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City of San Luis Obispo Utilities Department

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City of San Luis Obispo Utilities Department

City of San Luis Obispo Utilities Department The Utilities Department manages all water and wastewater services as well as Solid Waste & Recycling in the city of San Luis Obispo.

The City of San Luis Obispo Utilities Department is committed to providing our community the highest level of service, water quality and environmental protection through careful & effective management of our community resources.

02/20/2025

📢 Upcoming changes to Solid Waste Rates in ! We’re improving how we handle trash, recycling, and organics to make our City cleaner and greener for everyone and community members are invited to learn more about the proposed rate increases.

Informational Session
📍 Ludwick Community Center, 864 Santa Rosa St, SLO
📅 Wednesday, February 26, 2025
🕔️ Doors open at 5:00 p.m. & brief presentation at 5:30 p.m.

Some service improvements include:
🔹 Customer Assistance Program discount increase
🔹 Up to three scheduled bulky/large items for single-family residential customers
🔹 One annual cart exchange for residential customers
🔹 No cost curbside collection of whole holiday trees (Within 2 weeks after Christmas)

If residents or business representatives are unable to attend the information session, or have any questions, please contact San Luis Garbage Company at (805) 543-0875 or the City’s Utilities Department at (805) 781-7215.

For more information, please visit www.slocity.org/recycle

02/14/2025

💚💘 Happy Valentine’s Day from ’s Solid Waste & Recycling Program!

Show SLO some love this Valentine’s Day with these sustainable tips:

💐 Compost Your Flowers – Once your blooms fade, place them in your GREEN bin. Just remember to remove plastic wrap, ribbons, and foam first! ♻️✅

🍫 Choose Eco-Friendly Treats – Buy chocolates with minimal or recyclable packaging. Better yet, support local businesses and bakeries! 🍓🍫

🎁 Sustainable Gifts – Consider experiences over items—like a beach outing, a hike, or a DIY gift made with love! 💕🌍

💌 Recycle Right – Greeting cards without glitter, foil, or plastic go in the BLUE bin. Cards with non-paper elements? Those go in the trash. 🚮❌

Let’s keep our community clean and green this Valentine’s Day! Thank you for spreading love to keep SLO a beautiful place to work and live. 💚♻️

01/18/2025

✨ Resolutions aren’t just for you—they’re for our creeks and beaches too! 🌍

This year, 's Stormwater Program encourages everyone to:
✔️ Pick up litter
✔️ Pick up pet waste
✔️ Hand wash cars responsibly
✔️ Sweep driveways to prevent runoff
✔️ Report pollution when you see it on www.slocity.org/ASK

Together, we can keep prevent stormwater pollution from entering our creeks and beaches! Know where your water goes. 💙

👉️ For more information, please visit www.slocity.org/stormwater.

01/04/2025

📢 Celebrating a Year of Recycling Success in Downtown SLO! ♻️

This year, we introduced 30 new dual trash and recycling Sustainable SLO bins in Mission Plaza and nearby areas, funded by the
CalRecycle Beverage Container Recycling Grant. With your support, here’s what we achieved:

✨ Community Engagement
Through social media, newspaper ads, and outreach at Farmers’ Market, we encouraged residents and visitors to recycle right using the new bins.

✨ Program Highlights
The trash side of the new Sustainable SLO bins, manufactured by Bigbelly, hold five times the capacity of traditional trash bins, which could reduce collection trips by over 80%. They also provide fully enclosed, tamper-proof solutions that reduce windblown litter and improve recycling.

✨ The Results Are In
Within the 30 dual Sustainable SLO bins, we recovered an incredible 42,445 pounds of California Redemption Value (CRV) beverage containers through the grant program! Thanks to its success, we’ve already begun expanding the Sustainable SLO bins throughout the Downtown corridor. 🎉

Looking ahead, we’re planning to expand these bins into parks as part of our long-term sustainability goals. 🌿

Thank you for helping to make SLO cleaner and greener! Learn more at slocity.org/recycle.

12/24/2024

🎄 Learn how to dispose of your holiday tree 🎄 San Luis Garbage will recycle your holiday tree starting December 25!

Follow these simple steps to ensure proper disposal:
✅ Remove all decorations.
✅ Cut the tree into pieces 4 feet or shorter, with branches no larger than 6 inches in diameter.
✅ Place tree parts in your green organics cart.

Important Reminders:
🔹 Unwanted ornaments, tinsel, ribbon, and tree stands go in your landfill cart.
🔹 Artificial and flocked trees must be disposed of in your landfill cart or taken to the landfill.
🔹 Trees left on the curb without a cart may incur additional fees.

📞 Questions? Call San Luis Garbage at (805) 543-0875.
🌱 Holiday trees placed in the green cart are sent to the facility, where they are turned into biogas and compost used in parks and by local farmers! ♻️

12/23/2024

❄️ Save water and money this winter in ! Community members are encouraged to adopt water-saving practices to conserve water and to save some money on their utilities bills.

Here are the top five water conservation tips to promote sustainable water use during the colder months:
1️⃣ Reduce or eliminate outdoor water use
2️⃣ Install a smart irrigation controller
3️⃣ Turn toilets off at the valve before leaving town
4️⃣ Upgrade to more water-efficient toilets
5️⃣ Install efficient fixtures indoors

Just remember:
➡️ Cooler weather slows down plant growth
➡️ Residential wastewater (sewer) bills are capped based on the water you use during the months of December, January, and February
➡️ In 2022, there was an increase of running toilets while people were away for the holidays
➡️ Customers that have utilized the toilet rebate program have seen an average water savings of over 10% each month
➡️ The Utilities Department provides complimentary low-flow shower heads and faucet aerators our office located at 879 Morro Street in San Luis Obispo.

For more information, please visit slowater.org (link in bio)

12/20/2024

🎄 Celebrate a Sustainable Holiday Season in ! The City of San Luis Obispo invites you to make this holiday season your most sustainable yet! From reducing waste to recycling your holiday tree, we’ve got tips and resources to keep the festivities eco-friendly.

🎁 Holiday Waste Reduction Tips:
◾️ Refuse single-use items: Bring reusable bags, skip disposables, and opt for containers for leftovers.
◾️ Reuse gift wrap: Try paper bags, fabric, or even newspapers for a creative touch. Check out zero-waste wrapping ideas in Holiday Sort Report.
◾️ Repair before you replace: Fix items where possible and give gifts that are long-lasting and repairable. Visit for free repair guides.
◾️ Recycle right: Recycle paper bags, uncoated gift wrap, and cardboard. Remember, glossy or wax-lined paper isn’t recyclable.

🎄 Holiday Tree Recycling:
Once the holidays are over, recycle your tree in your green bin! Just remove decorations, cut it into pieces under 4 feet long, and place them in the bin. Artificial and flocked trees belong in the landfill.

🌟 Start the New Year Sustainably:
Make a simple resolution for 2025—reduce waste, improve recycling, or refuse single-use plastics. Small changes make a big impact!

📽️ Watch our quick video for year-round waste reduction tips at www.slocity.org/recycle

Thank you for helping make SLO a cleaner, greener community. Happy Holidays! 🎅♻️

12/11/2024

🏗️🌧️ Building responsibly starts here! Construction sites can be a major source of stormwater pollution, but with Best Management Practices (BMPs), we can maintain a sustainable and responsible construction site.

Here are the Top 5 Construction BMPs to reduce stormwater pollution:
1️⃣ Material Storage
2️⃣ Perimeter Controls
3️⃣ Tracking Controls
4️⃣ Dirt & Grading
5️⃣ Storm Drains

When we protect stormwater, we protect our local creeks and oceans, and we protect our community!

For more information, please visit www.slocity.org/Stormwater

12/05/2024

Did you know❓️ Healthy soil is the secret to growing our food, filtering our water, and even fighting climate change.

♻️🌱 On this and Healthy Soils Week, let's celebrate the importance of healthy soils. Recycling food waste and scraps into compost is a simple but effective way to improve soil quality and reduce waste. By giving back to the earth, we help create more sustainable and resilient ecosystems. Let's take small steps to nurture our soils and protect the environment.

For more information about recycling organics, please visit www.slocity.org/recycle.

11/28/2024

♻️ Reduce waste this holiday season! Learn tips to reduce organic waste during your upcoming holiday gatherings.

Here are some tips to reduce waste in your home:
🔸 Properly sort food scraps by composting
🔸 Use pantry ingredients
🔸 Repurpose leftovers into new dishes!

Don't have a food scrap pail? Request your free food pail from IWMA in .

For more information, please visit www.slocity.org/recycle

11/21/2024

Check out this month's Whale Rock Reservoir Report:

🔧 Our Whale Rock Reservoir team recently worked on spillway preventative maintenance. The concrete seams need to be periodically sealed to keep the water from migrating underneath the spillway and causing erosion.

🔎 Staff use a harness and rope system to safely access the spillway. During this process the staff inspect every floor sealing and remove and replace any worn sealing.

🤝 Good job to the Whale Rock team for their maintenance of the spillway and thank you to the City's Safety Manager for helping the team acquire rock-climbing equipment to use for this work.

11/15/2024

Happy America Recycles Day! 🌎 Today’s the day to join the fun and make positive changes to help Keep SLO Beautiful!

Here’s how you can take action:
🔹 Click the link in our bio to watch quick videos from the City’s Solid Waste & Recycling Program, packed with tips to reduce recycle contamination, food scrap recycling, and simple ways to cut down on waste in SLO.

🔹 Volunteer with the Outdoor Allies and become part of the SLO Beautification Team!
🔹 Volunteer with the City for our Adopt-a-Park Program at volunteer.slocity.org!
🔹 Download the AskSLO app to report illegal dumping and Keep SLO Beautiful.
🔹 Subscribe to the Utilities News to stay informed on the latest in solid waste and recycling!

Together, let’s make every day a step toward a cleaner, greener SLO!

11/08/2024

🍂 Cooler weather = less water for your landscape! 🍃 Did you know❓️ As temperatures drop, plant growth slows, reducing the need for irrigation.

💧 As the weather gets cooler, remember to turn down your irrigation!

📲 Our Water Rebate Program makes it easy to control your irrigation at the palm of your hand. We've partnered with Rachio to give residents the opportunity to upgrade their sprinkler controller to a Rachio Smart Irrigation Controller, designed to adjust with the weather automatically.

🔗 Learn more at slocity.org/waterconservation and find other ways to conserve at slowaterwiselandscaping.com.

11/07/2024

🌎 Celebrate America Recycles Day and volunteer in your community! 🌎

Sign up to be a Recycle Right volunteer at Farmers’ Market
📅 Thursday, November 14, 2024
🕠️ 5:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Help your community learn the importance of proper recycling, meet others passionate about sustainability, and have a great time giving back.

Did you know❓️ Each year on November 15, millions of Americans come together to celebrate America Recycles Day—a day dedicated to highlighting how recycling helps reduce waste, save energy, and conserve resources.

🔗 For more information, please visit volunteeer.slocity.org

10/30/2024

🎃 Want to help your community while having a smashing good time? We still need 3 volunteers to make this Friday's Pumpkin Smash a success! Sign up at volunteer.slocity.org (link in bio) 🧡

Everyone can join us for the SLO's first-ever Pumpkin Smash at Emerson Park, where you can squash your old jack-o'-lanterns!

🗓️ Friday, November 1, 2024
📍 Emerson Park, 1316 Beach Street, SLO
⏰ 3:00 – 6:00 p.m.

Bring your Halloween pumpkins to throw and smash into a large green bin, provided by San Luis Garbage. Plus, learn how pumpkins turn into valuable compost at ! 🌱 Plus, enjoy composting demonstrations, food trucks, lawn games, and so much more! Please remove any candles and decorations from your pumpkins (no painted pumpkins) to keep our compost clean!

🌎 Visit booths from , , , and to learn more about the benefits of composting and how it helps reduce climate emissions.

👉️ For more information, please visit www.slocity.org/recycle

10/11/2024

💧 As Water Professionals Appreciation Week winds down, we'd like to show our appreciation for the City's dedicated Utilities team! A huge thank you to our different programs from Water Resources, to Water Distribution, to Water Treatment, to Wastewater and Stormwater, to Solid Waste & Recycling, to Engineering & Planning, and to our billing and administrative team,

highlights industry professionals who have committed their careers to ensuring California has safe and reliable drinking water, recycled water, and treated wastewater.

10/09/2024

🍂 Next week is Fall Clean up week in !

📍 San Luis Obispo residents
📅 October 14 – 18, 2024

Be sure to schedule a discounted bulky item pickup 5 days before your pickup day! Items include furniture and mattresses. Single-family residences can also set out up to 6 extra garbage bags on trash day for no extra cost.

Call San Luis Garbage at 𝟴𝟬𝟱-𝟱𝟰𝟯-𝟬𝟴𝟳𝟱 to schedule your bulky item pickup.
Remember: Placing your items on the curb or roadway without scheduling a bulky item pickup is illegal.

Address

879 Morro Street
San Luis Obispo, CA
93401

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 4pm
Tuesday	8am - 4pm
Wednesday	8am - 4pm
Thursday	8am - 4pm

Telephone

+18057817215

Website

http://www.slowater.org/

Alerts

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Videos

🌧️ As rain approaches, don’t forget to keep those bin lids closed! Roxy the Recycling Raccoon 🦝 is here to remind you: When lids are left open, trash blows everywhere, our creeks get polluted, and no one wants a dumpster that smells like wet raccoons (right, Roxy? 😆). Don’t lose your lid, close your lid! ✅ Do your part to keep #SLOCity clean and beautiful— remember to close your lid and protect our waterways! ♻️ For more information about stormwater, please visit www.slocity/stormwater. #Stormwater #KeepSLOClean #SustainableSLO #RecycleRightSLO

💧 Water bill higher than usual? Learn about the top 3 reasons your #SLOWater bill may be high! See how much your bill could increase due to the following leaks: 🚽 A toilet leaking at half a gallon per MINUTE 🌿 An irrigation system leaking at one gallon per MINUTE 🔧An undetected service line leaking at 7.5 gallons per MINUTE For more information and to learn how to detect leaks in your home, please visit www.slocity.org/leaks #SLOCity #SLO #SanLuisObispo

🌧️ Ready for the rain? Protect our local creeks and ocean with these simple at-home Stormwater Preparedness tips! From clearing out gutters to checking your car for leaks, every action counts. Help prevent stormwater pollution ahead of the rainfall! 👉️ For more information, please visit www.slocity.org/stormwater. #RainReady #StormwaterSafety #SLOCleanWater

👻 Don’t let stormwater pollution haunt our streets! This Halloween, take 5 easy steps to keep drains clean. Watch our reel for all the “ghoulishly good” tips! 💧 Remember, anything that flows into storm drains goes directly into local creeks like San Luis Obispo Creek, and ultimately flows out to our local beaches. For more information, please visit slocity.org/stormwater #SLOCity #SLOWater #Halloween

🎃🍂 Get ready to SMASH some pumpkins at #SLOCity's first Pumpkin Smash! 🍂🎃 🗓️ Friday, November 1, 2024 📍 Emerson Park, 1316 Beach Street, SLO ⏰ 3:00 – 6:00 p.m. Bring your old Halloween pumpkins to Emerson Park where we'll be throwing and smashing pumpkins into a large green bin, provided by San Luis Garbage. Learn how pumpkins turn into valuable compost at @kompogas_slo! 🌱 Plus, enjoy composting demonstrations, food trucks, lawn games, and so much more! 🌎 Visit booths from @sloclimatecoalition, @cityfarmslo, @onecoolearth, and @recycle_slocounty to learn more about the benefits of composting and how it helps reduce climate emissions. Please remove any candles and decorations from your pumpkins (no painted pumpkins) to keep our compost clean! We need volunteers to make this event a smashing success! Sign up at volunteer.slocity.org (link in bio) 🧡 For more information, please visit www.slocity.org/recycle #PumpkinSmashSLO #RecycleRightSLO #SustainableSLO #SLO #SLOCounty #SanLuisObispo

🌿♻️ Use your green bin like a pro! Get tips and tricks to help you start a food scrap recycling program at home or at work. ✅ Don't have a container to collect your food scraps? Not to worry. Any container will work but you can also request one from your garbage company. 🔗 For more information and to read our October Solid Waste & Recycling Newsletter, please visit slocity.org/recycle (link bio) #SLOCity #SLO #SanLuisObispo #CompostingisCool #RecycleRight

🎉 Exciting News! 🎉 The City of San Luis Obispo's Solid Waste & Recycling Program has received the Outstanding Practices in Venue/Event Resource Recovery Award from the California Resource Recovery Association! 🏆🌍 🏅 This award highlights the City's continued commitment to sustainability and our efforts to support event organizers and venues in complying with state laws, local ordinances, and waste reduction strategies. We extend our gratitude to our local partners and City Council for helping us work toward our community wide goal of zero waste by 2035! ♻️ #SLOCity #RecycleRightSLO #SustainableSLO @crra_endingwaste

Let’s talk trash! 🗑️ Welcome to “Trash Talk,” an introduction to waste management in SLO! 🔄 Join the City of SLO's Solid Waste and Recycling team as they unpack the principles of recycling, reuse, and regeneration. By correctly sorting our trash, recycling, and organic materials, we can divert materials from going to the landfill. Let's close the loop on waste and embrace the circular economy mindset, where discarded items can have the potential for a new life. 🌱♻️ For more information, please visit www.slocity.org/recycle #SLOCity #SustainableSLO #SanLuisObispo #RecycleRightSLO

🙌 This weekend, come pickup up a FREE load of organic compost! The compost is free for #SLOCity residents and is made from the food scraps and yard trimmings you put in your green cart. 📍 HZI Kompogas Plant, 4300 Santa Fe Rd, SLO 📅 Saturday, September 7, 2024 🕙️ 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Upon arrival, check in with one of their volunteers in yellow safety vests. If you are coming with a pickup or trailer a tarp is required to cover and secure the compost. For more details on how we're leading by example to reduce, reuse, recycle, and compost to make San Luis Obispo greener, cleaner, and more resilient, visit www.slocity.org/recycle. @recycle_slocounty #SLO #SLOCounty #recyclerightslo #sustainableslo

🌿 Very mindful, very demure 🌿 Recycling isn't just a habit—it's a lifestyle. ♻️ Let’s all take a moment to be mindful about where our waste goes. Being gentle with the Earth means sorting your recyclables properly, reducing waste, and making sustainable choices every day. 🌎✨ @sloIWMA #RecycleRightSLO #SustainableSLO #SLOCity #ZeroWasteJourney #VeryMindful #VeryDemure

Check out our Monthly Reservoir Level update! 🎚️ As of August 1, 2024: 💧 Salinas Reservoir (Santa Margarita Lake) is at 97% of capacity 💧 Whale Rock Reservoir is at 97% of capacity 💧 Nacimiento Reservoir is at 71% of capacity For more information, please visit Utilities' Water Sources page (link in bio). #SLOWater #SLOCity #SLO