Clean Up Week will be March 6th - March 10th. For Bulky Items (see the list below) you must call at LEAST one week prior to your collection day to schedule 805-543-0875 - Discounted pick up rates for Bulky Items are provided for those item. 

Container Notes

Cleanup Week garbage may be placed in standard trash cans or tied into bundles. Standard trash containers will be emptied and left on the curb. Boxes and plastic bags will be taken away with your garbage. If you want your non-standard containers left behind, please mark or place a note on them.

Container Size

Containers or bundles of garbage must weigh 75 pounds or less and must measure four feet or less in overall length. No hazardous materials will be taken. Garbage, greenwaste, & recycling combined for 6 cans, bags, or bundles plus your waste wheelers. Excess garbage will be left on the curb.
SIX standard trash cans (31 gallons each) OR the equivalent in bags, boxes, or bundles. Each not to exceed 75 pounds and four feet in length. 

General Tip

1. Please don’t use plastic bags in the commingled recycling or greenwaste cans. Inadvertently someone will throw garbage in with the recycling and contaminate the entire load. Just dump the recycling in the can and throw the bag away.
2. Large pieces of cardboard need to be cut up or broken down so they fit in the blue recycle cart. The automated trucks can’t pick up loose cardboard. If you need a bigger blue bin call the office. There is a fee to remove extra cardboard.
3. If you forget to put your cans out by 6:00AM and we have to send a truck back to your house, there will be a trip charge for each commodity.
4. It is important to not pack the waste wheeler so tight that when turned upside down, nothing will come out.
The office number is 805-543-0875.

Bulky Items – LIMIT TWO EACH - Bulk item rates are different for each city

You must call Mission Country Disposal at least one week before your collection day to schedule. 805-543-0875

Place your Clean-Up Week garbage on the curb no later than 6:00 a.m. on your regular garbage collection day. Don’t block your waste wheelers, we still run automated trucks.
The following special prices are valid only during Clean-Up Week and must be on the curb to qualify:
• Televisions
• Water Heaters
• Couches
• Washers
• Dryers
• Small Appliances
• Chairs
• Box Springs
• Mattresses
• Refrigerators
• Overstuffed Chairs
• No auto parts
To arrange for pickup of bulky items (not free) you must first call 805-543-0875.
Bulky items will not be picked up unless you call first.

We have had some rains recently but California remains in a drought. 

According to the California drought map, Los Osos is abnormally dry. 

We need to continue to be aware of our water usage.  This time of year, we should have our irrigation turned off.  Focus should be on the indoor water use.  We have a lot of information on the water conservation page of our website.  https://www.losososcsd.org/water-conservation

Here are some easy habits to get into:

• Shut off the faucet when brushing your teeth
• Shut off the faucet when shaving
• Repair leaky toilets as soon as practical, sometimes it is only a flapper that needs replacement
• Learn how to read your water meter, the blue star is a leak indicator
• Run only full loads of dishes
• Run only full loads of clothes in the washer
• Rinse your vegetables in a bowl instead of running water from the tap
• Take short showers instead of filling the tub
• Sweep sidewalks and driveways instead of washing them down
• When washing dishes by hand fill a basin or sink with rinse water instead of letting the tap run
• Only use the garbage disposal when necessary (composting is a great alternative)
• Install faucet aerators and low-flow showerheads

Thank you for your continued conservation efforts.

What is an Illicit Discharge?

Illicit discharges are generally any discharge into a storm drain system this is not composed entirely of stormwater. The exceptions include water from firefighting activities and discharges from facilities already under a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. Illicit discharges are a problem because, unlike wastewater which flows to a wastewater treatment plant, stormwater generally flows to waterways (like the back bay) without any additional treatment. Illicit discharges often include pathogens, nutrients, surfactants, and various toxic pollutants.

If you see water running down the street and there are no firefighting or water operations activities going on in the immediate area, please report it to the LOCSD main office at 805-528-9370

CLICK HERE to see the County’s rain gauge at the Los Osos Landfill.

1.  Plastic Bags - Plastic bags and film are too thin to be processed with other plastics, and they get tangled in the machinery. This causes lengthy delays and hazards for the workers who must untangle them.
2. Food Scraps - Food gets stuck in sorting equipment and seeps into paper products, making the fibers too weak to be recycled.
3. Scrap Metal - Metal like cords, wires, and cables can wrap around machinery and either jam or damage it. Larger metal objects like pots and pans can damage optical sorting machinery.
4. Frozen Food Boxes - To protect their contents, frozen food boxes contain a layer of plastic that cannot be removed and prevents the box from breaking up during the recycling process.
5. Paper Cups - Paper coffee cups are lined with wax or plastic to seal them. This layer cannot be removed, preventing them from being processed as either paper or plastic.
6. Diapers - Disposable diapers contain both paper and plastic, and the mixed materials cannot be separated. If the diapers are used, they are also a biohazard.
7. Garden Hoses - Long, cable-like items such as garden hoses and Christmas lights easily wrap around sorting equipment. This can damage or shut down the machines and create safety hazards for sanitation workers.
8. Shredded Paper - Shredded paper is too small to sort. Pieces fall through cracks and stick to belts, preventing the paper from being recycled.
9. Foam - Foam is light, bulky, and difficult to separate from paper and food, making it too expensive and time-consuming to recycle.
10. Clothing - Clothing grows mildew easily when wet, and it’s also not possible for machines to separate clothing out from other recyclables.
11. Dishes - Dishes and other ceramics are made of materials that have different varying melting points, so they can’t be melted back into their raw materials in bulk like glass or aluminum.
12. Broken Glass - Sanitation workers can be injured by broken glass, so it’s not safe to put in with your recycling.

LOCSD is also continuing with their regularly scheduled Board, Utilities Advisory Committee, Finance Advisory Committee, Emergency Services Advisory Committee and Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee Meetings. 

Information for each meeting and how to get connected will be available on the Agenda for each meeting. Agendas can be found on the LOCSD Website (losososcsd.org) which is posted a minimum of 72 hours before the meeting time.

Our upcoming meetings are: 

• Emergency Services Advisory Committee Meeting - February 16, 2023 @ 5:30PM
• Finance Advisory Committee Meeting - February 27, 2023 @ 5:30PM
• Board of Directors Meeting Open Session - March 2, 2023 @ 6PM
• Utilities Advisory Committee Meeting - March 15, 2023 @5:30PM 
• Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee Meeting - March 21, 2023 @ 5:30PM

For more information about the upcoming meetings for LOCSD, please go to our website, or click here.