and food storage containers or as involved as refinishing a piece of furniture. By showcasing your reuse efforts, you can inspire others in your community to take action.
   

Press Release: Release of Draft Local Solid Waste Management Plan and Public Comment Period

View the full press release by clicking the link below:

Ontario County Announces Release of Draft Local Solid Waste Management Plan and Public Comment Period

Simple Ways to Cut Down Holiday Waste (and Protect Our Water!)

This week we are going to feature a guest article written by Katie Lafler for Ontario County Department of Public Works Stormwater Management Program. Stay tuned for quarterly articles that connect the dots between water quality, storm water management, waste disposal, recycling, and composting.

While many may be wishing for a Christmas buried in snow, the reality is that celebrating and hosting often leaves many of us feeling buried in mountains of excess packaging and waste. Between gift giving, holiday meals and decorating the amount of stuff in our lives really starts to pile up! Rather than stress about what to do with all this excess, most of which is destined almost immediately for a landfill, consider these options to help minimize waste and protect our environment this holiday season.

Rethink gifts: Consider experiences, homemade treats or donations to organizations important to your loved ones. Check out second hand stores and web services before buying new. Here in the Finger Lakes we have several options to experience and support the beautiful lakes around us.

Decorate Smart: Reuse what you have or use natural items to decorate your home. Consider items such as dried citrus, evergreen boughs and real trees over plastic and glitter. Synthetic decorations often do not last and end up thrown away, breaking down and leading to microplastic contamination in our waterways and environment.

Plan food wisely: Make a plan for how you are going to cook and store food. Remember! All excess fryer oils must be disposed of properly and should not be dumped down storm drains! Any food that cannot be saved as leftovers must be disposed of properly in either waste bins or compost.

Lastly, remember to be on the lookout for services and events provided by your community to help reduce waste and protect water quality. Pay attention to opportunities to recycle your real Christmas tree or retail stores that offer recycling programs for things like holiday lights. Help us protect our environment by preventing the illicit disposal of waste oils and materials by reducing excess waste and managing waste disposal properly. Most importantly, have a happy and safe holiday season!

Managing Leaves & Yard Waste

This week we are going to feature a guest article written by Katie Lafler for Ontario County Department of Public Works Stormwater Management Program. Stay tuned for quarterly articles that connect the dots between water quality, storm water management, waste disposal, recycling, and composting.

Leaves and other organic material such as grass clippings, dead plants and branches can start to pile up as we go from fall to winter here in Ontario County. As we clean up our lawns and gardens in preparation for colder weather it is important to remember the options available for properly disposing of yard waste. Organic matter such as dead leaves should not be placed in your residential garbage. Instead, consider these alternative which help reduce the amount of household waste being managed as well as improve stormwater quality.

First, remember to keep leaves out of the street and away from storm drains. Avoid blowing or raking leaves into streets or ditches which can plug storm drains and cause flooding issues. Instead, contact your local municipality to see if they offer curbside pickup or other disposal options.

You can also consider keeping leaves in place and mowing over them to mulch them into smaller pieces. This can act as a natural fertilizer for your lawn and will be broken down by microbes in your soil. Another great option is composting your leaves and yard waste. Contact your local municipality to see if they offer a composting program that accepts yard waste or consider starting your own compost pile at home. If composting at home, remember that yard waste is just one of the ingredients needed to make usable compost. Explore https://ontariocountyrecycles.org/158/Organics to learn more about backyard composting.

Properly managing leaves and other yard waste is just one of the many things we can do to help reduce our household waste while also improving stormwater quality. Remember, everything that enters our storm- sewer system ultimately ends up in our lakes and streams. Taking care to make sure that our storm-sewer system is free of leaves is an important part of protecting our local lakes.

Draft Local Solid Waste Management Plan Public Presentation & Comment Period

Ontario County is updating their Local Solid Waste Management Plan (LSWMP). Ontario County is recognized by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) as a Solid Waste Planning Unit. A Solid Waste Planning Unit drafts, adopts and implements a LSWMP. Members of the Solid Waste Planning Unit are the municipalities within Ontario County. The current LSWMP was approved by NYSDEC and adopted in 2014. The current plan has a 10-year term and established 16 implementation goals, which are both quantitative and qualitative in nature. The County is currently within a requested 2-year extension period as allowed by regulation. 

A public presentation of the Draft LSWMP and opportunity for comment will take place during the Ontario County Board of Supervisors Meeting on Thursday, October 23, 2025, at 6:30pm, 74 Ontario Street, Canandaigua, NY 14424.

Ontario County residents, businesses and institutions generate significant volumes of solid waste each day. Determining how to manage this material, both now and in the future, necessitates a coordinated plan. In 2029, the County will cease operation of its municipal landfill, following a formal policy decision made by the Ontario County Board of Supervisors in 2024. This pivotal transition underscores the urgency of implementing sustainable, locally relevant strategies for waste reduction, reuse, recycling, and responsible disposal.

More information can be found at: https://bandl.mysocialpinpoint.com/ontario-county-lswmp

Local Solid Waste Management Plan- we want to hear from you!

Ontario County is developing a Local Solid Waste Plan which will provide its constituents with a comprehensive and integrated program for managing solid waste in an economically sound and environmentally safe manner.

The residents, businesses, and institutions that reside within the County produce large volumes of solid waste every day. The question about what to do with this waste, now and in the future, creates the need for a plan such as this one.

The purpose of this Local Solid Waste Management Plan is to:

1. Serve as a countywide framework for the coordination of solid waste management
2. Establish countywide solid waste goals and objectives, including an overall waste reduction goal and a plan to monitor progress toward the goals
3. Satisfy state law requiring the development of a waste reduction plan for the County

This LSWMP provides Ontario County with policy and program direction for the next decade. This LSWMP also recognizes that local municipalities, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), private waste haulers, and private facility owners all play important roles in the current and future management of solid waste and recycling within

As development of the LSWMP continues, there will be many opportunities for public input through public events and online polls.

To provide your feedback via a short survey and general comments during the planning process, please click on the link below.

Residential Solid Waste Survey Link

Composite Packaging

Composite packaging is packaging that is made up of multiple materials layered together. It can be a combination of paper, plastic, metals, and/or wax. It can create durable, lightweight packaging but it presents a lot of challenges when it comes to recycling. Once these materials are layered together it is difficult to separate them into single materials again so that they can be recycled into new products.

Some examples of composite materials are chip bags, candy wrappers, plastic or wax coated paper (ex. paper plates), coffee bags, broth or non-dairy milk cartons, and some types of padded envelopes. Because these types of packaging are a combination of materials, they are not accepted for recycling. If you place these materials in your recycling bin you risk contaminating other recyclable materials and making them unusable. Sometimes composite materials may have a recycling symbol on them, but not all items with a recycling symbol on them are accepted here in Ontario County. For more information on accepted materials and recycling tips, click here.

You can identify a composite material by checking for multiple layers of materials. A shiny metal layer on the inside is often an indicator of a composite material. Have a question about if a product can be recycled or not? Email us at Recycle@OntarioCountyNY.gov

May 29, 2025

Results of 2025 Waste Characterization Study

Posted to Are you a Sorta? on May 29, 2025 at 03:18 PM by Kaitlynn McCumiskey

As part of the Department of Sustainability & Solid Waste Management's continuing efforts a 2025 Waste Characterization Study (WCS) was performed. The 2025 WCS serves as an update to a similar study performed in 2022, analyzing Ontario County generated waste disposed of at the landfill. The 2025 WCS included an add-on task of analyzing recycling samples at the Ontario County Materials Recycling Facility. The following slides are a summary of the results. Click here to view the full Waste Characterization Study report.

One of things that stands out from the report is that almost 50% of the waste being sent to the landfill by Ontario County residents are materials that could be composted or recycled. Together we can help divert that material from landfill disposal.

Pet Waste

We have lots of systems and tools in place for managing the waste we create, but what about our pets? Managing the fecal matter from our domestic pets can often present challenges, but is important to consider the options available to us that help protect both our own health, and the health of our environment.

Dog and cat waste is full of harmful bacteria, pathogens and parasites that, if not disposed of properly, has the potential to pollute our waterways. It is always important to clean up after your pet whether at home or in your community. When on a walk be sure to collect pet waste in a bag and dispose of it in a trash can or take it home with you to be disposed of with your household garbage. Consider biodegradable pet waste bags, or recycling and reusing small plastic bags brought from your home such as small food bags or packaging material. When at home consider continuing to bag and dispose of waste or flush (just the waste!) down the toilet.

And we can't forget about our cats! It is important to make sure that cat litter is disposed of properly in your household garbage. Cat litter should never be flushed down the toilet (the litter clogs septic and sewer systems!) or disposed of outside. When selecting a litter for your feline friend consider sustainable, renewable sources such as those made from wood, paper, wheat or nuts.

Properly managing the waste from our pets in a sustainable manner allows us to not only be good pet owners, but good stewards of our environment as well. Reducing the amount of waste present in our watersheds ultimately reduces the amount of excess nutrients and bacteria in our waterways and leads to overall improved water quality! Pet waste bags and containers are available for free at the Department of Public Works office at 2962 County Road 48 and be sure to check out the display and pick up your pet waste bags at Happy Tails Animal Shelter, 2976 County Road 48!

Why is it important to reduce the amount of textile waste?

Looking for what to do with your unwanted clothing, shoes, and other textiles?  Don't trash them! 

Why is it important to reduce the amount of textile waste?

98% of textiles can be reused or recycled. Even ripped, stained, or unwearable textiles that are unsuitable for resale at second hand stores can be repaired or recycled! Visit the Textile Waste Reduction and Recovery Guidance website by Recycle Right NY to learn more about what is and isn't a textile, how to prepare textiles for donation, and best practices.

84% of textile waste is sent to landfills at a cost of $3.7 billion. Did you know, textiles increased in the municipal solid waste stream by a staggering 80% between 2000 and 2018? That is more than double the growth of any other major waste category. During the same time, textile diversion rates remained stagnant at 16%.? - Resource Recycling Systems analysis of US EPA data.

Want to find out where to donate textiles locally? Click here to visit the Ontario County Recycles website for more information.