SALEM RECYCLES COMMITTEE
MEETING MINUTES
MARCH 5, 2013 MEETING
Attending: Erin Huggard, Julie Rose, Nancy Gilberg, Jennifer Percy, Janis Breeze, Susan Yochelson, Penny Neal, Tony Keck
7:00 pm meeting called to order by chair Erin Huggard.
Minutes for February meeting approved.
New Business:
- The committee will be celebrating its 5th Anniversary of existence. A potluck will be organized for the committee members and Julie has offered to host. A list will be circulated for the April 11th event.
- Google Groups – email transition. Janis suggested the committee set up a group email using Google. This would allow for easy maintenance of the email list and a way to store all emails with access to all members. A gmail address is not required to send and receive the emails. A gmail address is required to access the archive of communications transmitted via the group email. The archive by Google Group can be viewed in a digest format and could prove helpful to follow communications. Janis created an account and will test it. The intention is to have one group email address to send to and it is distributed to all who are part of the group. Individual email addresses would be kept current in the Group list. The committee agreed to move forward with this suggestion.
This topic will be included in the next agenda for follow up discussion and implementation.
Old Business
- March 9 Volunteer Recruitment Meeting
The event is to be held at 8:30 – 10:30 am at the Beverly Cooperative Bank on Lafayette Street. Members are encouraged to bring various items to ask if the item can be recycled. The event has been promoted on Facebook, the website, and Salem Patch. Julie will bring several props and items, including the refreshments. “Save the Date” events will be posted for volunteers to see.
Non-committee members are sought for the event to assist at the swap. Swap will be held at the Senior Center on Broad Street. There will be a potluck for volunteers on Friday evening March 15. The host will be Karen Cady. Julie will circulate a list of shifts to confirm the times with members.
- May 4 Clean Salem Green Salem
This event will be held on the Common from 10 am to 1 pm Saturday May 4th. The event will include the clothing swap. If it rains, the clothes swap will not occur due to the problems with the materials getting wet. Those items not “swapped” are taken by Goodwill Industries and cannot be wet or damp due to issues with mold and storage. If it rains, you can drop but not swap. Goodwill Industries will have a truck to collect furniture, textiles and appliances, as well as clothing. The committee will provide plastic bag collection bin, present recycling information and set up the “sorting” game for people to see what can be recycled and what cannot.
The MBTA is also holding its recycling event at the Salem train station on the same day. Nancy has been in contact with the organizers about this collection. MBTA will be using a company to process what is collected and is accepting the following materials: E-waste, scrap metal, rigid plastics. Members and volunteers will be directing people to the train station to drop off such items, rather than bring them to the Common.
It is critical that the public be informed about the MBTA collection location and materials, as well as what the committee is collection on the Common. The MBTA will do some promotion, but is looking to the committee to also promote the MBTA event widely. Nancy has agreed to follow up with MBTA to work out what MBTA needs/expects from the committee, i.e. promotion, volunteers.
Nancy announced that as of the date of the meeting, the committee FB page has 594 “Likes”. She has suggested reaching out to our FB friends and asking them to like the committee FB page, as this will drive up the activity and increase exposure. It was suggested to send a post to the mayor’s FB page to be shared and reach more people. Nancy is looking for items to post so please forward related articles and information you see of interest. Nancy did inquire if Hazardous Waste days have FB event notices.
- Solid Waste and Recycling Contract Update
Julie circulated an article about single stream vs. dual stream recycle pickup. The disposal contract for the city will be more favorable to the city than the prior contract due to the bidding process and increased recycling results. The collection was separated from disposal with this contract negotiation and proved to be a good economic decision. The new contracts are effective July 1, 2013, and only after approval by the city council.
Mandatory recycling is being discussed for Salem. In order to take advantage of a DEP grant, an ordinance or regulation must be in place, and it must require recycling with a possible fine as a penalty. The grant will pay for the enforcement officer who would be responsible for communicating the rule to residents and would be the person who would issue the warnings and fines.
The ordinance is being drafted by the city for comment and a vote by the council. A concern about the effect on landlords and tenants was raised. Typically, the owner is the party who would be fined for noncompliance. Landlords will need to be made aware of this and would likely amend their leases with their tenants to require recycling by the tenants, as other communities have done. The work of the committee will be to increase awareness of the mandatory policy and how people can recycle and avoid any fines.
The new trash contracts provide for overflow bag use when a household has exceeded the current three (3) trash can limit for curbside pickup. The overflow bags would be purchased by consumers at various outlets in the area and could be used to set out the trash that exceeds the trash can limit. The committee was asked to suggest a color and the consensus was lime green.
The new contract also provides the opportunity for committee members to work with the trash collectors directly to educate on effective recycling.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:40pm.
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