Marion County Environmental Services

10/15/2026

10/14/2026

Halloween decorations are often made of cheap materials that aren't designed to last--in 2023, Americans spent $12 billion on candy, costumes, and decor.

For a more sustainable (and less expensive!) celebration, stick to natural decor, like pumpkins, hay bales, and cotton sheets, or items that are made to be stored and last for many seasons to come.

10/11/2026

The Household Hazardous Waste Facility will be closed in December and January. The last day for 2026 drop offs will be November 19.

HHW will reopen February 4, 2027.

10/11/2026

Bubble mailers aren't recyclable! Padded envelopes made with paper layers are a recyclable choice, though!

10/09/2026

It's Water Quality Professionals Appreciation Week!

In Marion County, we have three teams that each work hard every day to protect your health, your home, and our environment:

🚰Our wastewater/drinking water team ensures that all systems are functioning properly to avoid any overflows that could harm the environment or threaten public health and ensure that sewage isn’t backing up into your home or business. They also ensure drinking water in the systems that they manage is safe and healthy to consume.

🌧️Our stormwater operations team keeps stormwater flowing and clean in the urban areas of Marion County. The team cleans and maintains stormwater infrastructure which not only helps prevent flooding, but also reduces the amount of pollutants making their way to waterbodies through stormwater runoff.

💧Marion County’s water quality team dedicates their time to preventing pollution, educating the community on water quality issues, meeting state and federal water quality standards, and keeping our water in Marion County clean and cool for swimming, fishing, drinking, and habitat.

These small teams do a lot of work to help protect water quality in Marion County and we thank them for their dedication!

10/09/2026

To start a compost pile with leaves, follow these steps:

🍂Mix 4-5 parts leaves to one part green waste. You can use a compost bin or create a pile on the ground. Keep your pile away from water drainage and wells.
🍂Add compost accelerator, such as grass clippings or food waste, to boost microbial activity.
🍂Turn your pile 1-2 times a week.
Add more green waste as you turn the pile.
🍂Alternate between layers of brown materials (leaves or straw) and green materials (grass clippings or food scraps).

Composting your leaves keeps them out of the streets and gutters, where they can decompose in the water and cause water quality issues for our entire community.

10/07/2026

Since the 2020 wildfires, the corridor has continued to recover and sites have begun to reopen.

Marion County and its partner agencies are developing a shared Recreation Management Plan for the 20-mile corridor, from Highway 22 near Lyons to the Opal Creek Wilderness.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU 📣

Share your recreation experiences, what you value about the corridor, concerns you have, and your ideas for the future of the North Fork. This survey should only take about 10 minutes, but it's impact could be felt for decades!

10/07/2026

North Fork county park will be CLOSED October 7-9 as crews do work related to the landslide in the area.

10/06/2026

Free small appliance and computer repair at Spark Studio in Salem on November 21 from 10am to 4pm.

This event will accept small appliances, computers, electronics, cell phones, bicycles, machine and hand mending, and sharpening (limit 2 items please).

You can sign up to help repair items, or to bring something for repair.

RSVP here: https://forms.gle/sY9zVNeeBrKrgEmF7