NewsFlash
October 2015
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3 things to do NOW for a better garden in 2016
If you could talk to your future self — say, your Spring 2016 self — Future You would say this to Present You: Add compost to the garden NOW!! (Meaning now now, not future now.)
Even local garden gurus like Ron Krupp and Charlie Nardozzi agree with Future You. Lay on the compost NOW and you’ll be well on the road to a spectacular harvest next year. Serious gardeners know that the fall harvest is not the end of the gardening season — but the beginning of a new one. What you do now will determine how well your garden performs next spring. For best results simply mix 1-2″ of compost into your garden this fall (go ahead and add it to your lawn, too!).
Why is fall a good time to add compost? Good question!
1. Unlike chemical fertilizers, the rich, natural nutrients in compost are mostly slow-release, so it takes time for them to incorporate into the soil and become available to your plants. By adding compost before the winter season, all of its nutrients will be available to your plants right when they are yearning to grow 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.
3. Green Mountain Compost is having a huge fall sale on compost! Yep — talk about good timing! Here’s the deal: $15 off every yard of bulk compost
$10 off every yard of topsoil
$10 off every yard of raised bed mix
Buy any 2 bags, get 1 free on all bagged products (bags available at CSWD Drop-Off Centers, too!)
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How to green up your Jack O’Lantern
Even 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! Paint contaminates compost. If you use paint, the pumpkin 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, decorations, and anything that didn’t come from Mother Nature’s own, spooky self. Most candles are made from petroleum products, which are 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 in Williston 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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Savings from Green Mountain Compost, right when you need it most!
You keep on hearing it from garden experts, and it’s true: Fall is the best time to add compost to your lawn and garden.
Green Mountain Compost is helping you out with huge savings on bulk and bagged compost, topsoil, raised bed mix, and potting soil. Come visit Green Mountain Compost to get our best deal of the year!
$15 off every yard of bulk compost
$10 off every yard of topsoil
$10 off every yard of raised bed mix
Offer valid only at Green Mountain Compost (1042 Redmond Rd., Williston; Monday-Saturday 8-4), through Saturday, October 24, 2015, while supplies last!
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The Rover is coming to your town!
The Rover is the mobile household hazardous waste collection unit that hibernates at the Environmental Depot, CSWD’s year-round hazardous waste collection facility in South Burlington.
The Depot takes hazardous materials all year long from residents and businesses. During the summer, the Rover stops once in each town and accepts household hazardous wastes from residents (material from businesses is not accepted at Rover events).
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. You might be surprised at some of the items considered hazardous on this list of household hazardous waste items. (NOTE: The Rover is free to Chittenden County households only. Fees apply to residents from outside of Chittenden County.)
The Rover Schedule:
October 10: Williston CSWD Drop-Off Center 8:00 – 3:30
October 17: St. George Town Center 9:00 – 1:00
October 24: Bolton Fire Station 9:00 – 1:00
Need more info? Call our Hotline at 872-8111 or visit cswd.net
Can’t make it to the Rover on any of these dates?
If you are a Chittenden County household, bring it to the Environmental Depot any time of year — free of charge for Chittenden County residents!
Environmental Depot
1011 Airport Parkway, South Burlington.
Wednesday-Friday 8-2; Saturday 8-3:30.
The fine print: The Environmental Depot is available free only to Chittenden County residents. Some fees apply for residents and businesses from outside of Chittenden County.
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Free backyard composting workshops at Green Mountain Compost
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!
WHEN: TWO options:
Monday, October 5, 5 to 6 pm or
Tuesday, October 6, 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 —
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)
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Become a Waste Warrior and help Vermonters and visitors hit the right bin
How hard is it to know what to throw in the recycling or food-scrap bin versus the trash barrel? One peek into one of those containers, and you’ll see a lot of mistakes. Here’s your chance to help your fellow Vermonters — and visitors from afar — do the right thing at events.
At many events, food vendors offer a confusing array of cups, plates, utensils, and other foodware. We’re working with events and vendors to help them make better choices to ensure that everything is recyclable or compostable. But attendees aren’t always clued into what goes where.
That’s where you come in! Become a CSWD Waste Warrior and help us help event-goers understand what goes where. Here’s what 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!
Here are the next two training sessions. Visit the Waste Warrior web page to reserve your seat!
1) Wednesday, October 21, 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm – Fletcher Free Library (Pickering Room), 235 College Street, Burlington
2) Wednesday, November 18, 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm – Carpenter-Carse Library, 69 Ballards Corner, Hinesburg
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Banned materials fees kicked in at transfer stations Oct. 1, 2015
State and local laws regulate what can and can’t go into a landfill. As of October 1, 2015, a Banned Materials Fee is being imposed on those who haul loads of waste containing material banned from the landfill to any of the three transfer stations in Chittenden County:
– All Cycle Transfer Station, 220 Avenue B, Williston (864-3615)
– Burlington Area Transfer Station, 1496 Redmond Rd., Williston (878-3506, ext. 26)
– Myers Recycling Center, 216 Red Can Dr., Colchester (655-4312)
The fee applies to any load hauled by anyone (individuals, businesses, and commercial haulers) destined for disposal that contains 10 percent or more (by volume) of the following:
– Special wastes: major appliances, tires, clean natural wood or lumber, certain electronic devices, untreated regulated medical waste, waste oil, certain batteries (lead-acid, nickel-cadmium, rechargeable, and those containing mercury), paint (excluding less than a gallon of solidified water-based paint), products and devices containing mercury (includes fluorescent bulbs and tubes, thermostats, thermometers, sump pump floats, mercury switches, etc.), and scrap metal larger than 8 cubic inches or weighing more than 1 pound.
– Mandatory recyclables (those you put in your blue bin or cart) – visit our mandatory recyclables web page for a complete list).
– Yard trimmings – grass, leaves, garden plants, and weeds.
– Food residuals – scraps, leftovers, and unused food from generators covered by the Act 148 food scrap diversion mandate (currently, those who generate at least 52 tons/year; on July 1, 2016 that minimum drops to 26 tons/year).
– ANY amount of Hazardous waste – The 10% minimum does not apply to hazardous waste. Any amount of regulated hazardous waste will trigger the fee. Visit our hazardous waste web page for a list of what is considered hazardous (you might be surprised to find some hobby, health, and housecleaning products on this list!).
The fee is $20 per ton, with a $60 minimum charge per load containing at least 10% or more by volume of banned materials listed above, or ANY amount of hazardous waste.
This fee applies only to transfer stations, which are privately owned facilities that accept large loads of trash to be landfilled. The fee does not apply at CSWD Drop-Off Centers, where close scrutiny of materials occurs at the entrance to the facility, and customers are redirected on the spot to proper disposal options. Trash CSWD collects at Drop-Off Centers is delivered to the All Cycle Transfer Station. At that point, it is inspected to the same degree as any other load.
What are the fees used for? Half the amount goes to the transfer station to help them fund the administration of the inspections. Half goes to CSWD to help fund the enforcement of laws and ordinances that dictate how our waste stream is managed.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us:
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Come to the last Customer Appreciation Day of 2015 at CSWD’s Burlington Drop-Off Center!
It takes a lot of people to run the Chittenden Solid Waste District, but one person truly earns the Most Valuable Player award: [drum roll, please…] It’s YOU! Yes, you. Oh, stop being modest! Why, without your efforts to buy less-toxic products and reuse, recycle, and compost everything you can, there would be no system. There would only be a landfill packed with wasted resources, wasted potential.
We want to thank you for keeping the reuse, recycling, and composting system humming! After all, you take the time to:
– learn what goes in the blue bin and what can be composted
– figure out how to purchase less-toxic items with as little landfill-bound packaging as possible
– get reusables into the hands of those who can still use ’em
Here’s what’s on the docket:
– Cider, coffee, and donuts!
– Prize drawings and interactive giveaways
– Info about our programs
– A chance to stump the CSWD waste reduction nerds with your questions about recycling, composting, reusing, and other ways of starving the landfill.
We hope you can make it to our final Customer Appreciation Day for 2015. Here’s the scoop:
WHEN & WHERE: Saturday, Oct. 24, 8 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. at the Burlington DOC (339 Pine St.)
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As the worm turns
by Clare Innes, CSWD Marketing & Communications Coordinator
When people say that worms are “revolting,” I don’t think they mean revolting in the sense that worms are rising up in rebellion. I think they mean they think worms are kinda ookie.
I like worms. I don’t think they are revolting (in the ookie sense of the word) — but there was no mistaking it this past weekend at my house: they were, indeed, rising up in rebellion.
I am new to worm composting. That means I have a herd (officially referred to as a “clew”) of worms living in bright-green, 10-gallon plastic tub doing their worm thing a bed of leaves and shredded newspaper, busily turning my food scraps into compost. It’s called “vermiculture” (vermi means worm, cult means grow), and I’m experimenting with how much to feed them and how damp to keep their bedding to keep them happy.
What set them off? Well, as I said, I’m new at this. I was worried that their bedding had gotten too dry, so I sprinkled some water around in the tub. In a few hours, I lifted the lid to take a peek and gasped in surprise — the insides of the tub were covered with worms! They were, indeed, revolting — or at least trying to run away from home. I quickly added some shredded paper towels to help soak up some of the moisture. The next time I checked, they were all tucked back into their bedding. Whew!
I’m doing this to learn more about how vermiculture works — and to see for myself what all the hooplah is about worm castings. Now that I’m a worm wrangler I’ll be harvesting those castings (the official word for worm poop) and working them into my garden soil before the snow flies, and my houseplants over the winter. Next spring, I’ll try some out on a patch of lawn. Those little micro-pellets are packed with organisms and nutrients that help plants grow tall and strong, fight off diseases, and generally make the grass greener on MY side of the fence.
Stay tuned for the next episode of As the Worm Turns in the November issue of CSWD’s e-NewsFlash!
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Replacing your thermostat? Bring it to CSWD for a $5 rebate coupon!
It’s Fall and the goosebumps have arrived. Many people are planning on saving some moolah this winter by switching out their home thermostats to updated models that enable them to save energy.
If you’re one of those wicked-smart people, please remember that many old thermostats contain mercury, a toxic chemical that is banned from the landfill.
Bring those old thermostats to any CSWD Drop-Off Center or the Environmental Depot and we’ll not only make sure the mercury is managed properly, we’ll give you a mail-in rebate coupon for $5.
This rebate is sponsored by thermostat manufacturers. As required by one of Vermont’s product stewardship laws they have set up a collection program to keep their products out of the landfill and ensure that they are properly managed after their useful life is over. In Vermont there are seven product stewardship laws on the books. These laws require companies to help pay for the proper disposal or recycling of products they make that are difficult, expensive, or hazardous to manage once the consumer has finished using the product. Otherwise, local government and taxpayers must find ways to pay for and manage those materials. Product stewardship laws also have an upstream impact: When companies understand that they are responsible for managing the proper disposal of their own products, it can inspire them to redesign those products to make them easier to recycle, less toxic, and more durable.
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Kids these days … they’re pretty awesome!
The UVM Teen & Leadership Program has some potent and inspiring programs to help teens develop their leadership skills and foster a sense of responsibility for helping younger kids learn how to be good stewards of the planet.
They’ve got lots of great programs; here are two happening this year:
TRY for the Environment Various times through November & December: TRY stands for Teens Reaching Youth and is an environmental leadership opportunity for youth in grades 7-12. It is a teen-led environmental education program with an embedded service learning component designed to teach environmental literacy and responsibility to younger youth.
Youth Environmental Summit November 5, Barre, VT: Open to youth in grades 7-12, this program is packed with hands-on workshops, action-inspiring discussions, networking with environmental professionals and like-minded peers, and is designed to inspire, encourage, and prepare youth for a life of environmental responsibility, service and leadership by increasing awareness and knowledge of environmental issues and fostering leadership skills.
Check out those programs! We’re going to need all hands on deck to make sure there will still be plenty of planet left for future generations.
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Enter the annual Compost Awareness Week poster contest — open to everyone!
Love making art? Love the soil that sustains us? Here’s a chance to combine those loves and have a chance at winning a $500 savings bond in the process! Here’s the deal:
The US Composting Council invites YOU to participate in their 14th Annual Poster Contest. Yes, they do mean YOU! Kids, adults, compost fanatics, lake stewards, artists, innocent bystanders — everyone! So dig out those crayons and start dreaming about how your inspiring artwork could be used around the country to promote International Compost Awareness Week, which takes place May 1-7, 2016.
POSTER THEME: Compost! The Soil and Water Connection
DEADLINE: November 14, 2015
CONTEST DIVISIONS: Grades 3-7, Grades 8-12, and College / Adult.
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