Dumpster Rental in Destin, FL

Environmental Programs, Waste and What Makes Destin Unique

The city of Destin is located in Okaloosa County in Florida’s Panhandle and is named after its original settler, Leonard Destin.  Destin was a fishing captain from the Northeast who came to what would become Destin in the mid-Nineteenth Century.  Destin is located on the pristine Emerald Coast, which stretches one hundred miles along the Gulf of Mexico near the end of the panhandle.  In 1952, journalist Claude Jenkins coined the beautiful coast the”Miracle Strip” and the area later took the name Emerald Coast.  The city of Destin also profits from its location on a peninsula that was formed in part from changing sea levels and hurricane activities and separates the Gulf of Mexico from Choctawhatchee Bay.  As such, Destin is a tourist destination that, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, is visited by eighty percent of those that vacation on the Emeralds Coast.

Destin Environmental Programs

As a sought-after tourist destination and a natural habitat for a range of wildlife, the city of Destin takes care to protect its natural habitat through a number of environmental protection efforts. Some of these efforts include:

• The Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance of Northwest Florida State College oversees the protection of the watershed drainage system through sustainable development and protection of the ecosystem.
• The Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge promotes wildlife through conservation, education, and even rehabilitation.
• Florida Friendly Landscaping is a program promotes methods to save water, environmentally deal with yard pests, protect the waterfront.
• The Invasive Plant Species program informs residents of ecosystem friendly plants.
• The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) utilizes permitting to reduce hazardous discharges.
• Wildlife Lighting is a program to regulate artificial lighting that can adversely impact sea turtles, migrating birds, and other wildlife.

Destin Solid Waste

The City of Destin collect’s and recycles waste from its residents including solid waste (household garbage), recycling, yard waste, and bulk waste.  Refuse is collected curbside by the City.  Additionally, senior discounts are available for households in which one of the residents is sixty-five years of age or older and the City also offers exemptions to low-income residents.
Recycling: The City collects Recycling at the curb, which should be placed in a ninety-six-gallon cart.  Additionally, recycling can be dropped off at the Public Services Maintenance Yard weekdays from six in the morning until three in the afternoon.
Yard waste:  Yard waste includes tree limbs, leaves, lawn clippings and other yard items according to the following directions:

• Residents should bag leaves and clippings in quantities of fifty pounds or less.
• Residents should stack tree limbs, which should not be more than six feet long and four inches in diameter.
• Yard waste should not exceed a total weekly volume of two cubic yards.

Bulk items: Residents at times have special needs for the disposal of larger items, such as furniture, which will be picked up by the City as long as the items do not exceed six cubic yards or seventy-five pounds in weight.  The City accepts bulk items, such as furniture (e.g. couches and chairs) and white goods (e.g. ovens or refrigerators) with gas, refrigerant, or other tanks removed.  However, residents should NOT INCLUDE the following items in bulk or regular trash:

• Construction debris.
• Rocks, sand gravel.
• Dirt, and logs.
• Carpet.
• Batteries.
• Tires.
• Computers.
• Paints, oils.
• Freon & other chemicals.
• Other hazardous waste.

Hazardous Waste: Hazardous waste should not be disposed of through trash, recycling, bulk, or yard waste.  Instead, residents should dispose of the hazardous waste item free of charge at Okaloosa County’s free hazardous waste drop-off at 80 Ready Avenue:

• Batteries inducing car batteries including lead and plastic batteries and rechargeable batteries (e.g. phone, laptop, computer, camcorder, and camera batteries).
• Computer components and computer monitors.
• Mobile phones.
• Fluorescent tubes and other mercury-containing devices.
• Latex paint should be brought to hazardous waste after which it is repurposed for roofing.
• Oil-based paint is received at the hazardous waste center and then burned through a special disposal system.
• Pool chemicals and pesticides are received and then incinerated.
• Used oil, fuel, and antifreeze, which are disposed of through specially designed boilers.