Salem Recycling Committee
Meeting of November 3, 2009
Attendees: Erin Huggard, Marcia Lambert, Lynn Murray, Jennifer Percy, Julie Rose, Penny Whitlock, Susan Yochelson, and new member Greg Watts.
1. Introduce and Welcome New Committee Members
The November meeting commenced by introducing and welcoming one new committee member: Greg Watts.
2. Meeting Minutes Approval/ Volunteers for Recording Minutes
The September 30th meeting notes were approved and accepted as written. Erin and Jennifer both volunteered to take notes at the next two meetings (Erin in December 1st and Jennifer in January 5th).
3. The Perfect Pick-up Rollout
a. "Perfect Pick-up" Recap/ Overview — Susan provided the committee with a recap of the "Perfect Pick-up" Campaign that has evolved out of the sub-committee meetings and subsequent efforts. She explained that the primary goal of "Perfect Pick-up" is educating Salem residents about the importance of separating plastic and paper. Since Salem doesn't have a single-stream recycling system, mixing creates problems. The plastic that gets mixed into paper "contaminates" the processing of recycled paper for North Shore Recycled Fibers (NSRF). To encourage separations, NSRF is offering funding for this latest campaign and education effort.
b. The Campaign's Concept — The Subcommittee has taken inspiration from Ashville, NC (thanks to Julie’s digging) which launched a campaign encouraging residents to register with the city for a weekly recycling drawing that included a monetary prize. Salem is offering $50/week "reward" for residents who are committed and pledge to recycle properly. In order to be considered, residents must register/enter with the city and, of course, create the "Perfect Pick Up." The campaign will be advertised as a six-month/26-week effort, but there is funding to continue for a year. The idea behind not publicizing a year of rewards is to assess how it's working at the end of 26 weeks along with conveying some time constraint and urgency to the effort. After 26 weeks, the effort will be reviewed and the
committee will decide whether to continue or try something different.
c. Contest vs. Raffle — There was some debate about whether the effort should be marketed as a "contest" or a "raffle." It was decided that "raffle" implies luck while "contest" requires some effort, so it's be designated a "Contest."
d. Registration, Pledge & How it Works —There was discussion about the best way to encourage residents to make the commitment or pledge. Direct residents to the SalemRecycle's website where a registration form can be downloaded, filled out, and then either emailed, faxed or mailed to Julie. Once Julie has their commitment/pledge, their name will be put into the drawing. Once a week a member of Julie's staff will randomly draw three names and those three residents' recycling will be checked for "Perfect Pick-up" requirements. Mark at Northside Carting has offered to do the checking and will report to Julie whether the "pick ups" were "perfect" or not. If the first name drawn is "perfect" they will be notified that resident that they have won the week. If the first name's
recycling is not "perfect" the next name drawn will be chosen and so on. If all three names chosen do not have "Perfect Pick Ups" the money will be rolled over to the next week. If the first name is "perfect" the other two names will be put back into the drawing for the following week.
e. The Not-So-Perfect Pick Up — The conversation about rolling over the money if there isn’t a “Perfect Pick Up” led to discussion about how to educate residents who are making an effort to recycle correctly but need a little education, primarily mixing plastic and paper. There was a suggestion that Katie's poster be copied on both sides — one side will have the "rewards" information and the other will gently point out improper recycling methods such as newspapers recycled in plastic bags.
f. Promotion & PR/Collaterals/Flyers & Poster — Information will be on the website and pledge/registrations can me dropped off at Julie's office, emailed, mailed or put into dropboxes. Katie's "Reward" posters needs to be posted around Salem. Press release and Erin's article will launch the program to the public.
4. Book Swap
The Fall 2009 Book Swap is schedules for November 21 from 9-12 at St. Peter's Church with drop offs available Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.
a. Promotion — Announcements on the event should be put in the calendar listing, flyers posted by committee members, St. Peters is promoting, Craig’s List and SATV (Lynn to post); Freecycle (Susan to look into).
b. Volunteers — At the time of the meeting, Susan, Marcia, Erin, and Penny are available to help Friday before the event. Julie offered to create a schedule, which as of the writing of these notes, she has created and distributed.
c. Recycling Education Material — Julie has bookmarks and FAQ flyers on what to recycle that she will bring to the event for distribution.
6. Upcoming Events & Contact Information
a. Tree Planting: The planting scheduled for Thursday, November 5th, 2:00PM has been rescheduled. Julie will let the committee know when this is happening.
b. Mass Recycling Event: November 12, 6-9 in Waltham. Salem Recycles has won another award — third in six months! Let Julie know if you plan to attend the event and she will RSVP for everyone. Liz will be accepting the award.
c. Trash Menagerie Tour: Weds., December 9, 3pm, at the PEM. Committee members should RSVP to Julie Rose. After that there will be a pot luck at 25 Linden Street, Julie Rose's house.
d. Book Swap: November 21 at St. Peter’s Church: Please let Julie know what hours you are available to work. A few volunteers are needed Friday evening from 5-6:30; then others from 7-11 on Saturday morning. The St. Peter’s youth group will transport any remaining books into the "Got Books" Gaylord on Sunday morning; so we will be able to leave any unwanted books on the tables.
e. Contact Information: Our committee contact list is very outdated. Please send Julie the following and she’ll create a new spreadsheet:
Name, Home Address, Preferred Phone Number (s), e-mail address
The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 1st at 6:30 pm at the City Hall Annex.
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