This edition of the Earth Matters newsletter is brought to you by the Environmental Education Program within Pierce County's Office of Resilience and Climate Action (ORCA). Learn more at PierceCountyWa.gov/EnviroEd.

Recycling Reform is Coming: 
How Producer Responsibility is Changing the System

We all work hard to make our communities healthy, happy places to live and work. Soon, the Recycling Reform Act (RRA) (passed by our state legislature in 2025) will enlist the help of producers and manufacturers in this effort!

Virtually everything we buy comes prepackaged in cardboard, plastic, or other materials. These throwaway items add significant strain to our waste and recycling systems, often at an increased cost to you.

That's why the RRA will hold producers of paper and packaging accountable for end-of-life management of their products with a policy approach called Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). This program will roll out statewide in 2030.

EPR shifts the responsibility and costs for managing products at the end of their life cycle from local governments and ratepayers to the producers who design and profit from those products. By requiring producers to fund and manage the collection, sorting, and recycling of packaging materials, EPR drives innovation in product and packaging design. Producers are incentivized to use materials that are recyclable, reusable, or generate less waste overall.

Less waste going to landfills leads to fewer harmful pollutants in our air, soil, and water. With producers and manufacturers stepping up to help communities, we can look forward to cleaner neighborhoods, healthier ecosystems, and a more sustainable future.

Building a Resilient Pierce County Together

Pierce County and the Puget Sound region are experiencing the impacts of climate change, including rising sea levels, increasing temperatures, declining spring snowpack, more frequent wildfires, drought, ocean acidification impacting shellfish, more frequent and intense floods, and increased local water temperatures. These challenges affect our communities, infrastructure, and unique marine and freshwater ecosystems.

The Puget Sound region is leading the way in proactive and collaborative community-driven climate action. The Puget Sound Climate Preparedness Collaborative is a group of local governments (including Pierce County), Tribes, and non-profits who work together to align climate resilience strategies and share resources. Our collective action is making a difference and will affect the severity of future impacts in our region.

Here are links to local Climate Resilience, Climate Action, and Sustainability Plans that include strategies such as “greening” infrastructure, innovative forest management practices, and state-mandated clean energy policies:

• Sustainability 2030: Pierce County's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan
• City of Tacoma 2030 Climate Action Plan
• City of Lakewood Natural Environment & Climate Change Program
• Puyallup Tribe of Indians-Climate Change Impact Assessment and Adaptation Options

Your Voice Matters!

Our Environmental Education team is collecting climate change stories from our local community. Our goals with these stories are to amplify the voice of the public on this issue and to raise awareness of the diversity of impacts we experience because of climate change.

We understand this is distressing and can be very hard to talk about. By collecting these personal stories, communities can become empowered to discuss their experiences and come together to build a healthier and more sustainable future. 

Youth Engaged in Sustainable Solutions (YESS) puts youth at the center of the work.

This year for the Youth Climate Summit, we had two star students from Franklin Pierce High School and Lakes High School join our planning team to design the content and flow of the summit.

Held at the Pierce County Skills Center, these students facilitated a group of 80+ students and teachers in games and activities designed by them with the goal of connecting youth across the county in their common interests in climate action. Listen to their reflections on the day in this short video. Read more here.

Walking the Talk: Staff Micro-Habits We Love

The start of a new year always brings a fresh wave of good intentions. Maybe you’ve sworn (quietly, to yourself) that this will be the year you finally remember to bring your reusable bags to the grocery store. Big resolutions can be energizing, but they can also feel a bit … ambitious. So this year, we’re inviting you to try something more realistic, more sustainable, and—dare we say—more fun: one small habit.

Sustainability doesn’t have to mean overhauling your lifestyle. It starts with simple, everyday choices that add up over time. And to prove it, we asked a few members of our staff to share the tiny actions they’ve made part of their routine—nothing dramatic, just the kind of doable, good-for-the-earth micro-habits anyone can try.

“I freeze my veggie scraps for homemade stock.”


It takes less than a minute to toss onion ends, carrot peels, and herb stems into a freezer bag, and the result is a rich stock that reduces food waste and makes soups taste like you cooked all day (we won’t tell anyone you didn’t).

“I put a small bin by the sink for compost.”


It’s astonishing how much compostable material sneaks into the trash can simply because it's nearby. A countertop compost bin makes composting an easy habit. Plus, it can be emptied directly into your yard waste bin!

“I have a standing date to swap books and magazines with a neighbor.”


Sharing is one of the most joyful (and underrated) ways to reduce waste, and it builds community in the process. Plus, nothing beats the fun of seeing what someone else recommends.

These aren’t world-saving gestures on their own. But they’re realistic, repeatable, and surprisingly satisfying—and that’s exactly what makes them powerful.

Monthly Chance to Win $150!

Ride Together Pierce is proud to present a new monthly rewards program: Rider Rewards! This program will reward one lucky sustainable traveler with $150 each month* in 2026!

All you have to do is take 10 sustainable trips (that’s five round trips) a month and log your trips on the Ride Together Pierce trip calendar to be automatically entered into the $150 prize drawing. These can be commutes to work or personal trips.

Eligible modes of transportation include walking, biking, rolling, carpooling, vanpooling, taking transit (bus, train, light rail), working a compressed work schedule, or teleworking. 

*Every month except for May, September, and October when Ride Together Pierce runs other prized promotions.

Earth Matters Series Returns in 2026

Our Earth Matters Series returns in 2026 with new learning opportunities designed to equip you with the knowledge and tools to create a more livable community for everyone!

Visit PierceCountyWa.gov/EarthMattersSeries to view the full schedule and register.

Read with us:

• Living with Insects: Salish Magazine. Friends, foes, ecosystems, and local resources
• Breaking the Climate Silence, Yale Program on Climate Change Communication
• Chispas: A toolkit for families, educators, and community members of nature-based education
• Infographic by King County: Confronting Climate Change: How does a changing climate affect our region?

Watch with us:

• The Light Won't Dim: Discussion Guide
• Pineapple scraps: Turning the inedible parts of pineapple into textiles, plates, soap, and more 

Listen with us:

• Real Solutions Podcast: Real Solutions | Othering & Belonging Institute
• The Power of Family Stories: Hidden Brain Podcast
• The Climate Migrants Seeking Refuge in the PNW: Booming, KUOW’s weekly economics podcast

Do with us:

• Tacoma Tool Library
• Fix-It Nights – every Thursday from 5:30-7:30 p.m.
• Sewing Machine Basics - 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month from 6-7:30 p.m.
• Make-it Sew (guided sewing practice) – 1st, 3rd and 5th Tuesdays. 100% self-directed.
• Heritage Skills Workshop: Butchering and Curing at Fort Nisqually Living History Museum Jan. 10 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Tacoma Home and Garden Show – Visit our Pierce County Planning and Public Works booth to learn about SoundGro and food waste composting from Jan. 29 to Feb. 1 at the Tacoma Dome
• Pierce County Library System story times, STEAM kids game labs, book sales, and more! See what’s happening at the library nearest you!

Civic Engagement:

• Review and send your comments for the Pierce County Renewable Energy Proposed Code Updates
• Puget Sound Regional Council Regional Transportation Draft Plan

Teacher Professional Development:

• Teachers in Tacoma and Pierce County are invited to register for our upcoming "STEAM Education for Climate Literacy" workshop series. The series runs from January to March.