THOUSAND OAKS : Recycling Project Urges ‘Waste Less, Pay Less’

Crush up your milk cartons and flatten your cereal boxes.

The fewer trash cans you set out on the curb, the less you’ll pay, under Thousand Oaks’ new “Super Recycler” program.

Residents in single-family homes who generate one can of trash or less a week will receive a discount of $3.50 off their monthly bill of $16.60, as part of a “waste less, pay less” campaign.

If homeowners slip and put out two or more cans, they will receive a warning, and after several lapses will be dropped from the program and be returned to the regular rate.

To sign up for the program--and receive a Super Recycler decal for your trash can--call your disposal company. Block Disposal serves the Westlake neighborhood (818-889-3504), Conejo Valley Disposal covers central Thousand Oaks (529-5871), and Newbury Disposal serves Newbury Park (495-0204).

The “Super Recycler” program is the first step of a new billing system that the City Council approved in concept in January.

The city will begin charging households for disposal on a per-can basis early next year, said Recycling Coordinator Grahame Watts.

Thousand Oaks’ recycling goal is to divert 25% of the waste-stream that now pours into landfills by 1995, and to cut the flow of trash in half by the year 2000.

“Each resident needs to realize the significance of recycling,” said Councilman Alex Fiore, a member of the Ventura County Waste Commission. “Many items commonly thrown away can be donated to a local charitable organization, given to a neighbor or be repaired.”

Fiore noted that yard trimmings make up almost 40% of the city’s waste-stream, so residents who recycle grass clippings into compost heaps can significantly cut down on their trash--and now, on their disposal bills as well.