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While The Washburn Fire Burns, Crews Cart Away Wastes From Fire Camp

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By NPT Staff - July 18th, 2022

Recycling stations set up in fire camps help to greatly reduce the waste generated by firefighters/U.S. Forest Service

At the end of their very long days on the fire lines battling the Washburn Fire at Yosemite National Park, firefighters retreat to the fire camp where they can eat, sometimes shower, and rest for the next day. Understandably, with nearly 1,500 firefighters at work, these camps can generate a great deal of waste. And that's where a recycling program launched by the U.S. Forest Service in 2020 is making a big impact.

"In only three days of the Washburn Fire, 3,489 individual water bottles, 2,650 pounds of cardboard, 600 pounds of food donated, and 415 pounds of cooking oil was (sic) donated to the community or recycled through this program," the Forest Service notes.

According to the agency, their Project Green recycling programs can reduce the amount of real waste that needs to be carted off to landfills. "Effective recycling services reduce the need for dumpsters and servicing by 50 percent to 80 percent, further reducing costs to the incident," reports the Forest Service, which notes that "reducing daily service for four dumpsters on a single incident could save up to $18,000 per week."

The agency also notes that in 2020 "on-site recycling reduced landfill waste by 30–40 percent. This equates to thousands of pounds of recycling."

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