As we honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day,

Harrison Industries wants to ensure a seamless waste collection experience for residents in Ventura County. The good news? There’s no change to the trash, recycling, and organics waste collection schedule for the week of January 19–25, 2025. So, you can put your bins out as usual and let us take care of the rest.

Weekly Waste Collection: Here’s the Scoop

Did you know Harrison Industries collects all three waste categories every week? That’s right—trash, recycling, and organics all go curbside weekly. This includes food waste, which is now an essential part of our organics recycling program.

Quick Tips for Food Waste Disposal:

1. Place food waste in closed paper or plastic bags.
2. Toss the bags into your organics waste cart.
3. No yard waste? No problem! Even if you only have food waste, your organics cart can still be taken to the curb for pickup.

By keeping food waste out of landfills, you’re helping us protect the environment and comply with California’s waste management laws.

Why Food Waste Recycling Matters

Food waste recycling isn’t just a requirement—it’s a vital step toward combating climate change. When food waste decomposes in landfills, it releases methane gas, a major contributor to global warming. Recycling this waste not only reduces harmful emissions but also allows us to turn food scraps into valuable resources like compost and renewable energy.

At Harrison Industries, we’re proud to be leaders in implementing this critical initiative statewide. Our success would not be possible without the support and participation of our customers like you.

Let’s Work Together for a Sustainable Future

As we head into 2025, let’s continue to make food waste recycling a priority. Together, we can reduce landfill waste, cut emissions, and create a cleaner, greener community for future generations.

Have questions about food waste recycling or your trash collection schedule? Visit Harrison Industries for more information or reach out to their friendly customer service team.

Remember: Put your bins out as usual for the week of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Your commitment to sustainable waste management makes a difference!

Let’s keep up the great work, Ventura County!

Don’t miss any updates! To see the complete 2025 holiday collection schedule and plan ahead, visit Harrison’s Holiday Schedule today.

Let’s keep our community clean and sustainable all year long!

Recycling Your Christmas Tree: A Gift to Mother Earth

After bringing warmth and joy to your home during the holiday season, your Christmas tree can continue to spread goodwill by being recycled. Recycling your Christmas tree is a simple yet impactful way to give back to the environment, and we’re excited to provide this service for our residential customers again this year. Let’s work together to ensure your tree has a second life that benefits our community and the planet.

Why Recycle Your Christmas Tree?

When you recycle your Christmas tree, it is processed into mulch by our partner, Agromin, a leader in organic materials recycling. The mulch created from recycled trees enriches local farmlands, orchards, nurseries, and home gardens, promoting sustainable agriculture and healthier soils. By participating, you’re contributing to a cycle of renewal that supports the environment long after the holiday decorations are packed away.

How to Prepare Your Tree for Recycling

From December 26 through January 10, you can easily participate in this environmentally friendly program. Here’s how:

1. Remove All Decorations: Take off all ornaments, tinsel, lights, and other decorations to ensure the tree can be processed properly. Don’t forget to remove the stand as well.
2. Cut the Tree (If Needed): If your tree is larger than 4 feet, cut it into sections no longer than 4 feet to fit into your organics or yard waste cart.
3. Place for Collection:
   • Option 1: Place the tree in your organics/yard waste cart.
   • Option 2: Set the whole tree curbside on your collection day.
   • Flocked Trees Welcome: Yes, even flocked trees (those sprayed with artificial snow) are accepted!

By following these simple steps, you’ll ensure your tree is ready for recycling.

The Bigger Picture: Benefits of Christmas Tree Recycling

Recycling your Christmas tree goes beyond convenience—it’s a holiday gift to Mother Earth. When recycled, trees are transformed into a valuable resource rather than taking up space in a landfill. Mulch improves soil structure, reduces water usage, and supports healthier plant growth, making it an integral part of sustainable gardening and farming practices.

Agromin, alongside our local municipalities, plays a crucial role in this process, helping to ensure that every recycled tree contributes to a greener tomorrow.

Join the Effort Today

This holiday season, make recycling your Christmas tree a part of your traditions. It’s an easy and effective way to reduce waste and support sustainability in our community. With your help, we can turn this festive tradition into a meaningful way to give back to the Earth.

Thank you for your participation and for helping us make this program a success. Special thanks to Agromin and our local partners for their ongoing dedication to environmental stewardship. Together, we’re making a difference—one Christmas tree at a time.

Don’t forget! Tree collection runs from December 26 to January 10. Let’s keep the holiday spirit alive by giving your tree a second life. 🌱

Some Harrison customers will have a one-day delay in trash collection for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays

In observance of the Christmas and New Year’s Day holidays,

employees of Harrison Industries will be taking the day off on Wednesday, Dec. 25, and Wednesday, Jan. 1. As a result, Harrison will collect trash, recycling and yard/organics waste one day later than usual during those weeks, delaying pickup for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday customers only. Monday and Tuesday customers will not have a delay. The regular schedule will resume the following weeks.

As an extra holiday service this year,

Harrison customers may put out twice the usual amount of residential trash free of charge for two weeks after Christmas: from Thursday, Dec. 26, through Friday, Jan. 10. On your pickup day, you may place bags of extra trash alongside your waste cart at the curb. Please make sure to place the extra trash in bags. You can also put out extra recyclables next to your blue cart, but please flatten all boxes.

As another special holiday feature,

Harrison makes it easy for customers to recycle their Christmas trees into mulch. Just remove everything from the tree: ornaments, hooks, lights, tinsel, bows and tree stands, then cut the tree into sections no more than 4 feet long and place them in your yard/organics waste cart on your pickup day. Or, place the whole Christmas tree at the curb on collection day. Flocked trees are also accepted for recycling. 

The recycled trees will be processed into mulch by our partner Agromin. These products benefit our farmlands, orchards, nurseries, landscape projects and home gardens, so recycling your tree truly is a holiday gift to Mother Earth! We appreciate your help, and thanks also to Agromin and our local municipalities for participating in this program.

Remember that Harrison’s residential customers

can place all three carts curbside every week, as Harrison collects all waste weekly – including food waste, which is recyclable. All food waste should be placed in closed paper or plastic bags and the bags should be tossed in the organics waste cart. Even if you only have food waste bags and no yard waste, you can still put the food waste bags in your organics waste cart and take it to the curb every week for pickup.

To learn more about Food Waste Recycling, click here!

 Harrison Brothers Receive Citizens of the Year Award

Every year, the Ventura Chamber of Commerce

names their Poinsettia Award winners, celebrating outstanding and inspiring people, businesses, public servants and leaders in our community. On Dec. 12, Ralph, Jim and Myron Harrison were honored to receive the chamber’s prestigious Citizens of the Year 2024 award at the annual awards ceremony held at Marriott Ventura Beach hotel. The award was especially poignant in light of Ralph’s passing earlier this year.

In a video played during the ceremony,

Nan Drake said the Citizens of the Year 2024 award recognized the brothers and their company as “a leading force in business, the environment and philanthropy across Ventura County and beyond for more than 60 years.”

“Through it all, Ralph, Jim and Myron have always worked to maintain the legacy of hard work and good deeds that was deeply instilled in them by (company founders) E.J. and Myra,” Nan said. “And the legacy continues with the brothers’ sons, daughters and grandchildren now working in the family business, promising to take it far into the future.”

“We really appreciate the award,” Myron Harrison said.

Then he brought up his parents. “They took out their first city license in Ventura in 1932, and here we are. And the whole family is still involved.”

“Harrison is a family company,”

James said from the podium. “It’s a local company. We have a lot of employees and we love all of them. It’s a joy every day to go to work.”

What James said is true for all of us in the Harrison family. Through your hard work and dedication, you share in the brothers’ award and should take pride in this achievement.

And it’s not the first time Harrison Industries has been honored with Poinsettia Awards. We won the award for large business in 2015 and Nan Drake received the citizen of the year award in 2017 and the late Myra Harrison received the citizen of the year award in 2004.

This honor comes with a heavy heart,

as it arrives posthumously for Ralph Harrison, who passed away earlier this year at 89. His warmth, integrity, and steadfast commitment continue to guide the family business, which now includes multiple generations working side-by-side. Together, the Harrison brothers have created a legacy of service and generosity that will influence and benefit Ventura for generations to come.

Please join us in celebrating the Harrisons’ extraordinary contributions, honoring their family’s enduring community spirit, and remembering Ralph Harrison’s lifetime of devotion to all of us who call Ventura home.

Cheers to a Sustainable New Year!

A champagne toast on New Year’s Eve. A holiday gathering with the best wine. A favorite bourbon gifted to Dad for Christmas.

Scenes like these happen every year, making liquor and wine sales soar during the holidays. But what happens to those empty bottles? In the past, they often ended up in the trash or the recycling bin.

This year can be different—they’re now worth cash.

Wine and Liquor Bottles Now Eligible for CRV

Starting January 1, 2024, wine and distilled spirits are officially part of California’s Redemption Value (CRV) program. This includes:

• Wine bottles (including alcohol-removed brands)
• Liquor bottles
• Wine boxes, bladders, and pouches

What’s the Value of CRV Containers?

Under California Senate Bill 1013, signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2022, these are the deposit values:

• 🥂 5 cents for containers under 24 ounces (aluminum, glass, plastic, or bimetal)
• 🍷 10 cents for containers 24 ounces and larger (a standard wine bottle)
• 📦 25 cents for wine boxes, bladders, or pouches

When Does the Program Start?

• Redemption and deposit value started January 1, 2024.
• Some containers may not yet display CRV information on labels. Manufacturers have until July 1, 2025, to update labels.

Why It Matters

This legislation promotes recycling through:

• Funding for market development
• Infrastructure improvements to encourage glass recycling

Where to Recycle Your Bottles

Our business partner, the Gold Coast Recycling & Transfer Station, pays top prices for:

• CRV aluminum cans
• CRV plastics (#1 through #7)
• CRV bimetal
• CRV glass

📍 Location: 5275 Colt St., Ventura, CA
🕒 Hours: Monday–Saturday, 7:00 a.m.–3:30 p.m.
☎️ Phone: 805-642-9236
🌐 Website: goldcoastrecycling.com

How to Prepare Your Recyclables

To maximize efficiency:

1. Separate recyclables into plastic, aluminum, and glass.
2. Bring them to Gold Coast’s Buy-Back Center for redemption.

Learn More

For more details on the state CRV program:

• Visit: CalRecycle.ca.gov/bevcontainer

To learn more about what is accepted by EJ Harrison:

• Visit: https://ejharrison.com/recycling-guidelines/

Let’s Make 2025 a Sustainable Year

This New Year, every bottle counts. By recycling your wine and liquor containers, you’re not just reducing waste—you’re also earning cash while supporting sustainability.

Raise a toast to the planet and start recycling today! ♻️

Why Food Waste Recycling Matters During the Holidays

• Americans produce 25% more waste during the holidays, much of it food waste.
• Recycling food scraps helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions and creates compost, energy, and animal feed.

10 Ways to Reduce Food Waste and Recycle More

1. Plan Your Meals Wisely

Avoid overbuying by creating a detailed shopping list to minimize food waste and maximize your efficiency.

2. Embrace Leftovers

Turn holiday leftovers into soups, casseroles, or sandwiches, and freeze extras for later use.

3. Set Up a Food Waste Station

Simplify food waste collection by keeping a dedicated bin or compostable bag in your kitchen.

4. Know What’s Accepted

Recycle all food waste, including bones, peels, shells, and coffee grounds. Bag food waste securely for collection using paper or plastic bags.

5. Use the Right Bags

Ensure food scraps are placed in plastic or paper bags to maintain cleanliness and efficiency.

6. Don’t Skip Collection Day

Even without yard waste, set your green cart out weekly to ensure food scraps are collected and avoid those smelly carts.

7. Freeze Food Scraps

Store scraps in the freezer to prevent odors and keep your kitchen tidy until collection day.

8. Educate Guests

Encourage holiday guests to recycle food scraps with a clearly labeled bin or offer to scrape their plate for them.

9. Donate Excess Food

Give unopened non-perishables or surplus produce to local food banks or shelters.

10. Spread the Word

Share the importance of food waste recycling with neighbors, family, and friends.

Make a Difference This Holiday Season

By recycling food waste, you’re helping reduce methane emissions, combat climate change, and create valuable resources like compost and energy.

Have questions about food waste recycling? Visit ejharrison.com/food-waste for more information.

A Sustainable Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a time for food, family, and gratitude—but it’s also a time when food waste skyrockets. Did you know American families waste about 1,160 pounds of food annually? Around Thanksgiving alone, an estimated 305 million pounds of food go to waste.

With thoughtful planning, we can all reduce food waste, keeping it out of landfills where it generates harmful methane gas. Here’s how you can make your Thanksgiving more sustainable:

5 Simple Ways to Reduce Thanksgiving Food Waste

1. Plan Smartly Before You Shop

   • Determine how many guests you’re hosting and plan accordingly. For example, if you’re serving six people, opt for a smaller turkey instead of one designed for 12. Overbuying leads to unnecessary waste.

2. Save Your Scraps for Future Meals

   • Freeze vegetable peelings and meat trimmings for broths or soups. Leftover turkey carcasses and bones can make delicious homemade stock.

3. Get Creative with Leftovers

   • Use airtight containers to share leftovers with guests or create unique dishes like turkey pot pies or casseroles.

4. Donate Unused Canned Goods

   • Extra pumpkin puree, green beans, or cranberry sauce can go to your local food bank, helping those in need during the holiday season.

5. Recycle Food Waste Properly

   • Turkey bones, potato peels, and uneaten leftovers are recyclable. Secure them in a plastic or paper bag and place them in your curbside organic waste cart.

A Year of Gratitude and Achievements at Harrison Industries

As 2024 draws to a close, all of us at Harrison Industries are reflecting on a year filled with gratitude, milestones, and growth.

Milestones and Community Impact

This year, the Ventura Chamber honored us for 50 years of membership—a testament to our deep-rooted commitment to the communities we serve.

In 2023, we expanded our reach into new neighborhoods through an enhanced contract with Ventura County, allowing us to bring our services to even more residents and businesses.

One of our proudest achievements was the launch of a new food waste recycling program at the Ventura County Fair. Thanks to our partnerships with Agromin, Gold Coast Recycling, and local governments, we diverted nearly six tons of food waste from landfills, paving the way for a more sustainable future.

Honoring Ralph Harrison’s Legacy

This holiday season is bittersweet as it marks our first without Ralph Harrison, whose passing earlier this year deeply impacted us. Ralph’s visionary leadership and unwavering dedication to our company and community continue to guide us. We honor his legacy by carrying forward his values and commitment to excellence. You can read more about his legacy here.

Closing Thoughts: Gratitude for Our Community

We are endlessly thankful for the community that supports us, whether by partnering with us, stopping by to say hello, or sharing our vision for a sustainable future.

From all of us at Harrison Industries, we wish you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with love, gratitude, and sustainable practices. Together, we can make a difference this holiday season and beyond.

Looking for more ways to reduce waste? Learn about our recycling programs and how you can join us in creating a sustainable future by visiting https://sustainable.umn.edu/thanksgiving.

Harrison’s Thursday and Friday customers will have trash collection delayed one day for the Thanksgiving holiday.

In observance of the Thanksgiving holiday,

employees of Harrison Industries are taking the day off on Thursday, Nov. 28. As a result, customers who normally have their trash, recyclables and yard/organics waste collected on Thursday or Friday will have it collected one day later than usual during the week of Nov. 24-30.

The Thanksgiving holiday will not affect customers who have their trash, recyclables and yard/organics waste collected on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. The regular schedule for all customers will resume the following week.

We’d also like to remind folks

as the holiday season approaches to keep up the good work recycling your food waste. Residential customers can place all three carts curbside every week, as Harrison collects all waste weekly – including food waste, which by now you should be accustomed to recycling. All food waste should be put into paper or plastic bags, and the bags should be closed tightly and tossed into your yard/organics waste cart.

Remembering to recycle your food waste

is especially important during the holiday season from Thanksgiving through the new year when people tend to generate a lot of extra food waste.

Thank you for your role in the success of our food waste recycling program. Food waste recycling is the law, but more importantly, it’s vital for the environment. Food waste emits destructive methane gas when it decays at a landfill, damaging our atmosphere and causing global warming. Harrison is proud to be a part of the solution and we couldn’t do it without your help.

Stay up to date

with our Holiday Schedule by following this link, or subscribe to our blog so you can learn tips and tricks for food waste recycling during the holidays.

If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to give our customer service a call at (805)-647-1414