Maple Valley resident Laura Ramon was one of the winners of the the King County Solid Waste Division’s “Recycling Superstar” contest, which people shared their ideas on how they go the extra mile to recycle items, rather than throwing them in the garbage.
Ramon collected newspapers, with the help of her dad, for her elementary school newspaper drives. Later she helped recycling get started on the University of Washington campus and has volunteered in her community to teach recycling as a King County Master Recycler Composter volunteer.
Ramon said she recycles everything she can at home and work; she has even retrieved fluorescent bulbs from a neighbor’s garbage can and took them to a household hazardous waste collection facility for proper recycling.
For their efforts, five people who submitted recycling tips during the Aug. 16 through Sept. 14 online contest won prizes including a trip to Victoria, tickets to a Seattle Sounders game.
Surveys have shown that while most King County residents do recycle, more than half of what ends up at the county’s Cedar Hills Regional Landfill can easily be recycled. Food scraps and food-soiled paper, both of which can be placed in the curbside yard waste cart for recycling, make up more than one third of residential garbage.
A panel of King County recycling experts judged the entries based on accuracy and level of recycling effort, creativity and detail. The contest is sponsored by the division’s “Recycle More. It’s Easy to Do” campaign to help reduce the amount of recyclables that end up in the landfill.
Prizes were donated by local radio station partners.
The contest prizes were:
• trip for two to Victoria, B.C., including round trip on the Victoria Clipper, hotel stay, Butchart Garden/city tour and afternoon tea at Fairmont Empress;
• lodging and spa stay in Friday Harbor;
• overnight stay for two at the Roosevelt Hotel in Seattle, including Jazz Alley tickets;
• two Seattle Sounders game tickets plus a gift certificate to Panera Bread and
• two Seattle Sounders game tickets plus a gift certificate to the Neighborhood Grills restaurant of the recipient’s choice.
