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Recycling Committee Minutes 09/03/2014
SalemRecycles Minutes
September 30, 2014 6:30 pm

Present: Tony Keck, Julie Rose, Beth Melillo, Susan Yochelson, Nancy Gilberg, Erin Huggard, Marcia Lambert, Flora Tonthat
Absent: Lynn Murrary, Penny Neal, Liz Vago
Guests:Carol Hautau, Geri Yuhas, Kaylee Roberts,  John Roberts, Myrna Soper

Meeting opened at 6:30 by Tony Keck

New Business:
  • September 2nd Minutes: Minutes are approved by all present.
  • Other:
  • Press Conference scheduled on the steps of city hall for Thursday, October 2, 2014 at noon.  This is a photo opportunity for SalemRecycles to be present as Mayor Driscoll, SAFE, Salem Sound Coastwatch, Sierra Club and MASSPIRG show their support for the updated Bottle Bill.
  • Reminder about October 7th forum hosted by SAFE to discuss both environmental ballot questions and how they impact the environment.  SalemRecycles affirms the same position on question 2 (regarding Bottle Bill) as SAFE.
Old Business:
  • Drop Box: Send all photos to be uploaded to drop box.  Photos are available for use in communication  such as newsletters or blogs.  A tutorial can be given to those who need help, and if need information again request from Flora or Julie.  
  • Beverly Swap and Drop.  Nancy will attend the November meeting of Beverly Recycles in order to discuss best practices and present information or suggestions as needed.
  • Haunted Happenings Parade.  Happening on October 2nd.  7 People will march in the parade, costumes are highlighting composting in Salem and hopefully there will be a lot of interaction with the crowd.
  • Debrief on BookSwap
  • Positive: Richard directing traffic in lot; student at exit preventing cars from coming in wrong way helped as well as volunteers at the door to help with bringing in books.  Constant monitoring at intake table as well as Tony and Erin doing overview management kept things under control.  Separating the upcycle display and moving location away from the door was helpful.  Charter school and YMCA Teen Leadership volunteers were very helpful; too many on first shift. Breaking down boxes as the books came in was very helpful.  Splitting the Home and Garden and Cookbooks was a good decision as well.
  • Jeff-‘sold’ 30 compost bins (24 signed up that day)
  • Ideas for organization: This year Adele brought tape and notecards for the sorting table which helped runners find the books and quickly move them.  Also, a reminder to set aside space for Large Print books in the future.  An additional table for fiction in the future would be helpful.  
  • Upcycle display, though appreciated and liked, would be better at a different venue.
  • November Textiles Drive – Julie will be away this date, reminder to create a checklist for the day.  
  • 2015 Event Dates – please raise concerns or conflicts with holidays, city events, or other issues.
  • Book Swaps: March 28, Sept 19
  • Drop and Swap: May 2
  • Textiles Drive: Nov 21
  • Living Green Fair: TBD
  • Thank you Volunteers Event : Late June
  • Correspondence
  • Facebook – over 1000 likes!  
  • Constant Contact newsletter topics – This month several members of the committee already sent Eva topics for the October newsletter.  Susan and Liz are still working on aspects of the newsletter.  Discussion will happen later in the month to determine if Eva wants to transition the newsletter.
  • GreenSalem.com updates – Added the SalemRecycles approved Bottle Bill statement, as well as the thermometer measuring how many toters we have to go until 1500. SalemRecycles was plugged several times by Social Palates in the last few months, a big thank you to John as this likely drove a lot of traffic to the site.
  • Monthly Blog – Beth wrote a How I Recycled on my Summer vacation.  Plans for October to cover seasonal plastic recycling as well as composting in two separate blog posts.
Themes for October: Costumes and Candy.  November: Composting and Turkey! Especially cold weather composting Tips.
  • Curbside Composting – Currently there are 860 households, still hoping for 1500 by December.
  • Mandatory Recycling –There are no new issues to report.
Other Business
  • General Committee Announcement
  • The Dual Stream poster in the Recreation calendar is designed to reach a broader audience and presents information clearly – but we will want to continue promoting this on multiple channels.
Next SalemRecycles meeting will be November 4 at 6:30pm.  A reminder to all committee members that this coincides with election day – plan accordingly!