What’s more satisfying than installing rows and rows of seedlings into your garden? Not much. Keep that green glow going by giving those now-empty plastic pots and flats a rinse and popping them into your recycling bin. That’s right — they’re recyclable! As long as you clean out the dirt, you can recycle them along with your cans, bottles, and papers.

This year’s uniquely Vermont event known as Green Up Day will happen on Saturday, May 5th, 2012. On that day, residents and businesses across the state will be scouring the landscape to collect debris left by roadsides, washed into creeks, and hiding in other places that should be green and pristine instead of littered with, well, litter!

To learn how you can help out, check out the Green Up Day participation page that shows Vermont counties and will connect you with your local coordinator.  Then all that’s left is to contact him or her to see how you can help out.

Green Up Day is coordinated state-wide by Green Up Vermont, a private non-profit organization.  Funding for this organization comes from many sources including the State of Vermont, private businesses and individuals, and voluntary donations from towns and cities.

CSWD supports Green Up Day with an annual donation in the name of our member towns and cities.  In 2011 CSWD donated $4,050 on behalf of our member towns. We also donate the recycling costs of all the tires officially collected as part of Green Up Day.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency wants your drugs … the leftover ones, that is! On Saturday, April 28, 2012, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., local constabulary will be on hand at various locations to accept your leftover prescription drugs for proper destruction. This is particularly helpful if you have leftover dangerous or addictive medications that require extra care when it comes time for their disposal. It’s free, it’s anonymous, and it’s the safest way to dispose of them.

Note: This event is NOT taking place at CSWD Drop-Off Centers or the Environmental Depot! We will not accept leftover drugs for special handling at these facilities.

Drug Take-Back Day locations:

Burlington Police Dept., 1 North Avenue
Essex Police Dept., 81 Main St., Essex Junction
Hinesburg Police Dept., 10212 Rt. 116
Richmond Police Dept., 285 Bridge St.
Shelburne Police Dept., 5420 Shelburne Rd.
South Burlington University Mall parking lot, 155 Dorset St.
Williston: Shaw’s parking lot, 71 Boxwood St.
Winooski Police Dept., 27 West Allen St.

The 2010 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study notes that 51 percent of those surveyed believe that most teens acquire prescription drugs from their own family’s medicine cabinets. Prevent this from happening in your home and bring your unused prescription drugs to Take Back Day for destruction.

What makes your garbage so smelly? Food scraps. What helps plants grow tall and strong? Food scraps … once they’ve been composted, that is. During April, we’re spotlighting all things compost: what it is, how it’s made, why your plants are asking for it by name.

We all know that paper, plastic, and metal are now considered resources rather than trash, and that’s why we divert them from the landfill so they can be recycled. Well, the same goes with food scraps, yard debris, and farm manures. When you add those compostable materials to your backyard pile, or toss them into the handy bins at any CSWD Drop-Off Center or Green Mountain Compost in Williston, you are helping recycle those resources into a rich, black soil that gets tilled right back into the gardens that feed our community.

CSWD and Green Mountain Compost have teamed up with local organizations to celebrate the compost cycle and your role in keeping it going. Come help us celebrate compost month!

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April 1 – May 31: CarShare Vermont users get 10% off at Green Mountain Compost when you come to GMC in Williston to load up on bulk compost (there is a 1/2-cubic-yard minimum for all customers). “Tammy Tacoma” is the latest pick-up truck addition to their fleet — perfect for picking up a load of compost!
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Sunday April 22: “Dirt! The Movie”
We guarantee that however you feel now about the thin crust that sustains us, you will feel differently about it when you emerge from “Dirt: The Movie.” It’s funny and profound, and one of those rare documentaries that educates, energizes, and leaves you feeling good about what you can do in your daily life to be a better Earthling.

WHEN: Sunday, April 22 at 4 p.m.
WHERE: Main Street Landing‘s Earth Day Film Festival (corner of Main and Battery streets in Burlington. The entire festival runs from noon-8 p.m.)
WHAT ELSE: The chance to win these great raffle prizes:
• SoilSaver backyard compost bin and Terra Fuela sunflower sprouting kits from Green Mountain Compost
• EcoStack compost bin from Gardener’s Supply Co.
• $75 gift certificate for CarShare Vermont
• Two 2012 season passes for Burlington Parks and Recreation Dept.
• Several reusable shopping bags and T-shirts from the Chittenden Solid Waste District
INFO: Marge Keough at CSWD (802-872-8100 x234; or mkeough@cswd.net).
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April 23 – 28: Annual Compost Sale at Green Mountain Compost
Save $10 on every cubic yard of bulk compost at Green Mountain Compost, 1042 Redmond Road, Williston.
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April 28: CompostFest at Green Mountain Compost We’re celebrating our new facility with a huge party with free food and activities!

With record high temperatures comes the need to clear out those flower beds so the spring bulbs can enjoy the sunny days, too.  If you suddenly have lots of leaves and other yard debris on your hands, here’s where you can unload it –  conveniently and for free:

• Loads of 3 cubic yards (about a small pickup bed) or less may be brought to any CSWD Drop-Off Center (DOC).
• Loads up to 6 cubic yards, and dumping mechanisms, can go to the McNeil Wood & Yard Waste Depot at 111 Intervale Road in Burlington. McNeil’s winter hours are in effect until mid-April:  Tue-Fri 8-12; Sat 8-4.
• Loads larger than 6 cubic yards, and dumping mechanisms, must go to  Green Mountain Compost or the Williston Drop-Off Center only.

Yard debris collected at McNeil’s Depot and the CSWD Drop-Off Centers will be transported to Green Mountain Compost, where it will be used to make compost.

Acceptable material: Leaves, grass clippings, weeds, garden debris, house plants, and other yard and garden debris less than 1/2-inch in diameter. This material is banned from landfill disposal. If you bring it in a non-compostable bag, you must empty the bag of its contents and either reuse the bag or dispose of it as trash.

Noxious weeds and diseased plants

Noxious or invasive weeds and plants such as poison ivy, wild parsnip and giant hogweed can be brought to any CSWD Drop-Off Center or Green Mountain Compost for composting.

The high temperatures achieved at Green Mountain Compost will reduce these plants to compost, degrade their noxious compounds, and destroy their seeds. These plants should NOT be composted in backyard compost bins, which do not typically reach and sustain sufficiently high temperatures to accomplish this.

Back in the dark ages of recycling 25 years ago, Chittenden County households were for the most part able to recycle only newspapers, cans, and bottles, at community drop-off sites. Limited recycling was available for other materials. Nowadays, we can recycle a wide array of products and materials right at our curbs and at a number of facilities built to keep recyclables, compostables, and reusables out of the waste stream and in use.

Here’s a before and after snapshot of our recycling efforts in Chittenden County:

- Estimated annual amount recycled prior to implementation of CSWD’s solid waste management plan: 23,000 tons
- Average amount recycled each year since CSWD began building facilities in 1992: 123,500 tons
- Total amount recycled since 1992: 2.35 million tons!

What are those amazing facilities that enabled residents and businesses to recycle more than 5 times the amount per year than they could back in 1987? We’re so glad you asked! Here’s the roster:

- Drop-Off Centers: There are now seven of ‘em around Chittenden County, where you can bring everything you can put in your blue bin or cart for recycling, plus a slew of other items that we can keep out of the landfill and send back to market to be recycled into fresh products.

- Environmental Depot: Located on Airport Parkway in South Burlington, we accept hazardous materials from residents and businesses in Chittenden County. It is here that we recycle latex paint into Local Color paint, and sell it to contractors, residents, and businesses (2 gallons for under $20! Such a deal!).

- Materials Recovery Facility: Our giant recycling facility in Williston accepts a wide variety of glass, metal, and plastic packaging, paperback books, and a mixture of paper and cardboard, all in the same blue bin or cart. The money we make selling recyclables on the open market helps pay for the cost of aggregation and shipping of the materials and helps fund other waste reduction initiatives.

- Green Mountain Compost: Formerly known as Intervale Compost Products, and now located in Williston, where we accept food scraps, farm manures, and yard debris from residents and businesses in and around Chittenden County. We make compost and other soil products at our facility in Williston and sell it to garden centers, hardware stores, and co-ops.

A lot has happened over the past two and a half decades and we are looking forward to expanding our facilities and accepting even more materials in the near future. After all, if we can recycle something into another material or product, then it’s no longer a waste — it’s a resource.

Ever think of your recycling bin as a love letter? In honor of Valentine’s Day, send a message of love to Planet Earth by filling your recycling bin rather than your trash can this week. At the end of the week, you will be amazed at how little trash you have to send to the landfill. If you’re confused about what goes in your bin, here’s a little primer:

Plastic food & beverage containers: bottles, dairy tubs, jugs, plastic take-out/leftover containers — just be sure to rinse out any leftover food. NO-NO’s: NO paper milk/juice cartons, NO juice/soy boxes, NO Styrofoam.

Metal food & beverage containers: cans, pie tins, aerosol cans  — all should be empty and rinsed out NO-NO’s: NO non-food/beverage metal objects. Recycle these FREE at CSWD Drop-Off Centers.

Glass bottles & jars: Rinse ‘em out! NO-NO’s: NO dishes, NO windows, NO other glass household items.

Paper: Junk mail, office paper, cardboard, dry-food boxes (cereal, crackers, etc.). NO-NO’s: NO Waxy paper inner-bags, NO plastic/wax-coated paper such as frozen/fridge food boxes or milk/juice cartons, NO wet or food-soiled paper.

If you would like more information, please call our Hotline at 872-8111, send us an email, or visit our online recycling page or visit our cool A-Z List, where you can enter the name of whatever you’re trying to get rid of and we’ll let you know if there are options for reuse or recycling to keep it out of the landfill!

If it has a triangle with a number in it, doesn’t that mean it’s recyclable??

We get this question all the time, and not just about  Styrofoam™.

Today, though, we’ll focus on this seemingly inescapable material that is technically known as “expanded polystyrene,” and which has been in use in the United States since the 1930′s.

Polystyrene symbol

Without getting all chemistry-nerd on you, we’ll just say that polystyrene is a type of plastic made from petroleum. This kind of plastic is labeled with the symbol you see here. Unfortunately, just because a plastic item has a “chasing arrows” triangle and a number, that doesn’t mean it’s recyclable everywhere! We’ll get to that in a minute.

In its basic form, polystyrene is a hard, fairly rigid, often clear plastic that’s used for all kinds of products: plastic cutlery, CD jewel cases, license plate frames, smoke detector housing, and even Petri dishes–to name just a very few. With a little more chemical wizardry, this same plastic can be expanded until it is 98% air, resulting in expanded polystyrene (EPS).

Most folks know EPS by its DOW Chemical brand name: Styrofoam™. The reason EPS has become so ubiquitous is that it has great insulation and cushioning properties, and it can be molded into just about any shape you might need.

The problem–from a recycling perspective–is that it’s tough to accumulate enough of this air-filled material to make it worth collecting, sorting, and marketing for sale. Plus, because it’s 98% air, you’ve got to have a special machine that will heat the material sufficiently to “densify” it into compact blocks. Otherwise, it just doesn’t make make economic or environmental sense to ship it hundreds (or thousands) of miles to markets that will reprocess it into a form that can be manufactured into new products.

Phew! Now you know why Styrofoam™ and EPS in all its forms can NOT be recycled in Chittenden County. There are a very few areas in the U.S. that are finding ways to recycle this material, but they are big cities with different economics.

If you are really committed to keeping your EPS out of the landfill, check out the mail-in option offered by Recycle Tech.

Otherwise, please dispose of this material with your trash, NOT with your recycling.

Thanks!

Michele Morris, CSWD Business Outreach Coordinator

Have you added de-cluttering to your list of New Year’s resolutions? Here’s a quick list to help you fulfill that resolution so you can get on to more interesting ones, like getting outside to play more and spending more time with friends and family.

- CSWD’s A-Z List: Just type in the item or material you want to get rid of and you’ll find the best way to do it here. If it doesn’t appear, try the search box located near the top of each web page. Still not getting the info you need? Call or e-mail our Hotline (872-8111; info@cswd.net).

- CSWD’s ReUse Page: Here you’ll find companies, organizations, and groups interested in receiving a variety of items still in good condition that you may no longer need: household goods, architectural and renovation materials, sporting goods, clothing … you name it!

-  CSWD’s Drop-Off Centers: We take lots more than trash and blue-bin recyclables at our 7 Drop-Off Centers located in Burlington, Essex, Hinesburg, Milton, Richmond, South Burlington, and Williston. Chittenden County residents and businesses from any town can use any location. Items we accept include appliances, batteries, books, cardboard, cell phones, clothing, electronics, fluorescent bulbs & tubes, food for composting, yard & garden trimmings, leaves, mercury products, motor oil & filters, propane tanks, scrap metal, tires, reusable items, and more. Fees, limits, and specifications apply to certain items. We also accept reusable items at our ReUse Zones (at the discretion of CSWD staff).

- CSWD’s Environmental Depot: We accept hazardous leftovers from households and qualifying businesses. Materials accepted include automotive supplies, hobby supplies, health & beauty aids, home improvement supplies, household cleaners, garden supplies, and more. Bring your leftover latex paint and it might even be reblended into fresh, premium paint called Local Color, made and sold — 2 gallons for under $20! — right here at the Depot. We accept hazardous materials from households at no charge; some fees apply to businesses. The Depot accepts materials only from Chittenden County residents and businesses.

- Electronics: Thanks to the Vermont E-Cycles program, most Vermonters and some businesses qualify for FREE recycling of their electronics! That means your computer and peripherals and your old TV may cost you nothing to recycle. Visit CSWD’s Electronics Recycling Page to find out if you and your electronics qualify for this program.

- CSWD’s Green Mountain Compost facility: Formerly known as Intervale Compost Products, we relocated from Burlington’s Intervale to the foothills of the Green Mountains. We’re working harder and smarter than ever to offer you an alternative to throwing what we consider a valuable resource — your kitchen scraps — into the landfill. Bring kitchen scraps to any Drop-Off Center or to Green Mountain Compost, and we’ll take them at no charge. You will cut the amount of trash you toss out by about a third, which means you could save money on your trash bill! We’ll even give you a free compost pail and transport bucket if you want to give it a try. Stop by any Drop-Off Center and ask for one!

- CSWD’s Hotline: CSWD staff is available Monday-Friday, 9-4, to answer your questions. Here’s how to contact us: Call 802-872-8111 or E-mail info@cswd.net. Go ahead — try to stump us!

Let’s be honest: For most people, ”waste reduction” is not a phrase that makes your heart go pitter-patter. But when you get together with a group of people from your community and talk about how recycling can help reduce our dependence on foreign oil or save resources for the future, or that by composting you can help put the brakes on climate change . . . then “waste reduction” starts to take on a deeper, more far-reaching meaning than what might have come to mind before.

Add videos, raffle prizes, energized discussion, pot-luck feasts, and connecting with your community, and now you’ve got something to look forward to!

Check out our communities and municipalities page and scroll down to see how we can help you organize an event in your neighborhood, church, town hall, art gallery, park, or wherever a group can gather. CSWD can help you throw a party for your little corner of the planet so we can all learn a little bit more about how to make our impact on the environment as positive as possible.

Now that’s something that’ll make your heart go pitter-patter!

For information on how CSWD can help you organize a community event, contact Marge Keough, CSWD Community Outreach Coordinator; 872-8100 ext. 234; mkeough@cswd.net.