Purple Bag Program
Our Purple Bag Program expanded city-wide to support waste pickup at homeless encampments.
The City of Tacoma’s Purple Bag Project has expanded to provide regular waste pickup services at homeless encampments across the city. Initially launched as a pilot, the program has grown city-wide through partnerships with Neighborhood and Community Services (NCS). The initiative aims to reduce the negative health and environmental impacts of improperly disposed waste by providing tools and services for proper disposal. Currently, the program distributes an average of 10,000 purple bags annually.
What Are Purple Bags?
Purple bags are a temporary solution to help individuals experiencing homelessness maintain clean and safe living areas until they can connect with shelters or housing opportunities. The HEAL team continues to provide outreach to those in encampments. You can request outreach support online or call (253) 591-5000.
Program Services Include:
- Distribution of Purple Trash Bags: These are provided to individuals experiencing homelessness city-wide in order to collect trash and debris for disposal pick-up.
- Waste Pickup: Regular pickups are coordinated with a third-party cleanup contractor to manage waste removal.
- HEAL Team Outreach: The Homeless Engagement Alternatives Liaison (HEAL) team provides ongoing outreach and resources to unhoused individuals.
Frequently Asked Questions
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The purple color distinguishes these bags from those used in other cleanup programs. This helps clarify what items should be disposed of versus those a person may want to keep, which can be stored in different colored bags. Other cities like Seattle and Austin, Texas, have also adopted this model.
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Purple bags are distributed in partnership with a third-party cleanup contractor. Collection services are not managed by the City’s Solid Waste Utility but operate as a distinct service. Volunteers interested in helping with distribution can email the program coordinator for more information.
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Improper disposal of garbage, human waste, and hazardous materials can harm the environment by damaging vegetation, causing erosion, and contributing to pollution. Hazardous waste can also contaminate surface waters, harming watersheds and marine ecosystems. A large portion of community members experiencing homelessness currently live on or near passive open space sites and stormwater facilities managed by the City. Providing regular waste pickup at encampments helps protect both human health and the environment.
Mobile Toilet Kit Pilot Program
Phase 2: Program Update – August 2025
During the past year, a cross-departmental team from Environmental Services (ES), Neighborhood and Community Services and Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department helped to develop a pilot program to provide personal mobile toilet supply kits and disposal services to help unhoused individuals living in Tacoma to manage human waste. Kits were distributed and tested by approximately 35 individuals throughout the late summer (July-September 2024) and early spring (February-April 2025). Kit users provided positive feedback and suggested expansion of the program through community partners to distribute more kits.
The mobile toilet kits will also provide an opportunity to address needs of additional residents living on the streets in response to temporary shelter closures in June 2025.
Waste collected in the purple bags is securely contained and picked up by the City’s contractor, as part of the current waste pickup operations.
For purple bag pickup requests, please call 311 or submit a request online.
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Each kit includes:
- A small privacy tent and tarp
- A 5-gallon bucket with toilet seat, purple bag liners, and kitty litter
- Toilet paper, sanitary wipes, and hygiene products
- Waste collected in the purple bags is securely contained and picked up by the City’s contractor, as part of the current waste pickup operations. For purple bag pickup requests, please call 311 or submit a request online.
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Quotes from Pilot Program Participants
Have you noticed any personal safety or health benefits from using the mobile toilet kits?
“My brother had to go to the hospital from constipation – he’s better now, especially with the kit, no issues.”
What did you like about the toilet kit?
“The toilet seat actually feels like a [standard] toilet seat, it feels normal.”
What did you like about the disposal service?
“It worked well! We cleaned up a lot of garbage with the purple bags too!”
What information is important to share about this program?
“Yeah, if you want to allow people a way to clean themselves instead of living gross. This helps a lot. There are no public facilities within five miles. It’s a public necessity like water fountains!”
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Program Implementation with Partners
Neighborhood and Community Services/Environmental Services HEAL team members will continue to provide kits on an as-needed basis, and additionally ES has partnered with two community organizations to help distribute more kits:
- St Vincent de Paul (South Tacoma)
- Tacoma Rescue Mission (Downtown Tacoma)
The first delivery of kit supplies was provided to partners starting in July 2025.
Mobile Toilet Kit Program Roll-out 2025-2026
- ES will order supplies for up to 400 kits per year (approximate cost is $50,000 per year)
- ES staff will assemble and deliver kits to HEAL team and partner organizations
- ES will continue to support purple bag/toilet kit pick-up and disposal service through the ES Encampment Cleanup Contractor
- Continue to track usage through purple bag and toilet kit order numbers, along with the clean-up contractors’ bag pick-up numbers.
Contact
For purple bag pickup requests, call 311 or submit a request online.