March 2022  It’s spring! I am so excited to see the sun and the buds starting to form on my trees. And believe it or not, I’m also excited to start thinking about cleaning up my home – inside and out! If like me, you’re itching to spring clean, you probably have a LOT of questions about what to do with all that stuff that has been hiding in your basement/shed/garage all winter. Well, you’ve come to the right place! Your first stop should always be our website A-Z list of more than 300 items. Another page to check out is the nearly 50 options listed on our Reuse and Donations page, and don’t forget our Packaging Reuse page for things like bubble wrap and packing pillows. And if you’re handy, or not so sure but still want to take a crack at fixing that ((insert kind-of-busted-item here)) that your significant other has been hoping you will finally give up on, we urge you to check out the tens of thousands of solutions offered by the ifixit experts. (WARNING: Some of our staff have been known to fall deep into these repair rabbit warrens! Be sure to pack a lunch.) Whew! So many options for starving that landfill. Happy spring cleaning, and be sure to keep those “ask the CSWD experts” questions coming. Stay warm, Alise Alise Certa Marketing Communications Manager acerta@cswd.net  CSWD Spotlight on Business: Pingala Cafe and Eatery – Burlington, VT.  The Pingala Cafe and Eatery in Burlington is committed to healthy eating and to doing their part in creating a healthier planet. When compostable foodware was no longer an option due to recent CSWD acceptance policy changes, Pingala called us for help. Read more about the changes Pingala made and how the CSWD Outreach team could assist your business to REDUCE/REUSE/RECYCLE. Read More CSWD Members Rank Among Top-Performing US Communities  Chittenden County households and businesses kept an estimated 57% (by weight) of all their commonly generated “stuff,” including construction and demolition (C&D) waste, out of the landfill in 2020 by ensuring it went to better uses. Read on to find out what that means in reduced carbon emissions, fuel savings, and fewer tractor-trailers on local roads. Read the Media Alert Planning for your spring clean out? Let our A-Z List help you! Spring is on the way! We promise. This is when calls about what goes where start ramping up–old tires, construction debris, mattresses, broken lawn mowers. All that stuff that’s been hiding under snow and inside garages all winter. Lucky for you, we have the perfect DIY solution and it’s open 24 hours a day to answer your questions! Visit the A-Z list on our website to find disposal options for all your spring cleaning surprises! Enter the item into the search bar and our A-Z list will pull up the item with details on where to bring it for disposal or recycling plus any limits or other requirements and associated fees. Bring Your Leftover Paint to Us! Local Color Paint Thousands of gallons of leftover paint are brought to the CSWD Environmental Depot each year. Our expert staff examines every can and hand-selects the highest quality latex paints to triple-screen and recycle into Local Color paint. Colors like Maple Cream, Champlain Blue or Barn Red can transform your painting project from boring to BEAUTIFUL! Visit our website to view our full line of colors and where to buy them. Local Color Paint Join The Amazing CSWD Team! Hazardous Waste Operators Needed  We are seeking highly motivated individuals to assist with the collection and processing of household hazardous waste and small business hazardous waste at the Environmental Depot & Rover. Full-time, part-time and seasonal (May-Oct.) positions are available! View Full Job Posting Learn with us! Upcoming Webinars & Workshops  It’s that time of year, when the calendar says “spring” but the weather says “let’s stay inside and attend a cozy workshop with that super fun CSWD Outreach Team!” Rhonda, Ethan, and Robin are covering food scraps, worm composting, T-shirts-to-tote-bags reuse, and more. Offerings are now in person AND online. Plus there’s a special Earth Day public MRF (recycling center) Tour coming up in April. Pre-registration required for some events. Managing Food Scraps: From Soup to Nuts March 26: 10:30AM – 11:30AM Location: Charlotte Public Library – Charlotte, VT. Register today: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cswd-workshop-series-tickets-272373164467 What’s the best way to manage your food scraps? The one that works for YOU! We’ll start with a quick overview of the options and some tips on how to decide which approach is the best fit for your situation. Then we’ll dive into the universal challenges that apply no matter what system you choose — like how to avoid food waste, tricks for convenient kitchen collection, and how to avoid icky-bucket syndrome. Workshop: Worm Composting April 19: 6:00PM – 7:00PM Location: South Burlington Public Library – South Burlington, VT. Learn to harness the power of amazing earthworms to turn your food scraps into plant food . A perfect compost option for apartment dwellers! Worm composting bins are one way for households to keep food scraps out of the landfill, take action to reduce climate change, and increase soil health. Worm bins turn kitchen food scraps into compost that can be used to nourish gardens, lawns, and houseplants. Free and open to the public! No registration required. Wasted! The Story of Food Waste: Film and Discussion April 20: 1:00PM – 3:00PM Location: Charlotte Senior Center – Charlotte, VT. Come watch this award-winning documentary, produced and narrated by chef Anthony Bourdain, about the 1.3 BILLION tons of food that gets wasted every year – and the people who are trying to do something about it. CSWD staff will lead a group discussion after the film. Co-sponsored with Charlotte Senior Center and The Charlotte Library. Free and open to the public: no registration required. Reuse Workshop: Turn T-shirts into Tote Bags – no sewing requiring. Two times available! April 21: 4:00PM – 5:00PM April 21: 6:00PM – 7:00PM Location: Burnham Memorial Library – Colchester, VT. Do you have a favorite T-shirt stuffed in your dresser that you never wear but you just can’t part with? Give it a new life by turning it into a T-shirt Bag! Join Robin, CSWD’s Community Outreach Coordinator, for this hands-on workshop where you can arrive with an old t-shirt and leave with a new shopping bag – with ABSOLUTELY NO sewing or artistic talent required. (Seriously — or Robin wouldn’t be able to do it.) While our hands are busy, we’ll also have plenty of time to swap stories and examples of other ways old things can be used for new purposes. This workshop is suitable for anyone who’s allowed to use scissors. No shirt? No problem! Please bring one if you can, but we’ll have plenty available so no one will have to undress to participate. (Feel free to bring extras that you’re willing to share or donate for use in future workshops.) Drop-In Q&A Session – Ask the CSWD Expert! April 21: 5:00PM – 6:00PM Location: Burnham Memorial Library – Colchester, VT. CSWD’s Community Outreach Coordinator will be at the library from 5:00-6:00 to answer questions, large and small, about recycling and solid waste. Stick around after the first t-shirt workshop, come early for the second one, or come by just to grill us. Feel free to bring items you’re not sure what to do with, family squabbles you want to get settled (waste-related only, please!), or hit us with you’ve always wondered about recycling but have never had a chance to ask. Free and open to the public; no registration required Public Tour: CSWD’s Materials Recovery Facility (Recycling Center) April 22: 12:00PM – 1:30PM Location: CSWD Materials Recovery Facility – Williston, VT. Registration Required: https://form.jotform.com/220788063026152 You’ll see in real time how your blue bin or cart goes from “all-in-one” to marketable commodities at the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF). Learn about the recycling industry and watch this essential and fascinating step in “closing the loop.” Check out all our webinars and tours online! https://cswd.net/tours-webinars/ Ask the Expert   ASK THE EXPERT – Question of the month: Can wooden matchsticks (that have already been lit) be added to food scraps for composting? My husband says “yes”; I’m not so sure. Janet R. – Williston, VT Hi Janet! This one is simple, but also tricky. Perfect for Backyard Compost Used matches are just plain, untreated wood, which is fine to add with food scraps in your backyard compost pile. NOT So Perfect for CSWD Though used matches themselves would not be problematic for our compost operation, they are NOT on our acceptable materials list, which is limited to: All food scraps of any kind Certified, clearly labeled compostable bags used for lining food scrap containers Coffee filters & tea bags (paper only–no plastic tea bags) Newspaper and untreated paper bags used to line food scrap containers Paper towels and napkins – only if they DO NOT contain body fluids or chemicals of any kind Wooden or bamboo stirrers, toothpicks (no plastic frills), chopsticks We included only these items because they are closely associated with food scraps and because they are not likely to invite non-compostable contamination. The more items you add that don’t meet those two main requirements, the greater the risk that people will make leaps about what is and isn’t acceptable. We had to draw some difficult but very clear lines. So please use those matches as kindling for a tiny campfire or add them to your backyard compost, but please do not include them with any foodscraps that will be coming to our compost facility. Thanks so much for the question! To read more about why we changed what we’ll accept for composting at our Organics Diversion Facility (where Green Mountain Compost is made), please visit our blog. Send us your questions for the Ask the Expert! acerta@cswd.net CSWD in the News  Hitting the airwaves with Anthony and Kurt! WVMT – The Morning Drive: Alise Certa, CSWD Marketing and Communications Manager answers questions on recycling. How do I get rid of…? Leftover Paint Household hazardous waste Got a question? Just ask our A-Z list! From donation & recycling options to the landfill (last resort), we can tell you what to do with just about anything. CSWD Meetings Calendar March/April MARCH March 23 – 6:00pm:Full Board Meeting March 29 – 5:00pm: Finance Committee Meeting APRIL April 9 – 5:00pm: Finance Committee Meeting April 18 – 5:00pm: Executive Board Meeting April 19 – 5:00pm: Finance Committee Meeting April 19 – 5:00pm: Investment Committee Meeting April 27 – 6:00pm: Full Board Meeting View full calendar |