Go for Zero Waste

You might not think much about the trash in your household unless you are the one responsible for taking it out. In that case, you know how heavy it is and how fast the trash piles up. Well, in the City of Fort Lauderdale offices, we think about trash a lot. That's because we have to take out the trash for 150,000 people!

In fact, there are people who work for us who think about trash all day long every day. Actually, they think a lot about what we can do to make less of it. Why? Human beings are running out of places to put our trash. We make a lot more than we used to, say back in the pioneer days or during the Great Depression when materials were scarce and people couldn't afford to waste. In the United States, we make a lot more trash than some other countries. As a society, we like to shop, and a lot of what we eat and use comes in disposable packaging.

The great news is that there are many ways to deal with trash. We can reuse things, we can give them away for others to reuse, we can recycle them to make new things, we can compost food and plants, we can even turn our trash into energy! The key is to get the right trash into the right person's hands. That's where you and your family come in.

Meet Art

ART stands for All Recycling Together, and Art is a bright blue 65-gallon recycling cart. Art has a big belly, but he is a picky eater. Learn what and what not to feed him.

Challenge Yourself

Figure out how much trash you make in a day, and then try our Zero Waste Challenge. With a little experimenting and thinking you could eliminate almost all of it.

Watch a video on kids participating the recent changes in our recycling system.

Fun Stuff

Visit the EPA’s Recycle City! Click around to see how an entire city functions sustainably.

When helping out with chores around the house, you may have to use special cleaners or disinfectants. Learn About Chemicals Around Your House that you may have to come into contact with, how to handle them safely, and alternatives.

Visit Broward County’s Wonderful World of Waste to learn how our county is eliminating waste.

Play National Geographic Kids Recycle Roundup to test your knowledge on what is recyclable, trash, and compostable.