Salem Recycling Committee
Meeting of April 6, 2010
Attendees: Katie Giddings, Erin Huggard, Tony Keck, Marcia Lambert, Lynn Murray, , Julie Rose, Megan Sampson, Penny Whitlock, Liz Vago, , and visiting from Northside Carting Mark George.
1. Clean Salem, Green Salem Event
Clean Salem, Green Salem will take place Saturday, May 1st.
Stations and Organizations at the event include:
- E-Waste Recycling Program: There will be bins available in the same locations as last year. Northside Carting will have someone at the drop off and Julie will also provide a volunteer to help. It should be noted that E-waste includes flatscreen TVs and monitors no CRTs. It was mentioned that Best Buy takes back old computers and gives a $10 Best Buy gift card. Tony will also review information on the website regarding E-waste and extending the program and include this info with Clean Salem, Green Salem information.
- Recycling Pick Up: Recycling will be taken back to the Common and a truck will be going around to pick up bags filled with recyclables.
- The Big Brother Big Sister Foundation will be at the event collecting donations of lightly used clothing and small household items.
- "Bikes Not Bombs" Bicycle Collection station will also be on the Common for this event.
- Education Station/Table: There will be one-on-one information area where volunteers will have the binders with recycle info illustrated and will be available to answer the publics questions regarding recycling.
- Composters/Water Barrels and educational Materials: It was determined that there will be no composters or rain barrels available for purchase at this event. They will be made available at the plant sale two weeks later. Recycle bins also won’t be available but there will be “recycle” stickers and postcards along with 350 seed packets for distribution.
- Volunteers Needed: The event is advertised for 10-1, but people are needed from 9:30 to 1:30. We need one person with E-waste. Newmark Group is providing three people for plastic bags. , Katie, Liz, Lynn and Megan and her husband will be available to help at this event.
2. Salem State College Earth Day Event:
Salem State will be hosting a multi-faceted event focused on the economic-political impact of recycling and the relationship between sustainable economic activity and environmental sustainability and the challenges and opportunities they present. One of the panels will focus on the North Shore and our efforts on this front. Julie Rose and Andrea Fox will be two of the panel participants. Julie and Liz will review and revise questions for this panel discussion.
3. Annual Plant Sale
Annuals and perennials will be sold at this sale. Marcia and Julie will be present at this event. Julie will also be selling rain barrels, composters and two-flow nozzles. Susan Y. will also have a table with info on Salem Sound Coastwatch. There was some discussion that this event should extend to Sunday, but it was determined one day is sufficient.
Big Belly: There will also be Big Bellies out for Common events. Julie will talk with Tom O’Sheehan about the best placement locations in the parks.
4. Green Salem Events
The Green Fair: Scheduled for June 19th from 10-3 at the Willows. Julie has been asked if representatives from SalemRecycles could be there. Katie can be there for part of the event along with one of Julie’s staff. Julie will also drop off and pick up toters for paper and donate rain barrels.
Science Fair: There was discussion about how to make the presentation more interactive by creating a game. Maria is collecting ideas and further discussion will take place.
Maritime Festival: We could have a presence at this event but need volunteers. Julie hasn’t committed but there will definitely be cannibals there.
5. Strategic Plan
The committee reviewed brainstorming goals presented. The next course of action is to address “Action” items. It was agreed that breaking up into groups or subcommittees to address specific goals might be the best approach.
1.Increase Recycling Rates (Ratio):
Julie and Erin will explore.
- Divert usable items from the waste stream (Reduce and Reuse):
- Lynn will look at this area.
3.Raise awareness on how and why to recycle (Educate and Motivate):
Katie will set up a Facebook page.
- Develop partnerships to further our goals:
- Lynn and Liz will look into partnerships.
6. Public Awareness/General Recycling Education
Julie brought up ideas on how to best continue our education mission and get the word out about recycling in an easy approachable way. There’s always the fear of offending or sounding preachy. It also appears that the most effective approach is one-on-one and she suggested a “dear neighbor” letter to addresses good along recycling practices with the bad. A “thank you for helping the city” approach is a better way.
Perfect Pick Up Future: It is uncertain where this initiative is going and whether North Shore Recycled Fibers will continue to fund. Possibly eliminate the $50 reward, but award a recycle bin instead. Possibly get local businesses involved in the initiative with a “Sponsor of the Month.” A local business would donate something recyclable such as reusable bag, mug,or a gift certificate to the Farmers’ Market. Possibly a quarterly raffle. The idea is to get businesses involved with cross promotion.
The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 4th at 6:30 pm at the City Hall Annex
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