Waste Wise

WSU Waste Wise of Island County

Waste is about more than what goes to the landfill. It is about resource consumption, waste of work time, habitat loss, carbon footprint, environmental inequity, public health, pollution, and more.

WSU Waste Wise of Camano and Whidbey Islands is an education outreach program supported by staff and volunteers who share with others throughout the greater community what they learn in training. 

We teach practical waste diversion skills like composting and vermiculture, how to recycle correctly, and safe ways to handle household hazardous waste. Our programs highlight simple, effective ways to reduce and reuse so we can all live more lightly on the planet.

Waste Wise works at schools, fairs, information booths, businesses and other settings. This work is important because:

• Our global and local trash production continues to climb
• Organic waste (food and yard waste) in our landfills contributes to climate change
• Plastic recycling rates are steady at approximately 9% showing that recycling plastic does not work well
• We have no active landfill in Island County and transport out of the county is costly
• Our drinking water comes from one, sole source underground aquifer
• We live in a beautiful place and want to keep it that way!

Island County is made up of islands. Most of our drinking water comes from groundwater. To protect our drinking water, Island County closed its Coupeville landfill in 1992 and converted it to a transfer station. All solid waste is transported out-of-county – in fact, to the Roosevelt Regional Landfill in south central Washington.

On Camano and Whidbey Islands, trash is collected at five transfer points called drop-box facilities, located at Camano Hill Road, Oak Harbor, Coupeville, Freeland and Bayview. It is then trucked to a railhead on the mainland, where it is loaded aboard trains and transported to Roosevelt Regional Landfill in Southeast Washington, for disposal. This is expensive, resource intensive and carbon-intensive. The most important path to lowering our waste footprint is to consume less and re-use more.

Waste Wise is a program with Washington State University Extension, Island County and supported by Island County Solid Waste. You will find us at the WSU Extension Office in the Coupeville (staffed Monday – Friday). We are located at 406 N. Main Street and on Camano Island at the Multipurpose Building at 141 NE Camano Drive (by appointment).

For additional information, please contact us:

Sarah Bergquist, Waste Wise Program Educator and Coordinator- County Wide

• Phone: 360-639-6062
• Email: sarah.bergquist@wsu.edu
• Fax: 360-678-6680
• WSU Extension – Island County – 406 N. Main, Coupeville, WA 98239

Heather Vitiaz, Camano Island Waste Wise, Climate Stewards, and Shore Stewards Program Coordinator

• Phone: 360-639-4608 (office) 206-334-5467 (mobile)
• Email: heather.vitiaz@wsu.edu
• WSU Extension – Island County, 141 NE Camano Drive, Camano, WA (by appointment)

Waste Wise Volunteers: Visit the Waste Wise Volunteers Page for up-to-date volunteer opportunities.

Get involved!

Sustainability and Waste Wise Training Page

• Household Hazardous Waste Residents in Island County can dispose of household hazardous waste for free at county transfer facilities on Whidbey and Camano Islands. For a list of locations, hours and what is accepted […]
  December 19, 2014
• About Waste Wise Volunteers Waste Wise Volunteers come from all walks of life and share the conviction that we must care for these beautiful islands to protect our quality of life.
  February 26, 2014
• Island County Waste Curbside recycling, self-sorting, and proper disposal of household hazardous waste…
  February 26, 2014