This recycling loop starts by putting your yard trimmings in a green waste container. Clean green materials are taken to county facilities where they're processed and ground into mulch. The loop is completed when you use that mulch around your plants to return nutrients to the soil.

Give your yard waste a second chance at life - Recycle it!

What can I put in the Green Bin?

Green waste consists of leaves, grass clippings, other yard trimmings, and plant materials. No food waste, wood ash, soil, or old plant pots and hoses, please! Some types of plants are unacceptable, too. Learn more by reading our Green Waste Do's and Don'ts. Here's the short version:

Yes:

• Grass clippings (but you can also leave these on the lawn)
• Leaves
• Small branches
• Flowers
• Ivy
• Plants

No (Trash these):

• Palm fronds
• Pampas grass
• Food
• Animal waste
• Plastic bags or pots
• Dirt, rocks, or smelly socks!

Fibrous plants should not be thrown into green waste containers, since they jam the grinders at our facilities that are used to produce mulch.

Our Greenwaste Songs!

We also have Award Winning Songs that can help you figure out what can and can't go in your green waste bin. You'll need Windows Media Player or a similar program to listen to them:

Green Waste Blues.WMA
Green Waste Ragtime.WMA

What if I self-haul?

The sites listed below accept yard waste, but you'll have to pay a fee. For instance, at the South Coast Recycling & Transfer Station, a load of clean yard waste is $28 per ton. That's a lot less than trash disposal though!

If you have any questions about yard waste recycling, please contact us or call (805) 882-3624.

Where to go

• Santa Barbara Area (2)

  • *South Coast Recycling and Transfer Station — 4430 Calle Real
  • MarBorg Industries — 119 North Quarantina Street

• Goleta & UCSB Area (1)

  • *South Coast Recycling & Transfer Station — 4430 Calle Real

• Santa Ynez Valley (2)

  • *Santa Ynez Valley Recycling and Transfer Station — 4004 Foxen Canyon Road
  • Waste Management — 97 Commerce Drive

• Lompoc Valley & VAFB (2)

  • City of Lompoc Landfill (Scalehouse) — Avalon Rd (south end)
  • Vandenberg Air Force Base Landfill — Building 9505,6th Street And Utah

• Santa Maria Valley (4)

  • City of Santa Maria Landfill, aka City of Santa Maria Regional Landfill — 2065 E Main St
  • Engel and Gray, Inc. — 745 West Betteravia Road
  • Santa Maria Area Recycling Terminal (SMART) — 1940 West Betteravia Road
  • Waste Management — 1850 West Betteravia Road

• Cuyama Valley (2)

  • *New Cuyama Transfer Station — 5073 Highway 166
  • *Ventucopa Transfer Station — Highway 33