Minutes of Salem Recycling Committee meeting, June 3, 2008
Salem Living Green and Renewable Energy Fair, June 14th 10:00-3:00, Old Town Hall:
· Julie and Katie will be there the whole day, 9:30-3:00; Jennifer will be there part of the day, possibly toward the end; Hanna (not on the committee but volunteering to help) will be there 11:00-2:00.
· Will have brochures, the new fliers we’re making this week and other info.
· Will have for sale: 25 bins @ $6 each, 10 covers @ $5 each, water conservation devices (such as low-flow shower heads) @ $5 each.
· Displays of what’s recyclable (posters from the Carlton school event)
· Fact sheet display about recycling committee (names, info, website)
· Bobbie Heffernan of North Shore Recycled Fibers (NSRF) joined us at this meeting. He will have a table at the fair and offered to take the recyclables at the end of the day from the 4 bins we will have for collection (2 paper, 2 bottles/cans)
Changes in Salem’s new recycling/trash contract:
· 3 trash barrel limit per household unit
· Cardboard recycling will now be mandatory (trash that contains obvious cardboard will not be collected)
· Weekly recycling pickup instead of bi-weekly
· Changes in effect as of July 1st, but enforcement will ramp up gradually, giving the city time to educate the public. Hoping for full compliance by the end of the year.
Our committee will help with publicizing the changes:
· Come up with an ad for the 2 local papers for the last week in June. NSRF will pitch in $500 toward this.
· A subcommittee of Marcia, Susan, Jennifer and Katie will help draft and design a flier to be mailed out with tax bills next Friday. (We will meet June 10th at 7:00.)
· Other ideas for publicity:
o Info for students to bring home from school?
o Posters for the sides of big belly trash cans? (only if that space is not being used for advertising)
Business recycling update from Julie, Randy and Bobbie Heffernan of NSRF
· Julie has been contacting some of the biggest developers in the city.
· RCG (a developer that owns several buildings in the city) has started a cardboard/paper recycling program for the building where our meetings are held (which also houses Gulu Gulu Café, Upper Crust, etc and upstairs condos). They now have 10 “toter” containers behind the building which NSRF comes to empty into a truck. This is cost effective for NSRF because there is so much volume in one location. They would be open to doing this for other businesses, but only if a rout could be worked out with enough businesses in a short enough rout to make the trip worthwhile.
· Randy spoke with several businesses in town (including Salem Wine Imports and Cornerstone Books), which would like to recycle but haven’t known how. Sacred Gear and Gulu Gulu also would like to recycle cardboard, and will now be able to thanks to the RCG/NSRF arrangement.
· Businesses along the Essex St walking mall are grandfathered in, so the city collects their trash and recycling as they would from a residence.
· Institutional Recycling Network is a company that does recycling for businesses/institutions. Julie spoke with them at a trade show and Bobbie Heffernan recommends them. Katie will contact them about their offer to give a ½ day presentation on recycling to local businesses.
Let’s have an email discussion about committee composition:
· Do people who have not yet been able to attend a meeting still want to be on the committee? We would like a committed core group, so perhaps people who do not have time would rather be on the email list only and not official members of the committee? Please email the group about this if you have not been to a meeting.
· Is there anyone you know who would like to join?
· Or who would like to help out as a volunteer for specific projects or events, even if they are not on the committee?
Public recycling bins coming:
· Salem will be getting 25 outdoor recycling containers for public places as part of a grant! (Another town didn’t want them, so Julie jumped at the chance to get them for Salem.) Not sure yet when they will arrive.
· Big Belly trashcans with recycling compartments are still coming, but are not likely to be here in time for the June 14th fair. Hopefully by the end of June.
We discussed officers for the committee:
· Katie Giddings was nominated and informally voted in as Chairperson.
· We will discuss other officers next meeting, so members feel free to volunteer
o Secretary: to take meeting minutes (when they are in attendance)
o Co-Chairperson or Vice-Chairperson: it would be good to have someone in this position to run meetings if the Chairperson is absent.
o Both the Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson (and anyone on the committee who volunteers) can also help out with meeting minutes if they Secretary cannot attend a meeting.
o Does anyone have other suggestions for officers we might need?
o At past meetings we have discussed terms. Should positions be open-ended or for one- or two-year terms?
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