Tag Archives: chittenden solid waste district

CSWD Now Recycles Single-Use Batteries (for free)

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As of this past January 1st, Chittenden Solid Waste District, our local solid waste management organization, now accepts single-use batteries for free recycling at drop-off centers and the environmental depot. Batteries have a much bigger carbon footprint than most things their sizes, and they add toxicity to landfills when just thrown away, so this is pretty great news for anyone interested in a cleaner environment or fighting climate change.

batteries

Here are the details from CSWD:

Starting January 1, 2016, CSWD Drop-Off Centers and the Environmental Depot will begin accepting  alkaline single-use batteries for recycling. To date, we have been able to accept only button-cell, lithium, rechargeable, lead-acid, and NiCd batteries for recycling. We are now adding single-use batteries to the roster of recyclable batteries.

Vermont is the first state to pass a product stewardship law that requires manufacturers of single-use batteries to pay for the collection and recycling of their products. An organization called Call2Recycle is overseeing the state-wide program, setting up nearly 100 collection sites. Since 1994, Call2Recycle has kept 100 million pounds of used batteries out of the landfill across the country.

All seven CSWD Drop-Off Centers and the Environmental Depot will accept single-use and other types of batteries free of charge, beginning in January.

★ DO NOT recycle batteries of any kind in your blue recycling bin or cart. They cannot be recycled with bottles, cans, paper, and other mandatory recyclables. They must be brought to a Drop-Off Center or the Environmental Depot for recycling.

Photo by John Seb Barber

Free backyard composting workshops Sep 14 & 15

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A message from the Chittenden Solid Waste District:

Discover the benefits of “closing the loop” with your own household food scraps in this interactive, hands-on demonstration of a healthy compost system — one that works for you all year ’round!

Compost1Compost2

WHEN: Monday, September 14, 5-6 pm and Tuesday, September 15, 5 to 6 pm.
WHERE: Green Mountain Compost Edu-Shed (1042 Redmond Rd., Williston)
RESERVATIONS REQUIRED: This is a popular class and space is limited — sign up here to reserve your spot: http://bit.ly/1FA2RlJ

Here’s what you’ll learn:
– What type of bin is best for you
– Where to locate your bin
– What to put into your bin (and what to avoid!)
– How to manage your bin
– Troubleshooting
– Harvesting your compost
– Alternatives to a backyard bin (pick up service, or drop-off composting)

Great Free Events on Composting, Gardening, Fruit Trees, and More

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reposted from a CSWD announcement
The Chittenden Solid Waste District (CSWD) and Green Mountain Compost are joining the rest of the planet in celebrating International Compost Awareness Week, May 3-9, with a roster of fun, soil-boosting workshops and activities. Check out the list below and reserve your spot at CSWD’s Compost Awareness Week web page at http://cswd.net/composting/compost-awareness-week/

Green Mountain Compost

* Monday May 4 and Friday, May 8, 5-6 PM: Green Mountain Compost facility tour (1042 Redmond Rd., Williston)
Learn where food scraps, yard trimmings, and even paper towels, napkins and pizza boxes become healthy soil. Get the dirt on a facility that incorporates leading technology gleaned from around the country-built right here in Williston, Vermont. Sign up to reserve your spot!

* Tuesday May 5 and Thursday, May 7, 5-6 PM: Backyard Composting workshops at Green Mountain Compost (1042 Redmond Rd., Williston)
Discover the benefits of “closing the loop” and building soils with your own household food scraps in this popular interactive session. Geared for adults. Sign up to reserve your spot!

* Wednesday, May 6, 5-6 PM: Edible Forest Gardens Workshop at Green Mountain Compost (1042 Redmond Rd., Williston)
Join Meghan Giroux from Vermont Edible Landscapes for a free workshop on creating edible forest gardens. Discover how to design, establish and maintain these edible ecosystems that mimic the structure and function of natural forests. Sign up to reserve your spot!

* Saturday, May 9, 10-3: CSWD/GMC at Kid’s Day at Burlington Waterfront
Join CSWD’s School Outreach Coordinator Rhonda Mace with a recycle relay race, photo ops where you pose as decomposers and/or food, a live composting worm farm, and up-close look at worms through a microscope.

* Saturday, May 9, 9-1:30: Vermont Community Garden Network’s Day in the Dirt
Help prepare community garden sites in Burlington that feed our schools and neighborhoods. ( Sign up with the Vermont Community Garden Network at http://vcgn.org/day-in-the-dirt/ )

Sign up for workshops on the CSWD Compost Awareness Week web page at http://cswd.net/composting/compost-awareness-week/

Join the CSWD Waste Warriors

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This post courtesy of Chittenden Solid Waste District

Are you a rampant recycler?
Do you carry your banana peel home when you can’t find a compost bin?
Are you on a mission to reduce waste and spread good fun in the process?

If so, we want you!  We’re looking for friendly, enthusiastic, volunteer Waste Warriors to help bring our waste reduction mission to life at Chittenden County events.

waste warriors

Your Waste Warrior opportunity starts with a free one-hour training, where you’ll become a certified CSWD Waste Warrior. Come meet like-minded neighbors, have a snack, and learn how to help make composting and recycling efforts at local events successful. You’ll learn:

  • How to determine what goes into recycling and composting containers (It’s not always as easy as you think – there are a lot of different kinds of materials and products out there!)
  • How to communicate with attendees in ways that help them learn
  • How to help an event up their game in making sure as much as possible stays out of the landfill
  • And more!

Sign up today! The Waste Warrior training dates are:

  • Monday, February 2nd
    5:30-6:30PM
    Contois Auditorium (City Hall), Burlington
  • Thursday, March 12th
    5:30-6:30PM
    Contois Auditorium (City Hall), Burlington

Waste Warrior Training Signup

Use the form here to sign up for a Waste Warrior training session.

CSWD Seeking Citizen Advisory Committee Participants

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From Clare Innes at Chittenden Solid Waste District:

The Chittenden Solid Waste District (CSWD) is forming a Citizen Advisory Committee to get public input on a proposal to change how trash and recycling is picked up from households in Chittenden County. CSWD has been examining a system called “consolidated collection,” whereby the County is divided into trash and recycling collection districts. Each district would be serviced by one hauler, who will be selected based on how they meet specific criteria.

CSWD is investigating introducing consolidated collection to Chittenden County because of its potential to reduce collection costs and the impact of excessive truck traffic on roads and the environment. Largely due to these economic and environmental efficiencies, consolidated collection is the most common form of residential service in the country. However, residents would no longer be able to choose their hauler.

For more information on consolidated collection, visit http://cswd.net/consolidated-collection.

The Committee of 12-15 members will meet four times, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on July 31, August 14 & 28, and September 11 at CSWD’s Administrative Office in Williston. A light meal will be provided.

If you are interested in serving on this committee, please email the following information by noon on July 16th to advisory@cswd.net (the information will be used to ensure a wide spectrum of participants):

Name:
City/Town/Village of residence:
E-mail address:
Phone number:
Age:
Gender:
Occupation:
Whether you rent or own your home:
Number of units in your building (e.g., single-family, duplex, 4 apartments, etc.):
Whether a hauler collects your trash curbside or you self-haul to a drop-off center:
Name of current hauler:
Have you heard of consolidated collection systems? If so, based on what you currently know, would you support or oppose this kind of system for Chittenden County?
Confirm availability on the 4 dates:

Tonight: Free showing of Bag It

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Bag It! poster

An average guy makes a resolution to stop using plastic bags at the grocery store. Little does he know that this simple decision will change his life completely. He comes to the conclusion that our consumptive use of plastic has finally caught up to us, and looks at what we can do about it. Today. Right now.

Watch the trailer: scroll down to or click on this link for the March 11th entry.

Free showing of Bag It! The Movie

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Try going a day without plastic. Plastic is everywhere and infiltrates our lives in unimaginable and frightening ways. In this touching and often flat-out-funny film, we follow “everyman” Jeb Berrier, who is admittedly not a tree hugger, as he embarks on a global tour to unravel the complexities of our plastic world. What starts as a film about plastic bags evolves into a wholesale investigation into plastic and its affect on our waterways, oceans, and even our own bodies. We see how our crazy-for-plastic world has finally caught up to us and what we can do about it. Today. Right now.

WHEN: Monday, March 31, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
WHERE: Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, 21 Library Lane, Williston

COST: It’s Free! Please bring your own cup and bowl for local popcorn and cider and help keep this event “zero waste.”  Enter to win raffle prizes and a chance to win a backyard SoilSaver compost bin too!

INFO:  This event is hosted by Sustainable Williston, Dorothy Alling Memorial Library and Chittenden Solid Waste District (CSWD). Film is best suited for ages 12 and up. For more info contact Marge Keough/CSWD at 802-872-8100 x234.

Art from Trash: Creative Reuse Showcase

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News from The Chittenden Solid Waste District:

Breakfast at Tape-anys by Sarina Cannizzaro

18th Annual CSWD Creative Reuse Art Showcase

The CSWD Creative Reuse Showcase is an art competition for Chittenden County students in grades 9 through 12. The purpose of the Showcase is to encourage students and the community in general to reduce waste by reconsidering what we consume and discard. Creative Reuse Showcase art is made from items and materials that have been used for their original purpose and then discarded either as landfill-bound trash or as recycling.

By entering, students compete for hundreds of dollars in cash and prizes from local sponsors. They may also earn a spot in a month-long exhibit of the Showcase at Frog Hollow Vermont State Craft Gallery in Burlington.

See the Showcase:

March 7: Showcase art exhibit opening at Frog Hollow. 85 Church St., Burlington, during First Friday Art Walk.

March 27 Closing Awards Bash at Frog Hollow. 6-7 pm (Awards at 6:30 pm)

More information at http://cswd.net/reduce-and-reuse/creative-reuse-showcase/

Deal for Vermonters: Compost Bin Plus Compost

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Another tip passed on by the Chittenden Solid Waste District, this time a deal on compost bins and compost. Have you considered a compost bin as a Christmas present?

It’s beginning to look a lot like …. compost!

Check out this great compost bin offer — just in time for holiday gift-giving.

compost bin

There’s something really satisfying about having a compost bin in your backyard — even in the wintertime. Every bucket of food scraps you pour into it is transformed into rich, dark compost by your very own herd of hard-working microbes, all year ’round. Every bucket of food scraps you keep out of the landfill has the potential to help build your own soil’s resilience through the wild weather we have here in Vermont.

We want to share that satisfaction with as many Chittenden County residents as possible, so in addition to our Drop-Off Composting program, we offer  SoilSaver backyard composting bins, year-round, at a great discount. And just in time for the holidays, we’re offering a great deal for those who come to Green Mountain Compost to buy a bin.

THE DEAL (starts Monday, December 9): Buy a SoilSaver for $49 at Green Mountain Compost and you’ll receive a coupon for your choice of:
– 25% off up to 2 yards of compost, or
– 25% off one delivery in Chittenden County, or
– 25% off one bag-yer-own purchase (10-bag limit)

THE DETAILS: Coupons available with purchase of a SoilSaver compost bin from Green Mountain Compost beginning Monday, December 9, 2013, through April 30, 2014. Bulk compost will be available for sale at Green Mountain Compost by April 1, 2014. Coupon expiration date: December 31, 2014. Limit one coupon per visit. May not be combined with any other offers.

Waste Not, Wassail More: Green Holiday Ideas

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Members and friends of Williston Green Initiatives contributed these ideas for making the holidays more sustainable.

First, some great ideas for sustainable wrapping. The carbon footprint of the presents themselves is still the main show, but you can reduce carbon footprint and waste while putting environmental consciousness at the fore in a positive way with these creative ways to wrap.

http://www.takepart.com/photos/wrappers-delight-eco-friendly-gift-presentation-ideas?cmpid=tpenviro-eml-2013-12-14-house

Wrapping with old maps

Also, there are ideas there that are much cooler than normal wrapping paper. Do I wish I had saved my old maps now? Oh indeed I do! Though we found our own solution to the problem (reclaimed rolls of paper and ink stamps).

Second, here are some waste reduction tips from Chittenden Solid Waste District:

http://www.takepart.com/photos/wrappers-delight-eco-friendly-gift-presentation-ideas?cmpid=tpenviro-eml-2013-12-14-house

LED lights

photo by Richard Masoner

Third, many thanks to Clare Innes, again at the Chittenden Solid Waste District for allowing us to post this information from their monthly email news flash:

Seven ways to keep your holiday spirit out of the landfill

1. Say NO! to artificial Christmas trees. Here’s why:
— The average artificial tree lasts 6 to 9 years but will remain in a landfill for centuries.
— Think a real tree poses a greater fire hazard? Think again. Artificial trees are made with polyvinyl chloride, which often uses lead as a stabilizer, making it toxic to inhale if there is a fire.
— Every acre of Christmas trees produces enough daily oxygen for 18 people. There are about 500,000 acres of Christmas trees growing in the U.S.
— Because of their hardiness, trees are usually planted where few other plants can grow, increasing soil stability and providing a refuge for wildlife.
— North American Christmas tree farms employ more than 100,000 local people; 80% of artificial trees worldwide are manufactured in China.
— Make a day of it and go to a local tree farm where you can cut your own, or purchase a potted tree and plant it in your yard after the holidays. You’ll also take home some sweet memories.

2. Declare your tree a tinsel-free zone — and just say NO to spray-on snow!
Tinsel and spray-on snow are big no-nos when it comes time to say goodbye to your tree. It’s nearly impossible to get it all off, and we can accept natural trees for free recycling only if they are completely free of anything Mother Nature herself didn’t install! Otherwise, those nasty additives make that tree fit only for the landfill, at a fee of $1 per foot in height at CSWD Drop-Off Centers.

3. Use recyclable or reusable wrapping paper.
In Chittenden County, wrapping paper is recyclable UNLESS it is printed with metallic inks or made of foil or plastic. The best material to use for wrap is something your recipient can reuse, such as a bandanna, a tea towel, a reusable cloth gift or shopping bag … the possibilities are endless.

If you still want to use wrapping paper, complete the recycling loop by purchasing wrap made with recycled paper. Let your favorite retailer know you’re looking for it and they’ll know that there’s a demand for it.

Recycling tip: Speedy recycling starts on your living-room floor on the Big Day: Sort recyclable paper into your recycling bin (NOT in a plastic bag). Put trash — ribbons, plastic and metallic paper and wrappings — in a trash bag, and you’ll get ‘er done as you go!

4. Use recyclable, reusable, or biodegradable gift decorations.
Ribbons and bows are big no-nos. Most are made of plastic and cannot be recycled. A better option would be to tie on an ornament that can be used on your tree, a knick-knack that will be enjoyed for years, or pinecones that can be composted or returned to the forest after use.

5. Regift!
Save gifts that aren’t quite what you need for someone who will appreciate them. If you can’t think of anyone you can pass it on to, bring it to a local charity or resale store, or a ReUse Zone at a CSWD Drop-Off Center and someone else will be glad to make use of it.

6. Don’t scrap your food scraps.
After your big meal, keep your plate scrapings and prep scraps out of the trash and stash them instead in a FREE food scrap bucket available at all CSWD Drop-Off Centers and Green Mountain Compost. When the bucket is full, bring it back in and we’ll use your scraps to make compost. We accept all types of food scraps: meat and bones, veggies, dairy products, egg and seafood shells — anything edible. And it’s FREE! Toss in greasy take-out pizza boxes as well. Stop on by any Drop-Off Center or Green Mountain Compost and we’ll give you a kitchen counter-top pail to peel your carrots into, and a 4-gallon bucket for bringing it to a Drop-Off Center or Green Mountain Compost — all for free!

7. Remember: “The best things in life aren’t things.”
Instead of giving an object, give an experience, such as a horseback-riding jaunt, skateboard lessons, movie tickets, or a promise to spend time together doing something you know your recipient loves to do. An online tool called sokindregistry.org offers fun ways to make gifts more personal and timeless.