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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999-01-13 Solid Waste Advisory Committee Minutes'L~e'reG P CT Solid Waste Advisory Committee January 13,1999 Minutes Present: Members: Jackie Chipman, Jennifer Culbert,- Anne Mark,1B&Ar9wn, Jean Krogh. Associate Member: Nate White. Staff Liaison: Ted McIntire. Guest: Dick Smith t~f ~8 2; Jackie Chipman called the meeting to order in the Conference Room of the Reading Fire Station at 7:32 p.m. The corrected minutes from the December meeting were approved 4-0-1. MRIP Discussion. Ted reported that the town received $7,544 from MRIP for the 2nd 6-month submittal period in FY 99. Since DEP didn't approve funding this year for educational mailings for Reading, the cost of $2,964 for the mailings will be subtracted from the MRIP money. Paying for our informational mailing is a clear use of MRIP money to encourage recycling. The remainder of the money will go into the General Fund. Ted passed out copies of the MRIP requirements with information about how we're doing for the next 6-month period. Under the "Participation" category, we'll meet the same three requirements as before but may be able to add an Earth Day event. Elderly participation-- Anne talked to Lois Bond, who suggested that we put out educational materials in 14 pt. type or larger. We could print some 14 pt. double-sided copies of our "Reading's Hidden Treasure" for distribution to elders, available at the Senior Center. We could also enlarge some copies of the DEP flyers, when we get them. Lois would be delighted to have tidbits on recycling far her weekly column (needed by Mondays). Give items to her in finished form. We could submit excerpts from our booklet. Anne will ask Lois if she's aware they can recycle at the Senior Center; the Senior Center might already be recycling paper. Waste Management will pick up recyclables from any municipal building, if the recyclables are put out. We then discussed the "Access" category, especially focusing on recycling in the schools (SWAC's 1999 focus?). The high school doesn't recycle paper; the front office at the high school had told Waste Management not to pick up paper. At the high school, a band parent has taken it on herself to gather discarded drink containers and recycle them in her own red bin, starting Jan. 15''. Jackie will call Jeff Griffin (who couldn't make it to our meeting because of the weather) to talk about recycling at the high school. Killam is doing some recycling in addition to paper, but other schools are recycling just paper. Teachers are interested in recycling; some take items home to recycle. Schools were supplied toters, but who knows if they're doing anything with them. Newspapers are collected in toters, which get quite heavy. The town's offering the collection of recyclables to the schools meets the MRI1P access criteria. Whether or not the schools recycle is another issue. - Suggestion: Schedule a meeting with John from Waste Management, members of our committee, representatives from the elementary schools. Or John could meet with Cathy Cook who is in charge of the cafeterias in all the schools. Anne talked to EcoSmith about a textile collection. EcoSmith is now scheduling collections for the spring but is not offering as much money per ton as before. Anne will continue to look into this. We may eventually have enough special collections (tires, textiles, computers, etc.) to qualify for this "Access" requirement. Under MRIP's "Buy Recycled" category: Bob called School Superintendent Harry Harutunian about the schools' buy recycled policy. Harry said the recycled copying paper was not satisfactory. Yet, Reading's other municipal offices all copy with recycled paper. A memo from Peter Hechenbleikner had gone but to all department heads about buying recycled. Buying; recycled is not meant to be a money-saving proposition. Jackie and Bob will call Jeff Griffin, who could talk to Harry H. Schools no longer have an official purchasing agent. Points for Jeff: Increasing school recycling; purchasing agent; more buying recycled. Reading's Hidden Treasure" coloring book. Mary Ellen Becker's Girl Scout troop did not choose our project; instead they're working on traffic issues at the high school. Would Honors Society students or Campfire Girls take this on as a project? If not, do we as a committee want to do this? How could we make it more than just a design project? Jackie (Barrows and Birch Meadow), Jennifer (Joshua Eaton), and Lynda (Killam) will contact some teachers about this possible project and will ask if the teachers want REAPS presentations. Condo Educational Campaign. Anne and Lynda are the SWAC subcommittee for this. An educational packet for condo owners might include a brochure or flyer about how things are to be prepared for recycling; a poster; updated copies of "Reading's Hidden Treasure;" clear decals/labels to go on containers; an individual letter from SWAC to each homeowner, a copy of the town's rubbish rules. Logistics of recycling will be different at each complex, so each condo complex will have to make up its own set of rules; each will have to work with Ted. Dick Smith from Summit Towers said some condos might not go along because of physical space limitation for storing recyciables. Do they understand that if they don't recycle, the town won't pick up their rubbish? A letter from Ted to condo trustees is needed, to explain what's going to happen April 1. Each condo will need to send back a form to the Town. At least 350 homes will be added. Greenhouse Acres will probably be the simplest; they'll probably just continue putting out their trash. But logistics problems are not insurmountable for any of the condo complexes. Ted will supply as many toters as a condo complex needs. It will take people in the condos a while to get all their recycling right. How do we figure percent participation for condos? What qualifies as participation? Maybe reducing trash could be an issue we focus on with condo owners sometime in the future. We can make suggestions to the Select Board of revisions to "Rubbish Rules and Regulations." These are enforceable under the Town by-laws. Can we include copies ofthe Rubbish Rules with water and sewer bills? It was suggested that the "Rubbish Rules and Regulations" be included in our next meeting's packet. We could then review these for possible revisions and for possible inclusion in "Reading's Hidden Treasure." Ted could review our suggested revisions and submit them to the Select Board. Earth D . Jennifer will call Camille Anthony to follow up on Camille's plan to get an Earth Day planning meeting together. We'll talk more about Earth Day at our next meeting. Old Business. --Reading's Hidden Treasure corrections: Anne delivered corrections to Kay. Jean will call Kay to talk about removing some of the excess white space. --Articles by Sharon Kishida: Lynda is revising the article on the chasing arrows symbol. --Jean told about the Preserve toothbrush, made from recycled plastic. She will ask CVS, Brooks, and the Atlantic about carrying this brand. New Business. The Salvation Army store in Saugus will accept individual contributions of computers, Bob said. If a town has a grant, the Salvation Army will pick up computers by the truckload at a cost of $300/ton (paid by the grant or the town). We could arrange to ship computers to Saugus or make arrangements directly with Global. The state press release about the upcoming CRT ban will come out soon. Maybe people will have to pay a fee to drop off CRTs, just as they pay to drop off tires and to have appliances picked up. The Salvation Army resells the computers. Reports and Comments. Ted attended a hazardous household products forum on Jan. 7d'. Our next meeting will be February 10, 1999. The meeting was adjourned at 9:38 p.m.