01.23.2024

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Today’s Forecast

♻️ Meet the Seattle mom focused on sustainable recycling

a woman sits on a porch next to a white box

Ridwell makes recycling so easy that you don’t even have to take your bin to the curb — they’ll pick it up at your front door. | Photo provided by Ridwell

Meet Jenny Weis, a lifelong recycler and mother of two boys, residing in northwest Seattle. Infusing the three R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle) into her daily life, Jenny shares her favorite tip for families looking to establish simple, sustainable routines in 2024.

Jenny and her partner have long prioritized minimizing plastic in their daily lives — opting for bulk purchases and reusing containers, especially for pantry and cleaning essentials. A well-prepared “family bag” is always on hand, stocked with reusable water bottles, to-go coffee mugs, collapsible food containers, and compostable bags for collecting recyclables on the go. Despite her efforts to reduce plastic, Jenny recognizes that her kids need to eat, and there are only so many hours in the day.

So, Jenny was excited to discover Ridwell, a Seattle-based recycling start-up that started as a father-son project when CEO, Ryan Metzger, and his son, Owen, tried to find a way to recycle their batteries and other challenging items.

Today, Ridwell plays a vital role in Jenny’s family routine, providing doorstep pickup for items like plastic film and multi-layer plastics (chip bags, snack wrappers) that are not accepted by regular curbside programs. Beyond plastics, Ridwell collects batteries, light bulbs, clothes, and more, partnering with 200+ local and regional businesses to ensure responsible reuse or recycling of these items. One way Ridwell keeps plastic out of landfills is through its partnership with HydroBlox — a company that repurposes multi-layer plastic into construction materials.

a woman puts a bag in a white bin — After Ridwell picks up your plastic film, 95.3% of it gets diverted from landfills.
|
Photo provided by Ridwell

With Ridwell, Jenny knows her small actions are making a difference and encourages the community to embrace this solution to send less waste to landfills.

For an effortless way to be more sustainable in 2024, join 30,000+ members in Seattle, who are making the planet cleaner, one bin at a time. Seattleites can benefit for as little as $14 a month, significantly reducing household waste. Pro tip: Join Ridwell this January and get your first month for free.

Start your sustainable journey

Asked

Which items would you like Ridwell to recycle for you?

A. Light bulbs
B. Wine corks
C. Plastic film and snack wrappers
D. Other

We're curious

Events

Tuesday, Jan. 23

Computer Numerical Control Basics Class | Tuesday, Jan. 23 | 5-7:30 p.m. | North End Makerspace, 12317 15th Ave. NE, Seattle | $25-$50 | Learn how to use software and CNC routers to make wood carvings.
Science & a Movie: “Good Night Oppy” | Tuesday, Jan. 23 | 6:10-9 p.m. | Pacific Science Center, 200 Second Ave. N., Seattle | $5-$10 | Get nerdy with a documentary about a Mars rover that stayed functional a lot longer than expected — local space scientists will do a Q+A after.

Wednesday, Jan. 24

BurlesKARAOKE | Wednesday, Jan. 24 | 7 p.m. | Queer Bar, 1518 11th Ave., Seattle | $15-$200 | Sing the night away with your own sultry back-up dancers.

Thursday, Jan. 25

Robert Burns Dinner | Thursday, Jan. 25 | 7-10 p.m. | Hotel Sorrento, 900 Madison St., Seattle | $125 | This has everything a dinner honoring the great Scottish poet would need — haggis, bag pipes, and lots of scotch.
“House of Hearts” | Thursday, Jan. 25-Sunday, March 3 | Times vary | Can Can Culinary Cabaret, 95 Pine St., Seattle | $69-$105 | During this cabaret performance, things get a little saucy at the Broken Hearts Ball when a princess falls in love with the town fool.

Friday, Jan. 26

Botanical Printing Workshop | Friday, Jan. 26 | 6-8:45 p.m. | Blendily Seattle, 2206 NW Market St., Seattle | $100 | Use natural dyes to design your own cotton bandana while you learn a little about the history of the art form.
Trail Bingo and Wine Tasting | Friday, Jan. 26 | 7:30-9 p.m. | Glacier View Cellars, 19255 Woodinville Snohomish Rd., Seattle | $25 | Mix up two of our favorite things here in the PNW — hiking and wine — with themed bingo games and glasses of that good stuff.

Events calendar here

Click here to have your event featured.

News Notes

Real Estate

The house — and garage — where Jeff Bezos famously started Amazon is back on the market. The West Bellevue home listed for $2.28 million features a fully fenced yard, a hot tub, three bedrooms, andtwo bathrooms. The house last sold for $1.53 million in 2019. (Downtown Bellevue Network)

Coming Soon

A new Five Guys is on its way to First Hill. This will be the fast casual burger chain’s fourth Seattle location when it opens on the ground floor of the Sentral First Hill apartments at 1001 Minor Ave. No construction timeline or opening date has been revealed yet. (Capitol Hill Seattle)

Seasonal

Seattle Parks and Rec is looking for local food and non-food concession stand owners who would be interested in setting up shop at various city parks this summer. Proposals can be submitted on the city’s website until Feb. 6.

Ranked

Been getting good use of your interview shirt? Personal finance website WalletHub recently ranked Seattle as the seventh-best city for finding a new job in the US. The study used 31 metrics, like average starting salary and housing affordability, to make its determinations. (Puget Sound Business Journal)

Closed

Local bakery Wildflour Gluten-Free Baking Company has closed its Ballard and West Seattle locations, citing financial challenges. The bakery is keeping its main Bellevue ovens hot, however, at 13600 NE 20th St. (My Ballard)

Civic

Bigger electricity bill than usual? Seattle City Light raised its base-rate pricing by 4.5% on Jan. 1 and the utility service is sure you might have a few questions about it. Review the FAQs on City Light’s website.

Transit

A long track in front of us

SDOT releases estimate for a new downtown Seattle streetcar line

A streetcar in Seattle's Pioneer Square against the backdrop of a sunset

Seattle’s also looking at the possibility of building a new streetcar line between Pioneer Square and South Lake Union. | Photo via @adam_noble86

Looks like unifying the Seattle streetcar system is going to be a bit more expensive than initially thought.

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) recently released a cost assessment for building a connecting line between the South Lake Union streetcar and the First Hill line. The study showed the project would require ~$410 million and seven years to complete — a sharp increase from the $286 million SDOT estimated in 2018.

The proposal to build the First Avenue line through downtown was reinvigorated this summer as Mayor Bruce Harrell included the suggestion in his plan for revitalizing the downtown core.

Even with a bigger price tag, SDOT director Greg Spotts and other transit advocates are still optimistic about the streetcar’s future. The next step will be to see what kinds of federal grant money the city may be able to source for the project.

The Buy

The Buy 1.23.23 (Affiliate + Six & Main)

These butterluxe high-waisted leggings. Considered a Lululemon alternative by reviewers, they’re made of buttery soft fabric and feature gentle compression.

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The Wrap

Today’s edition by:
Alina

From the editor

For the last couple of months, my partner and I have made a point to take ourselves out for nice steak dinners every few weeks. And this weekend, I finally got to give the Met Grill a go. It was obviously incredible, but the bite that I’m still thinking about was something we put together from two of our appetizers — caviar with bone marrow and creme fraiche. I wanted to melt like the flavors were doing in my mouth.

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