Minutes from the Salem Recycling Committee
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
7:00 – 8:30 pm
Attendees: Randy Clarke, Kate Giddings, Marcia Lambert, Lynn Murray, Jennifer Percy, Julie Rose, Jason Silva, Liz Vago, Susan Yochelson
Committee Officers
The meeting was called to order by Katie Giddings at 7:00 pm. A discussion about officers for the committee took place. Randy Clarke was named vice-chair and Lynn Murray was named recording secretary. The terms of these positions will run for one year from July – June reflecting the fiscal year of the city.
New Hauling Contract
There will be a new contract in place for trash hauling and recycling on August 2nd. Recycling pick-ups will take place once a week, on the same day as trash pick-up. Each household will be allotted the equivalent of three 35 gallon containers and there will be mandatory cardboard recycling. These containers/trash barrels may be put out the night before as long as there is a secure lid on top. Trash in plastic bags may only be put out that morning. Businesses that are able to do curbside recycling will also participate. The trash fee for landlords will be reduced once the new contract goes into place. The three barrel limit will not go into effect until January 1st 2009 allowing for a 6 month grace period during which the city can work on educating the public.
There is a clear need for a communication strategy about this new contract and its provisions. How do we best get the message out? Website, media including SATV, school mailers, oversized postcards were suggested.
Recycling Containers at Salem Train Station
Randy Clarke reported that he had met with MBTA personnel and they had agreed to install paper recycling containers close to where passengers board and disembark. Although this has not yet happened, we commuters remain hopeful and are grateful to Randy for the effort.
Recycling Containers at the Salem Ferry
Jason Silva agreed to talk to the Salem DPW about the need for recycling containers at the dock. The need for recycling containers aboard the ferries was also discussed.
Business Recycling
Katie Giddings has been in contact with Katrina Rideout of the Institution Recycling Network, who has offered to give a half-day presentation to Salem businesses about the recycling options available to them. September might be a good time to hold the event, but we want to wait until we have all the details of the city’s new recycling contract before planning the event, as some of that information will need to be shared with businesses. Katrina could meet with a subcommittee to plan the event and brainstorm ideas. Randy Clarke, Marcia Lambert, Julie Rose, Shelly Alpern, Katie Giddings and Liz Vago volunteered for the subcommittee. It was also suggested that business owners, someone from the Chamber of Commerce, and Bobbie Heffernan of North Shore Recycled Fiber might also like to join the planning process. Katie will work on
contacting these people and planning a meeting after the Aug 5th committee meeting.
Ideas for Promotion/Education Strategy that were Suggested:
-Film the presentation to businesses for Salem Access TV.
-When recycling is in place on the Salem Ferry, try to get an article in the paper about it
-When we have a flyer about the new contract and other recycling info we could email it to the contact list of people who signed up at the Living Green fair and ask for volunteers to help distribute it. There are many people who offered to volunteer for one-time events or activities, so it would be great to harness their help.
-It would be great if we could come up with a way to encourage landlords to get their tenants to recycle, possibly with some sort of incentive.
The next meeting will be held on August 5th at 7:00 pm
Agenda items will include:
-Details of the new contract from Jason Silva
-Rollout strategy for education about the new contract
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