Waste prevention season kicks into high gear

By Daniel Hiestand

Lane County Waste Reduction Outreach Coordinator

As the holiday season kicks into gear, Waste Wise Lane County—a part of the Lane County Waste Management Division—wants to help you prioritize waste prevention during a waste-prone time of year through two upcoming campaigns.

Simplify the Holidays

Starting Thanksgiving Day, Lane County residents are encouraged to join the county’s annual “Simplify the Holidays” campaign.

The campaign encourages residents and businesses to reimagine how they view and participate in the holiday season to inspire joy while curbing waste. It also includes a holiday leftovers recipe contest.

Starting on Thanksgiving, recipes can be submitted at wastewiselane.org/holiday. Those who share recipes will be automatically entered into a drawing for some great prizes, with contest winners announced in early January. Follow us on Facebook at Instagram @WasteWiseLaneCounty.

Electronics Recycling Competition

Do you have unused, unwanted, or obsolete laptops, cell phones, cords, cables, monitors, keyboards, speakers, tablets, game consoles, remotes, or AV equipment hanging about the house, and don’t know what to do with them?

Consider donating them to the Electronics Recycling Competition (Jan. 6-April 24, 2026), a joint effort between Lane County schools, NextStep Recycling, and Waste Wise Lane County.

Lane County schools that recycle the most “e-waste” will win grants of up to $500 from Lane County Waste Management to support school sustainability, a NextStep Reuse Store computer gift certificate, and a special recognition award.

During the 2025 competition, a record 48 schools collected 41,491 lbs. of e-waste. For the 2026 competition, we hope to break the record again. E-waste is the fastest-growing waste stream, so keeping it out of the waste stream is a big deal!

If you are a student, parent, teacher, administrator, or former school alumnus who wants to help your school gain waste prevention recognition, please tell your school’s principal about the competition. Schools must register for the competition at wastewiselane.org/ERC by Dec. 12, 2025, to participate. Registration will open in mid-November.

Take time to check in on your friends, neighbors

Finally, I hope all our readers are hanging in there during these chaotic and painful times.

As we head into the holiday season (and as of this writing), basic services—such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and Lane County’s Low-Income Household Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)—will be unavailable to many folks who desperately need them.

Annually, the LIHEAP program serves over 7,000 limited-income county households with utility bill assistance, while SNAP services nearly 75,000 Lane County neighbors.

Are you able to help and want to know how? A few ideas for you.

• Please check in on your friends and neighbors during these times. ALSO: If you need help, don’t be afraid to ask!
• Donate to Food for Lane County at foodforlanecounty.org/ways-to-give/donate/donate-funds
• Need to find food? Visit foodforlanecounty.org/food/free-food-finder