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Chittenden Solid Waste District:
Show us your bounty — and win a truckload of compost!
“Fall is a great time to add compost to your garden,” says Ron Krupp, author of “The Woodchuck Returns to Gardening.” When Ron speaks, we know enough to listen! So we’re going to make it easy for you to get your hands on the best local compost: Send us a picture of this season’s harvest and you’ll get a free bag of Green Mountain Compost’s Complete Compost, PLUS you’ll be entered to win a truckload compost, delivered right to your doorstep, anywhere in Chittenden County!
Everybody wins in this contest, and two people will win a whole truckload of compost!
Just click here for info on how to send in your photo and contest details. Enter by 5 p.m., Friday, Oct. 24.Why is Fall a good time to add compost? Good question!
1. Unlike commercial fertilizers, compost contains mostly slow-release nutrients, so it takes time for them to become available for uptake by your plants. By adding compost at the end of the season, that compost will be fully incorporated into the soil by the time your plants are ready to start needing those nutrients in the spring.2. No bugs! Cool temperatures! Now’s the sweetest time to be out there building raised beds and clearing ground, preparing the way for next season’s bounty.
Got leaves? Here’s what to do with themColor in the treetops will soon be crunching underfoot as leaf-peeping season gives way to raking season, which coincides with putting-the-garden-to-bed season. What to do with all the leaf, yard, and garden debris? Read on for October information. Check the November NewsFlash for extra hours in November:
Non-woody leaf, garden, and yard debris includes leaves and plant material; small twigs OK as long as they’re no bigger around than a pencil. No rocks, sod, trash, or pumpkins (see story below for how to compost pumpkins).
Stay tuned to the November e-NewsFlash for extra hours and drop-off locations!
CSWD Drop-Off Centers Accepted free at all locations (Burlington, Essex, Hinesburg, Milton, Richmond, South Burlington, and Williston). Note: Williston is the only DOC that allows dumping mechanisms.
Green Mountain Compost (1042 Redmond Rd., Williston)
Now through Nov. 8: Mon-Sat 8-4
Dumping mechanisms allowed.McNeil Wood & Yard Waste Depot (111 Intervale Rd., Burlington): Up to 6 cubic yards. Dumping mechanisms allowed.
Tue, Thur, Fri, Sat 8-4.
Closed Sunday and Wednesday.Colchester residents may bring leaves only to Airport Park (off Colchester Point Road in the Malletts Bay area) Nov. 2 & 3, 8-4. Leaves may be loose or in compostable paper bags. No plastic bags.
Does composting STOP in the winter? Nope!As the red line in the thermometer heads south, many people wonder whether they should continue composting food scraps in the winter. “Doesn’t everything just stop?” they wonder.
Nope! While backyard compost piles slow waaaaaay down in the cold months, the process does keep right on happening all year ’round. And if you bring your scraps to CSWD Drop-Off Centers or Green Mountain Compost for composting instead of throwing them in the trash, we make sure the process keeps going every day of the year. (Psssst: Get a free kitchen countertop compost collection pail by visiting a Drop-Off Center or Green Mountain Compost!)
To get you going with composting in your own backyard, check out our free build-your-own compost bin plans here, or get a great deal on a SoilSaver backyard compost bin at Green Mountain Compost – only $49 (available for Chittenden County residents only)
A happy compost pile contains these elements:
– Wet/green material, such as food scraps. These items add nitrogen.
– Dry/brown material, such as leaves, straw, paper towels, greasy take-out pizza boxes, or sawdust. These items add carbon.
– Microbes, who do all the work to transform compostables into compost! Just like you, they need certain foods to survive. Their version of meat and potatoes? Nitrogen and carbon. If your bin has an open bottom, microbes migrate up from the soil and start dining out on all the goodies you toss them. If you have a barrier on the bottom, or if your soil is not that rich, then you can add microbes by adding some microbe-rich compost, or shoveling some nearby, better-quality soil into the bin at the beginning of the process.
– Air and moisture, which we all need! Some people vigorously turn and stir their compost piles regularly. Others simply stick a pitchfork in the pile and wiggle it around in a few places to open up new channels for air and moisture to enter the pile. The more regularly you keep the air and moisture flowing to all parts of the pile, the more quickly it’ll turn into black gold. Compost should be kept moist, not drippy — more like a wrung-out sponge.Here’s a tip for making sure you have enough dry/brown material all year round: During leaf-raking season, fill a couple of garbage cans with dry leaves, wood shavings, or small chips, then close the lid tight and keep them by your compost bin. That way, throughout the winter, as you’re composting, you’ll have a ready supply of carbon on hand to cover your latest contribution to your compost pile.
Because you’ve read this far, here’s a bonus tip: To make sure your pile has a good amount of helpful microbes, save a bucket of finished compost or soil from your yard. Each time you add your food scraps, toss in a handful or two of microbe-rich soil or compost and then cover it with the leaves or sawdust you’ve saved. And don’t worry if your food scraps look like a frozen mass during the coldest part of winter. Down in the center of the pile, there’s usually still enough activity to keep things going, ready to burst forth again during the occasional thaw or come spring.
Want more tips on keeping food scraps out of the landfill? You can compost at home, school, work, and at your events, conferences, and parties! Click here to find out how easy it is to compost wherever you are!
Got a question about composting in your backyard or dropping it off at CSWD? Great! Drop us a line at info@cswd.net, call 872-8111, or post your question on the Green Mountain Compost Facebook page!
CSWD to explore alternatives to consolidated collectionThe Chittenden Solid Waste District has been studying more efficient and cost-effective ways to collect residential trash in Chittenden County. The District has been looking at a system known as consolidated collection. Many residents and haulers expressed concern over residents losing their ability to choose their hauler and the proposed system’s potential negative impact on small haulers, leading CSWD’s Board of Commissioners to call a time out at its monthly meeting on September 24, directing staff to consider additional options.
Public and municipal official informational meetings on consolidated collection, scheduled on Oct. 30 and Dec. 3, have been cancelled.
Consolidated collection is a system in which a municipality (CSWD or an individual city, village, or town) contracts with one or more haulers to provide curbside collection service for specific routes or districts within that municipality, rather than have multiple haulers serving a scattering of customers in each neighborhood.
The main concerns that are driving the effort to rework the curbside trash and recycling collection system include:
– Under the current system, it could be very expensive to implement Act 148 requirement for haulers to provide food scrap and yard debris (also called “organics”) collection for those subscribing to curbside service.
– Excessive road wear, costs, fuel use, noise and pollution resulting from the current system of many trucks serving the same neighborhoods.CSWD has the statutory authority and responsibility for the management of solid waste in Chittenden County. Its mission is to provide efficient, economical, and environmentally sound management of solid waste generated by member towns and cities and their residents and businesses. Pollution, impact on public infrastructure, and affordability of organics collection triggered CSWD’s review of options to address concerns impacting that mandate.
The Board felt it unwise to undergo plans to implement a system-wide change in the way curbside pickup is managed at the same time that CSWD is trying to meet the mandates of Act 148 (particularly unit-based rates and residential organics collection), and while the District is going through the process of replacing the General Manager.
“Many of our residents support moving to a consolidated collection system, and many oppose it,” noted CSWD’s Board Chairman, Paul Stabler. “We received a lot of feedback from all sides and we must take the values and opinions of all of our members into consideration before making any decision. At the same time, it is important to continue working towards a solution to prepare the District to meet the mandates of Act 148 as they come on line.”
The Board instructed the staff to undertake the following:
1) A pause in the process of considering consolidated collection as a means of achieving the stated goals.
2) Consider additional options for achieving our stated goals of reducing collection cost, reducing the impact on infrastructure and the environment, and effectively collecting segregated organic waste by July 2017. Continue working with the hauling community to achieve these objectives. Identify needs for supplemental data.
3) Return to the Board with a progress report and potential recommendations by the June 2015 Board meeting.Visit CSWD’s website for more information on consolidated collection.
CSWD’s new School & Youth Outreach Coordinator aims to exterminate waste!While all CSWD staff members are famous for being eager to dive into the nitty gritty of their jobs, it’s been a while since we’ve seen a staffer literally elbow-deep in her job on the very first day!
CSWD School and Youth Outreach Coordinator Rhonda Mace had barely signed her employment forms when she happily pitched in at a mini trash sort and assembly presentation at Essex Middle School on Monday, September 22. “It was a blast,” says Rhonda. It’s super fun to work with the students, and fun to learn new things. My goal is to leave them as enthusiastic about reducing their waste at school and at home as I am about reducing it across Chittenden County!”
Even when not wearing her Asian Longhorned Beetle headgear and bug glasses, Rhonda is affectionately recognized as “The Bug Lady” by students and campers across the state thanks to her previous work educating Vermonters of all ages and backgrounds about the impacts of invasive species.
She sees a natural transition from those pesky critters to waste reduction: “I’ve been preaching natural resource conservation and sustainability for years so this is a very natural transition for me. Take composting, for instance: Without bugs there is no decomposition! I can work bugs into anything,” proclaims Rhonda. “And I will!”
Contact Rhonda Mace at rmace@cswd.net or (802) 872-8100 x211 to say hello and see how she can help your school or youth program exterminate waste!
The Rover is in its home stretch!The Rover is the mobile household hazardous waste collection unit that hibernates during the winter at the Environmental Depot, CSWD’s year-round hazardous waste collection facility in South Burlington. While the Depot takes hazardous materials all year long, the Rover will stop once in each town, until mid-October.
The Rover accepts household hazardous wastes such as paints and stains, automotive fluids, hobby supplies, pesticides, fertilizers, household cleaners, and similar items with the words “Danger,” “Caution,” “Warning,” or “Poison” on the label.
(NOTE: The Rover is free and available to Chittenden County households only.)
There are three more stops this year, but remember: If you live in Chittenden County, you can always come to the Environmental Depot, any time of year. Here are the Rover’s last three stops:
October 4 Williston Drop-Off Center 8:00 – 3:30
October 11 St. George Town Center 9:00 – 1:00
October 18 Bolton Fire Station 9:00 – 1:00Need more info? Call our Hotline at 872-8111 or visit cswd.net
Can’t make it to the Rover on any of these dates?
You now have two options:
1. If you are a Chittenden County household, bring it to the Environmental Depot any time of year–free of charge!
2. If you’re a resident of Vermont, and all you have to get rid of is architectural paint, (includes common paints, stains, coatings, etc. for use on stationary objects), you don’t have to wait for the Rover: Visit the PaintCare website to find a location near you that accepts paint year-round! Check first to see if your material is covered. PaintCare is a product stewardship program set up by paint manufacturers to provide plenty of convenient options for recycling architectural paint products.Environmental Depot
1011 Airport Parkway, South Burlington.
Wednesday-Friday 8-2; Saturday 8-3:30.
The fine print: The Environmental Depot is available only to Chittenden County residents (free) and businesses (some fees may apply).From rags to britches, CSWD now accepts rags as well as clothing!
There is a fine line between fashion statement and faux pas, and there is no way CSWD is going to wade into those waters to determine which is which. But when a pair of jeans has more rip than jean, there does come a time when many of us over the age of … oh, um, well — let’s just say that many of us would agree that it’s time to kick ’em out of the closet.
Besides making them into rags yourself, there is now another option for keeping clothing that can no longer be worn out of the landfill: Bring them to any CSWD Drop-Off Center, drop them in the Goodwill box, and the fabulous folks at Goodwill Industries will make sure they’re recycled into other products, such as insulation, carpeting, carpet backing, and other textiles.
Here’s the deal:
– Acceptable items include any product made from fabric: clothing, paired shoes, accessories, linens, curtains, etc.
– Everything you bring in, from rags to britches, must be clean, dry, and not musty or moldy.
– Items are accepted from households only. The program is not designed to accept loads from businesses.
– At this time, fabric scraps are not included in this program.
– Put them in a clear plastic bag, tie it shut, and bring it on in!Got a question about what to include? Drop us a line at 802-872-8111, email info@cswd.net, or visit cswd.net.
Want to learn more about how to compost?CSWD’s popular backyard composting workshops are still happening! There’s still time to sign up for these hour-long workshops. It’s the fastest way to learn the basics if you’re just starting, or fine-tune your compost heap if you’re already up and running.
You’ll learn:
* Why compost
* 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)Registration required! Click here to register.
Monday, October 6, 5-6pm at the Burnham Memorial Library
898 Main St (2A), ColchesterTuesday, November 11, 6:30-7:30pm at the Deborah Rawson Memorial Library
8 River Road, Jericho
Green Up Day Poster & Writing Contest begins now!Sharpen your crayons, gather your paint pots, renew your poetic license: The Green Up Day Poster and Writing Contest has begun! Yep — we’re talking about that Green Up Day, the one in May, where Vermonters everywhere take part in a giant labor of love, spending the first Saturday in May picking up roadside trash.
Now through January 31, 2015, students in grades K-12 can submit one poster to Green Up Vermont and, for those who wish to make a more litter-ary expression, you can submit one poem or essay as well. Guidelines and submission info for posters, poems, and essays can be found here. The winner’s artwork will be used on the 2015 Green Up Day poster, and the winning essay or poem will be made public as well.
Visit the official Green Up Day website for more information.
How to green up your Jack O’LanternEven the ghouliest Jack O’ Lantern deserves a proper burial when Halloween is over. Just keep a few things in mind when you’re decorating it so you can compost it in the yard debris pile at any CSWD Drop-Off Center or Green Mountain Compost, rather than tossing it into the trash where it will be lost forever in a landfill:
1. Please don’t paint your pumpkin! Not that we want to be party poopers, but when you paint your pumpkin, that means that it can’t be composted and has to be thrown in the trash when the holiday is over.
2. Please pull out the candles, leftover wax, and decorations and anything that didn’t come from Mother Nature her own, spooky self. Most candles are made from petroleum products, which won’t get converted into compost, so they’re considered contamination. Use beeswax candles and your pumpkin is a-ok, because beeswax candles DO break down into natural elements.
Note: If you have 10 or more compostable pumpkins, please bring them to Green Mountain Compost and stop in at the office to find out where to unload them.
What happens to all those pumpkins you bring to CSWD Drop-Off Centers and Green Mountain Compost? We turn them into the rich, dark soil that next year’s pumpkin crop will sink its roots into and grow big and plump in time for next Halloween!
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Students learn to lead at the Youth Environmental Summit
Who says it’s not easy being green? Not the middle- and high-school students who attend the annual Youth Environmental Summit! Attendees take part in hands-on workshops, action-inspiring discussions, and work and learn with students and others who are making a difference for the environment, locally and around the world.
Okay, so you’re ready to get greener at your school? In your community? Sign up for the YES and you’ll come away with some great info to help others understand that there are easy ways to make big cuts in the waste stream at home, school, work, and everywhere you go.
Workshop topics include:
– The Universal Recycling Law is Coming: Working together to be prepared
– Waste to want: The life cycle of your North Face jacket
– Promoting change at the school level
– Student action projects: The collaboration method
– Promoting zero waste through community Action
– What do we throw away
…and lots more!Click here for more details on the Youth Environmental Summit.
WHAT: Youth Environmental Summit
WHEN: Thursday, November 6, 2014
WHO: Students in grades 7-12
WHERE: Barre Civic Center, Barre, VT
REGISTRATION REQUIRED: Avoid late fees! Register by Oct. 15, 2014. Click here for registration information.
CSWD Calendar
Visit our website for the full CSWD calendarMonday, Oct. 13: – All CSWD facilities will be closed in observance of Columbus Day. This includes the Drop-Off Centers, Green Mountain Compost, and Administrative Offices. All facilities normally open the Saturday preceding the holiday (Oct. 11) will be open regular hours.
Local Motion:
15 Year Celebration &
Volunteer Appreciation
VT Transportation Board College Public Hearings
Fitness Options
Open HouseSee all this community-focused personal training studio has to offer, and enjoy drinks and light fare with friends!
