Attention Coachella Valley residents: Got Tires? Recycle Them For Free!
After a break for the hot summer months, the Coachella Valley Association of Governments (CVAG) tire recycling program is back. We have three (3) collection events left in 2016, so take advantage of these opportunities to keep your community clean, for FREE.
During the 2014-2015 fiscal year, KJServices Environmental Consulting was proud to conduct many different recycling programs throughout cities in Southern California. These included outreach programs to elementary schools, Earth Day celebrations, scrap tire recycling, used oil filter exchanges and many community events where we got a chance to speak to residents directly about the importance of recycling and environmental programs.
Elementary schools in the Cities of Gardena and Cerritos competed in an Earth Day bottle & can recycling contest. All recyclables collected by the students were redeemed for cash for their schools! These events are great fundraisers for the schools, and fun activities that get kids engaged in recycling habits for life.
Earth Day recycling at Carver Academy in Cerritos, CA
Huge turnout at Gonsalves Elementary in Cerritos, CA
Gonsalves!
Weighing all the bottles and cans to take them to the recycling center
Great job, Gonsalves!
Students at Chapman Elementary in Gardena, CA pose next to the recyclables they collected to raise money for their school
Parent volunteers help sort through recyclables at Chapman Elementary in Gardena, CA
Vernon Elementary Earth Day
We had a wonderful time coordinating the 2015 Earth Day celebration at Vernon Elementary School in Vernon, CA. Students learned about all types of recycling: paper, plastic, glass, metal, and composting at a series of interactive learning centers. We love engaging with young people who are excited to learn more about recycling and our environment!
Vernon City School students learn about glass recycling during Earth Day
Recycling metal is fun!
Attentive Vernon Elementary students
Learning about all the different kids of recyclable materials
Tire Collection
KJServices staffed a series of tire collection events at various sites in the Coachella Valley, the Lake Elsinore area, and in cities around Norwalk and Torrance, CA. During these events combined, we collected nearly 10,000 scrap tires to recycle! (That’s well over 100 tons!!!) The rubber from these tires is taken to a recycling plant, chopped up into mulch and then can be used for a number of new materials, including asphalt, playground flooring, rubber mats, and even shoes and clothes!
Gigantic construction tires dumped near Lake Elsinore
Construction tires discovered at the bottom of Lake Elsinore. These will now be recycled!
A Coachella Valley residents got creative with his tires…
…and had a lot more than we expected!
Local high school students help us collect scrap tires in Coachella!
Local high school students volunteered to help collect tires in Pico Rivera!
Volunteers help load tires in Santa Fe Springs
Tire collection in Duarte, CA
Filter Exchanges
Held at auto parts stores like AutoZone, O’Reilly’s and Pep Boys, used oil filter exchanges are some of our most popular community recycling events. Residents can bring their used oil to recycle for free and if they also bring an old oil filter, they receive a voucher for a free, new oil filter. Used oil is a hazardous waste and it is illegal and dangerous for it to be dumped down the drain or abandoned in an alley. Filter exchanges are a great opportunity to engage do-it-yourselfers in environmentally conscious practices and incentivize recycling at the local level.
Filter exchange event in Downey, CA
Filter exchanges are very popular in Norwalk
Plenty of recycling giveaways at filter exchange events!
Lots of filters collected for recycling
Community Events
KJServices represented many Cities at community events over the past fiscal year. Here are some photos from our favorite events!
Bellflower High School Earth Day
West Hollywood Kids Day, playing our recycling sorting game “Trashketball”
Palm Springs, CA is world-renowned as a picturesque resort destination full of beautiful vistas and stunning landscapes. But as a popular destination for motorists and a desirable setting for fans of offroading and Motorsports, the desert around Palm Springs can also attract waste tires from vehicles that have been left by the side of the road, or simply dumped in the middle of the desert.
Since tires are no longer accepted at landfills, and can be bulky and inconvenient to get rid of, unfortunately many people find it easier to dump them illegally than contact their local city governments’ recycling program. Dumping trash in the desert is illegal, and in cities like Palm Springs, it’s a huge problem.
The Coachella Valley Association of Governments is organizing a series of free tire collection events to combat this problem, and to help keep Palm Springs beautiful. Recent events in Indio, Desert Hot Springs, Coachella, and La Quinta have yielded over 3,000 waste tires which will now be recycled. That’s over 3,000 fewer eyesores in the Coachella Valley!
On February 28th, it’s Palm Springs’ turn to clean-up the Coachella Valley. All CV residents are welcome to bring their used tires to Palm Springs City Hall from 8am–12 noon to recycle for free.
Help ensure that all used tires are collected safely and recycled. Residents can transport up to 9 tires maximum per trip. Multiple trips are okay. Please bring passenger and light truck tires only. NO semi truck, construction equipment or agricultural tractor tires are accepted. Tires from businesses and non-profits will not be accepted. ALL tires must be removed from the rims.
Help keep the Coachella Valley Clean and Green! For more information about this event, visit the City of Palm Springs’ website or please call 760-323-8214 or 562-944-4766.
Together, we can help keep Palm Springs looking like this!
An unexpected benefit of the California drought? State-wide record low water levels have revealed over 200 waste tires sitting at the bottom of Lake Elsinore. Tires range in size from car and light truck tires, to giant tractor tires–some are over 8 feet tall and 3 feet wide! The City of Lake Elsinore plans to remove all the tires from the lake while the water levels are low–something they couldn’t have done a few years ago. No one knows how the tires ended up in the lake; they could have been dumped or left behind after a construction project. The City will remove all 200 tires via crane and recycle them.
The City of Lake Elsinore, in conjunction with Canyon Lake and Wildomar, has been hosting used tire recycling events for residents all year, and has several more scheduled for 2015. Scrap tires like these can be recycled into many other products, including rubberized asphalt, playground flooring, and exercise mats. They can also be turned into Tire-Derived Aggregate (TDA) used in construction projects. See a video about TDA here.
Although the California drought is a very serious issue, it’s good to know that at least some benefit has come from low water levels in Lake Elsinore. There will soon be 200 fewer waste tires and more recycled rubber for the local community.
If you have ever driven down the highway anywhere in the Coachella Valley, you have probably seen them: tires! Old, scrap tires are just thrown away on the side of the road, in vacant lots and abandoned alleys. Besides being unsightly, this is also illegal.
The Coachella Valley Association of Governments has banded together to organize a series of used tire collection events in 2014 and 2015 to combat the problem of illegal dumping and help keep the Coachella Valley beautiful.
The Desert Hot Springs used tire recycling event will be held at the Desert Hot Springs Public Works Yard (map), 65-810 Hacienda Ave. on Saturday, December 13th from 8am-12pm. Stop by to dispose of your used tires and help keep your city clean!
All Coachella Valley residents are welcome! Proof of residency is required.
Help ensure that all used tires are collected safely and recycled, residents can transport up to 9 tires maximum per trip. Multiple trips are okay. Please bring passenger and light truck tires only. NO semi truck, construction equipment or agricultural tractor tires are accepted. Tires from businesses and non-profits will not be accepted. ALL tires must be removed from the rims.
Help keep the cities Clean and Green! For more information about this event please call 760-329-6411 ext. 218 or 562-944-4766.
For more upcoming tire events in Coachella Valley, see this flyer.
KJ Services Environmental Consulting 
