Summary

A partnership between Local Services and homelessness advocates will help eligible residents who are unable to leave the island dispose of their waste. Starting today, the county will work with Honey Bucket, which will collect and properly dispose of RV residents’ waste every month.

Story

COVID-19 restrictions highlighted a longstanding problem on Vashon Island – the island lacks a public facility that allows RV residents to properly and legally dispose of their waste. Leaving the island via ferry isn’t a viable option for low-income RV residents.

Local Services worked with the Interfaith Council to Prevent Homelessness, a local homeless advocacy group, to establish a partnership in which eligible RV residents can have their waste collected once a month.

To determine whether they qualify, low-income RV residents must contact Hilary Emmer, Program Coordinator for the Interfaith Council to Prevent Homelessness, at 206-463-7277. Local Services will be notified once a resident is determined to be eligible.

The county will then notify Honey Bucket, which will travel to the location where eligible residents’ recreational vehicles are parked and collect their waste. The company will visit each resident every month.

“This approach is one way that King County Local Services is helping to address what’s become a tough reality for low-income residents on Vashon Island,” Director John Taylor said. “It means waste will be disposed of properly and without hurting the island’s natural environment.”

“Some low-income residents on Vashon have taken to living in RVs because they cannot find affordable housing here,” Emmer said. “We have no public RV dump on the island. Providing RV waste removal is good for them and our environment.”