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SalemRecycles Meeting Minutes – DRAFT
January 6, 2015
6:30p 3rd Floor 120 Washington Street, Salem.
Members Present: Tony Keck, Lynn Murray, Myrna Soper, Nancy Gilberg, Geri Yuhas, Erin Huggard, Penny Neal, Carol Hautau, John Roberts, Susan Yochelson, Beth Melillo, Julie Rose
Absent: Liz Vago, Flora Tonthat
Tony Keck opens the meeting at 6:30pm.
NEW BUSINESS
- November 4 Minutes: Minor editing suggested – missing names, garbled sentences corrected. Content approved.
- Freecycle Salem to SalemRecycles – The recent name change of the Yahoo Group “Salem Freecycle” to “SalemRecycle” prompted inquiry from SalemRecycles committee members. The former Freecycle group is no longer affiliated with Yahoo and changed its name accordingly. SalemRecycle will remain a group for community members to exchange items and has no affiliation with the city committee SalemRecycles. Nancy Gilberg will approach the moderator of the former Freecycle group asking for a brief statement of non-relatedness to appear on the website of the group; the similar name is not deemed a significant issue at this time.
- Drop and Swap - New collaboration: For the May event SalemRecycles has traditionally partnered with Goodwill. With recent leadership changes occurring at Goodwill SalemRecycles has been looking for new partnership. Julie Rose proposes collaboration with RECYCLE THAT with contact Matt Libby (principal). RECYCLE THAT has successfully handled similar events (eg: church yard sales) with mixed textiles, small appliances and bric-a-brac. RECYCLE THAT comes recommended from DEP and previous professional ties. Discussion regarding the business model, and end use of the goods (where do they ultimately end up?). Members are welcome to suggest other vendors, or to research RECYCLE THAT and present concerns. However, for the May event SalemRecycles committee approves RECYCLE THAT.
Goodwill will retain relationship for the textile drive and book swaps
- March 28 Book Swap – Initial discussion regarding when flyers will go out. In order to give community members time to collect materials, the flyers will be hung on various boards in Salem starting early February (Feb. 1).
- Park and Rec Book – Yard Waste, other 2015 dates.
- E-Waste - Changed information (Where to drop off your TV)Best Buy – Sticker program is still on our ordinance – but needs to be changed. No more picking up. Website information needs to get updated.
- Yard Waste – Information is available for community members on GreenSalem.com and other publications.
- Compost grant education funds – The committee has $750 dollars in order to spend on education and/ recruiting for the composting program. The money needs to be spent by March. There is a target of recruiting 300 more people to participate. Some suggestions for use of the money include:
- 1 - Newspaper Advertising. 2 - Boost on Facebook. 3- Send Flyer home with Salem schoolchildren. 4 - Flyers to be placed with churches. 5 - Banner Downtown. 6- Stickers on Pizza boxes talking about composting possibilities. 7 - Library Composting Display. 8 – Call the 300 participants who indicated interest but never picked up bins.
- After discussion – Decision is to spend the money on advertising in the paper, and on facebook page and to use SalemRecycles committee members time and effort to achieve low/no cost actions.
- Beth Melillo to call churches and ask about advertising space. Lynn Murray to craft a display for the Salem Public Library. Carol Hautau and Myrna Soper to call the 300 participants who haven’t picked up their bins yet.
OLD BUSINESS
- Cigarette Butt Recycling Update and Promotion: This bins are up, but they aren’t gaining much traction with smokers - how can SalemRecycles Promote this initiative? Discussion around the following aspects.
- Awareness raising, particularly at Bars and Restaurants. Susan Yochelson brought data from an project conducted to see the volume of cigarette butts in 13 central downtown locations. Highest concentration of butts on ground near Tavern at the Square, Front Street, and Essex and Washington intersection.
- Examine success and strategies from other cities such as New Orleans, and Canadian cities.
- Subcommittee to be formed to gather information and pursue this topic further. Subcommittee - Susan Yochelson, Carol Hautau, Lynn Murray, Nancy Gilberg, Myrna Soper.
- Dropbox – If you have pictures please upload. If you need a tutorial on how to use materials speak with Beth Melillo or another member.
- Textile Drive Debrief – Successful Textile Drive in November, 306 vehicles dropped off textiles, exceeding previous year’s donations [Couldn’t find the tonnage in email?] In the future a police detail will not be necessary and a committee member or volunteer will help with traffic flow.
- Correspondence –
- SalemRecycles facebook page has 1070 likes.
- SalemRecycles email newsletter has over 700 subscribers. For those who enroll in the composting program there is automatic enrollment. Susan Yochelson, Nancy Gilberg, Liz Vago will talk more regarding transition of the monthly newsletter from Eva Mossberg.
- GreenSalem – Continues to be updated with news and information. The e-waste program details will need to be updated to reflect current city information.
- Suggestion to review the “what goes where” guide to ensure accuracy and correct links. Priority should be given to local distribution channels for goods. Talk about a plan and process for keeping the resources updated.
- Blog post: 1 So far in January about tips to green common new years resolutions. Next blog post to focus on cold-weather composting.
- Dual Stream Recycling Guide – Please keep promoting it.
Themes for 2015 – Cigarette Butts. Promote Promote Promote.
- Curbside Composting – 957 participants so far.
- Curbside Composting – A reminder that ashes from fireplace can be composted. Please share composting tips with Beth Melillo for addition to the blog post.
- Mandatory Recycling – Currently 26 fines have been levied, and 23 have been excused since the addresses have started recycling.~ The Mandatory Enforcement coordinator position to drop to 19hrs/week effective beginning of January, and position will end April 15.~
OTHER
- Salem Sound CoastWatch: What ideas are there for responses regarding a recent Salem Sound Coastwatch post discussing trash and recycling that is blowing in the wind on pickup day.
- First, commend the commenter for their cheerful good citizenry in returning rubbish to the bin for the upcoming pickup. A helpful way of considering this dilemma is to provide two perspectives on responsibility. On the one hand, layering a recycling or trash container according to density prevents lighter items from littering the road. Taking time to tuck in trash and not overload containers might be helpful too – while noting that recyclables should never be placed in plastic bags. However, carelessly tossing trash into the truck is an issue, and if the commenter notices the use of excessive sloppiness then s/he should contact with complaints.
- Nominations for MassRecycles are due soon. SalemRecycles to nominate the city of Salem. Various committee members to provide a timeline of events of SalemRecycles and citywide initiatives.
Meeting Closed – 8:10pm.
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