Bottles and Cans

BELLINGHAM,Wash. --Countless beer cans and bottles litter the streets of Bellingham. From Western Washington University to Whatcom Falls Park and everywhere in between, liquor containers are becoming a common eye sore to all residents.

The downtown area is the most common area where the cans and bottles are noticeable, said Western student Eric Wright. People drinking on the way to the bars often are the culprits of this issue.

“There needs to be more recycling containers in public areas,” Wright said. “It would help to lower the amount of cans on the street.”

There are already about one dozen can and bottle bins on downtown corners and one stationed at Boulevard Park, said Rodd Pemble, recycling manager for Sanitary Service Co. Inc., the company that handles recycling services in Bellingham. The current budget has maxed out the amount of bins that can be afforded, he said.

“The service is not free,” Pemble said. “The city has to prioritize where they provide containers and collection. More [containers] are envisioned for Fairhaven when the budget allows.”

Pemble also offered other ideas on ways to reduce the amount of waste ending up on the Bellingham Streets. Many businesses have recycling service who would likely be would not mind placing a can or bottle in there bins if asked, he said.

Also, it is not illegal to place cans and bottles in other people’s private recycling bins, since everyone pays for the service, he said. It is illegal to remove things from people’s bins, however, Pemdle said.


Northwest Recycling, in Bellingham also accepts bags of can at 45 cents per pound of cans. Now there is a great way to help clean up your community as well as make a little extra cash.

Warning: Deer Crossing

Deer in the Whatcom Falls Neighborhood have been an ongoing issue for residents of the area.  It isn’t that they don’t like to have them around, it’s that the animals are a safety hazard.

Neighborhood resident Joe Boyd said that there is an average of at least one vehicular accident a month involving a deer on Lakeway Drive or Electric Avenue. These accidents cause serious damage to cars and their occupants, and often kill the deer, he said.

What can be done to help prevent these accidents? Several residents have suggested putting up deer crossing signs along Lakeway Drive as a warning for drivers to be conscience of their surroundings.

Clark Williams, Superintendant of Traffic and Communications of the City of Bellingham Public Works said the city often receives requests to place these signs.

“We routinely get requests to install warning signs of all types,” Williams said via email, “Including deer crossing, squirrel crossing, beaver crossing, slow children at play, etc.”

The requests usually come through when residents witness a tragic accident or death of “cute animal,” Williams said.  Warning signs are intended to forewarn motorists of sudden unexpected events in isolated or specific locations, he said. 

Since the City of Bellingham has an abundant population of animals, placing crossing signs every time they were requested would be ineffective because the signs would be all over the city, he said. These incidents are not unique and happen in many different areas of Bellingham, Williams said.

Because of the constant flow of requests for warning signs to be installed all over Bellingham, the City has since adopted the position of denying these requests, Williams said.

“The fact that we have animals routinely crossing every single roadway in the City precludes the effective use of the signs in any one particular area,” Williams said.