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Salem Recycles Committee
Meeting Minutes
June 4, 2013
Attending: Erin Huggard, Julie Rose, Lynn Murray, Nancy Gilberg, Janis Breeze, Jeff Cohen, Tony Keck, Liz Vago, Penny Neal
Visitors: Mark George of Northside Carting, Councilor Bill Legault
7pm meeting called to order by Chair Erin Huggard
April 30 meeting minutes approved.
New Business:
- Mark George presented the draft warning Sticker that would be used in the mandatory recycling process to offenders. It was the sticker used to reject trash and he asked for input on the revision for the new recycling requirements. The group provided some input about recycling and suggested including adding “No Recycling”, information about plastic bags, and placing the websites for the committee and GreenSalem.com on the sticker. Mark will work on a draft of the new sticker and communicate with Julie Rose, who will then circulate to the committee for comment.
- 2013 DEP Grant for home composters was discussed. The grant would provide 1500 curbside bins to collect compostable materials. The bins are 32 gallon rolling toters. This would be used in a pilot program for the city. The costs of the collection are unknown. A test route would need to be developed consisting of volunteer composters. The exact type of materials that can be composted would need to be communicated. A suggestion was made to contact vendors from the Farmer’s Market for any interest in the materials collected.
- GreenSalem.com and GreenSalem.org were the next items on the agenda. We are gravitating toward the use of Wordpress for the sites. The sites will include a Reuse and Repurpose section. It was recommended to include photos of items that could be Reused/Repurposed so people can see actual examples. Jeff discussed the issue relating to metal keys and why they are not recyclable. He has a contact name for a location in Avon, MA that collects discarded keys and donates funds to food banks for the keys. Nancy suggested including this information on the committee FaceBook page. The sites are soon to go LIVE and will need further committee comments.
- Nancy brought some articles to peruse regarding different TERRACYCLE programs, i.e. cigarette butts, candy wrappers, chip bags, etc. Liz suggested this may be something to promote via schools to do collections for fund raising and at the Y, Boys/Girls Club, etc. Julie said it may be a good idea to start this around Halloween when there are plenty of candy wrappers. Penny suggested that a TERRACYCLE collection box be included at the next Recycle event. The collected materials will need to be delivered to Newburyport, or other community that uses this collection system.
Old Business:
- Google Group update has been working well and the members expressed satisfaction with it.
- Julie posted the enforcement officer position (mandatory recycling grant). Final job duties were being defined and would be submitted to DEP for approval prior to hiring a person for the position.
- Penny has updated the door hangers for use by the new enforcement officer. It looks great! Do need to clarify if bottle caps are to be included with recycle collection or discarded as trash (as was policy in past). All caps must be off bottles at time of collection.
- Update of the Bottle Bill was next. Senate passed the bill. House has some conflicts with the bill. It is being sent to committee to work out the differences. Nancy has suggested contacting the people who will be on that committee to encourage passage of the bill.
- The Saltonstall Fair was attended by Julie in May. Successful interest in the plastic bags being used in “tyvex wood”. Julie suggested a new game for the science fair, as the Sorting Game is getting a bit stale and not a challenge to those who have seen it before. She asked for some ideas for a hands-on activity for children. Please think of some activities and games for the fair and let Julie know.
- Clean Salem-Green Salem Event on May 4 was debriefed. The MBTA recycling event held at the train station was widely attended. 43,717 lbs of materials were collected and 367 cars came through. The materials broke down: 3,850 lbs of TVs, 39867 lbs of other materials. Its proximity to the Swap n Drop event at the park nearby was helpful for those dropping off items. Goodwill collected 3000 lbs. of materials. Overall participation a the committee’s site was down from the prior year (was held on the Common). Location was not the best for this event and it will not be held in the Commercial Street park again. Overwhelming desire of the committee is to hold the event on the Common next year. Councilor Legault suggested reaching out to the Y, and Boys/Girls Club in advance
of that event to include them in the planning and participation of the event. Lynn questioned why a dealer was taking so much and suggested a sign “NO DEALERS” next year. Goodwill is partnering with the committee and should benefit from the event by taking what the public does not take, rather than have dealers come and take the materials and then sell them. Goodwill is able to use nearly all materials brought to the event.
Nancy initiated a discussion of the dates for the events in 2014. Julie noted that the Parks and Recreation Department publication has a calendar of events listed and the Recycle Committee’s events could be included, along with “recycling tips”.
- FaceBook update. Now up to 684 “Likes”. Getting great traffic on the page for the spring events. Nancy is posting Styrofoam collection schedule for the Peabody collection location. She will continue to include this information in her posts. Nancy also contact REFOAMIT about collection and they have a flyer that has the collection locations and dates listed. Nancy is going to ask local grocers about posting those flyers, especially those grocers that use Styrofoam in their retail food packaging. After looking at the flyer, Penny offered to reformat the flyer. Liz suggested including the information found on the GreenSalem site.
- There is no July meeting for the committee. Next meeting is August 6.
Other Business:
- Erin has requested committee members avoid using emails to members with political solicitations. This is critical because it is a city committee and cannot be affiliated with any political group or party, including campaigning for any person. Policy issues are appropriate to communicate among members.
- Upcycle/Repurpose: Julie asked if the displays to be used for the September Book Swap could be developed and changed. She asked for volunteers. The displays could be used at the next Volunteer Coffee/meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 8:28 pm. Next meeting August 6th.
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