Dear neighbors,
As I write this, I’m looking out my window at crocuses brightening the lawn in unexpected spots where the squirrels thought they might look good, Eastern Bluebirds finally sporting bright feathers, and willow buds emerging as soft and fuzzy as baby rabbits.
You’d think it was just another spring in Vermont. But as we all know all too well, this spring has been anything but normal. Those of us fortunate not to have been personally impacted by illness or job loss directly caused by the novel coronavirus have felt its tentacles in other ways too numerous to count.
On behalf of everyone who works at CSWD, I can’t express how grateful I am for the understanding and support you—our members and customers—have shown regarding the changes we’ve implemented in response to the challenges posed by this state of emergency. Your cooperation with our efforts and willingness to help your neighbors navigate this new territory is essential, and sincerely appreciated.
To see a summary of the changes we’ve made, including the new fee structure and restrictions at our Drop-Off Center, please visit the COVID-19 blog page on our website. Elsewhere in this Digest you’ll find links to helpful videos and more details about what we’re doing during the state of emergency.
Meanwhile, you may have seen news about adjustments the VT Legislature is considering to statewide requirements for food scraps and recycling management. We’ve posted the testimony provided by Jen Holliday, CSWD’s Director of Public Policy and Communications in this blog post so you know where CSWD stands.
We’re working as hard as ever to meet our mission and to serve you, the Chittenden Solid Waste District members, while also doing everything we can to protect our employees and customers from unnecessary exposure to the novel coronavirus. I invite you to send suggestions for how we can continue to improve to info@cswd.net.
Sarah
Sarah Reeves
Executive Director
What You Need to Know:
Visiting the Williston Drop-Off Center
Due to impact of the novel coronavirus, CSWD has implemented changes to how we do business. These temporary changes are being made to help protect our customers and staff and to manage operations efficiently and safely.
- Staff is observing the 6-foot social distancing recommendation. Please help our staff by being patient and by keeping your distance.
- We are accepting essential materials only – household trash (up to 4 bags or barrels of any size), blue-bin recycling, and food scraps.
- Per-visit fee of $10; no other fees apply.
- All leaves and garden debris and clean/untreated wood is being directed to Green Mountain Compost.
For full details on why these changes were made, please visit the link below.
Read more about our COVID-19 precautions
What Materials ARE Being Accepted at the Drop-Off Center?
Keeping our customers and staff safe is our first priority during this pandemic. To help manage traffic flow and support social distancing practices, CSWD has limited what we are accepting at our Williston Drop-Off Center. We know that this can be confusing so we have created short videos that explain each allowed material stream.
- What are the 3 streams being accepted? – view video
- Household trash – view video
- Blue-bin recycling – view video
- Food scraps (no fee when taken to Green Mountain Compost.) – view video
No other materials, including e-waste, tires, mattresses, scrap metals and other bulky waste, are being accepted at this time.
If you have questions about items that have not been mentioned here or about our COVID-19 precautions, please call the CSWD hotline at 802-872-8111.
We’re Buried in Leaves and Wood!
With people staying home and the recent nice weather, we understand that it feels like the perfect time to clean up your yard and prepare for summer gardens.
The VT Department of Environmental Conservation and CSWD are asking that you hold off on bringing your leaves, garden debris, and tree branches to our facility. We are reaching the limit of material and traffic we can manage at Green Mountain Compost. We are not accepting these materials at the Drop-Off Center at this time.
If you absolutely must bring these materials, we’ve created a short video that will help you navigate dropping your materials off safely. – view video
Green Mountain Compost (GMC) is located at 1042 Redmond Rd. in Williston. The facility is open Mon.-Sat. 8:00-4:00 and accepts the following materials for no fee:
- Leaves–loose or in paper yard and garden bags only. NO tape on paper bags, no plastic bags.
- Food scraps. No charge for residential quantities.
- Tree branches, twigs, and dimensional lumber that has never been painted, stained or treated.
CSWD’s Legislative Response:Solid Waste During State of Emergency COVID-19
On April 7th, CSWD’s Jen Holliday, Director of Public Policy and Communications testified before the Vermont House Natural Resources Fish and Wildlife Committee regarding proposed Solid Waste Management Language Changes.
Sign Up for CSWD Text Alerts
CSWD now offers text alerts to keep you up to date on Drop-Off Center closures/delays and other critical information.
In an effort to communicate important information to our customers more quickly, we now are offering a text alert service. CSWD will use this service to send facility or emergency information only. You will be able to opt out of the alerts at anytime via your phone.
To sign up for the service, please take the following steps:
- Please text CSWDAlerts to 474747 on your cell phone. You enter 474747 like you would a telephone number. CSWDAlerts is the actual text you send.
- A message from CSWDAlerts will be sent to you that verifies you are signed up.
- If you choose to opt out of our alerts, please text the word STOP to 474747 at any time.
If you have questions or comments about this service, please call Alise Certa at 802.872.8100 x 246.
How do I get rid of…?
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.
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The Chittenden Solid Waste District is a municipality created to implement solid waste management mandates legislated by the State of Vermont. The District is governed by a Board of Commissioners representing the communities of Chittenden County, Vermont.
Our mission is to reduce and manage the solid waste generated within Chittenden County in an environmentally sound, efficient, effective and economical manner.
Our vision: Products are designed to be reused or recycled and our community fully participates in minimizing disposal and maximizing reuse and recycling.
Chittenden Solid Waste District | 1021 Redmond Road, Williston, VT 05495