More than half of what comes to King County’s Cedar Hills Regional Landfill as “garbage” is actually recyclable material.
To help reduce waste and conserve resources, King County’s Solid Waste Division is again offering a free, seven-week program that teaches waste prevention and recycling.
Training sessions will run from Feb. 10 through March 24 at the Kent Centennial Center, 400 W. Gowe St. in Kent. Sessions are set for Thursday evenings, from 6:30-9 p.m. Two Saturday sessions from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. will be a part of the training. Field trips featuring tours and workshops are set for Feb. 12 and March 5.
Program participants receive training on waste prevention, recycling, home composting, alternatives to household hazardous waste disposal, and solid- waste impacts on climate change.
The Master Recycler Composter program training is open to all King County residents living outside the City of Seattle. In exchange for the free training, program graduates are expected to volunteer 40 hours of outreach in their communities, focusing on recycling and waste reduction topics.
Master Recycler Composter trainees become part of a group of King County residents who work to improve environmental quality of life by sharing with communities what they have learned.
Karen May, program coordinator for the Master Recycler Composter program, said King County has trained more than 600 volunteers since the program began in 1990.
“Those volunteers have provided more than 23,000 hours of teaching others about waste prevention, recycling and composting by staffing booths at community events, farmers markets and delivering classroom presentations.” May said.
People with disabilities are encouraged to apply. The training site is wheelchair accessible and reasonable accommodations are available upon request. Participants must provide two weeks notice prior to the training if a sign language interpreter is needed.
Applications are due by Feb. 3. For more information or to obtain an application for the training, go to www.kingcounty.gov/solidwaste/mrc/index or contact May at 206-296-4353 or at karen.may@kingcounty.gov. Special accommodations should be requested by Jan. 20.
