After a pandemic hiatus, Burbank is re-starting its popular — and free — program to help residents learn how. The “Waste Warriors” program is an in-depth course on how the waste and recycling systems work. It’s one of only a handful of similar city-run programs across the country.

Amy Hammes, the city of Burbank’s recycling specialist, calls it “a starter kit” to understanding, and ultimately reforming, waste management…otherwise known as trash and recycling. She leads the 8-class course that starts January 14 and runs through March. It’s free to Burbank residents, but only 25 people can join per cohort. If you don’t get in this time, you’re put on a waitlist for the next one, Hammes said.

“I think when you talk about waste or trash, that’s always like the icky part of society,” Hammes said. “Jurisdictions like ours have been tasked to manage it. And so it’s basically you, as the public, throw it away and it goes away from you, right? But that product doesn’t go away. It just goes somewhere else, to be ‘managed.’ And over time, you can only manage so much before you’re overwhelmed.” The course goes through the basics of “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle,” which Hammes frames as a descending list of priorities, not just take-your-pick options. And the course not only goes deeper into those basics, it goes beyond them.

To read the full story, visit https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/waste-warriors-back-to-the-rescue-burbank-re-starts-popular-program.
Author: Erin Stone, LAist
Image: City of Burbank

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