News from CSWD!
Creative ReUse Showcase Open House Feb. 22
You’ve heard about the Creative ReUse Showcase, and all the stunning artwork student competitors create — here’s your chance to see it all before a select group moves on to Frog Hollow!
WHAT: Creative ReUse Showcase Open House
WHEN: Saturday, February 22, noon – 3 p.m.
WHERE: Adams Farm Market (986 Old Stage Road, Williston)
Enjoy light refreshments, see the category winners, and cast your vote for the overall winner!
The CSWD Creative Reuse Showcase is an art competition for Chittenden County students in grades 9 through 12. The purpose is to encourage students and the community in general to reduce waste by reconsidering what we consume and discard. Creative Reuse Showcase art is made from items and materials that have been used for their original purpose and then discarded either as landfill-bound trash or as recycling.
Other Upcoming Dates
March 7-March 28: Showcase art exhibit opening at Frog Hollow (85 Church St., Burlington), Grand Opening during First Friday Art Walk.
March 28: Closing Awards Bash at Frog Hollow. 6-7 pm (Awards at 6:30 pm). Light refreshments, a final chance to vote for the overall winner, and to meet the students behind the work.
Got questions? Contact Johnny Powell: jpowell@cswd.net or 872-8100 ext. 211.
Please let the sponsors know how much you appreciate them for helping make this event possible: Frog Hollow, Renewable NRG Systems, Adams Farm Market, Advance Music Center, Bolton Valley Resort, Boutilier’s Art Center, Burlington City Arts, Outdoor Gear Exchange, Battery Street Jeans, Casella, and ReSource!
CSWD offers free summer youth programming for camps, troops or other groups!
Join Schools and Youth Outreach Coordinator Johnny Powell at the Kids VT Camp and School Fair to find out about our fun, free recycling, composting, and general waste reduction programming for your summer camp, daycare, club, troop or other K-12 youth group.
WHEN: Saturday, February 2, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
WHERE: The Hilton, 60 Battery St., Burlington
Some program offerings include:
– Physical games with a recycling and composting twist.
– Tours of CSWD’s recycling and composting facilities.
– Songs: sing ’em, write ’em, play ’em!
– Help setting up your program to set a good example for zero waste.
– Let your imagination run wild and let us know what would work for your program.
Contact Johnny (Call 802-872-8100 ext. 211 Email jpowell@cswd.net) to start planning a great summer program. Follow the summer adventures all season long on CSWD’s Schools and Youth Facebook page, where you can also share your own adventures, questions and tips with the community.
Material of the Month: Metal household objects
Raise your hand if you think of guitar strings, bent nails, or strands of burnt-out Christmas lights as trash. Hmmmmm — it looks like some of you might want to read on to keep from missing out on an opportunity to recycle small, metal household items rather than tossing them in the trash. Just because a product or material can’t be recycled in your blue bin doesn’t always mean it can’t be recycled at all. At each CSWD Drop-Off Center, there is a scrap-metal bin where you can toss items made mostly of metal for recycling. It’s free!
Besides those items listed above, you can also recycle power cords, lawn mowers (after you have drained out the fluids), metal exercise equipment, old keys, rusty hardware … anything that’s at least 80% metal.
Why metal lids and caps cannot be put in the recycling bin:
For recycling to work, there has to be a company out there that wants to buy a particular item for recycling. That’s mainly how CSDW pays for the recycling system. The buyer specifies exactly what they will accept. The plastic and other non-metal coatings, inserts and rings on metal lids are a contaminant to metal buyers — they don’t want that material messing up their clean metal stream.
What’s more, those metal bottle caps are too small for the recycling center to be able to handle them. They literally fall through the cracks in the system. That’s why when it comes to plastic and metal containers, we have a “Rule of 2” which means we can only recycle items BIGGER THAN 2 inches on any 2 dimensions (such as length, width, and height).
Good thing we have those handy scrap-metal bins as an alternative!
TIP: Keep a small container in a handy spot in your kitchen, garage, or other areas where you find yourself with metal to dispose of. When it’s full, bring it to any CSWD Drop-Off Center and check in at the booth. The Drop-Off Center operator will let you know where to leave your items.
DID YOU KNOW…?It is illegal in Chittenden County to put scrap metal items larger than 1 cubic foot or weighing more than 25 pounds into the trash.
BONUS TIP: Trade your scrap for cash! Go to the construction & demolition recycling page at cswd.net and scroll down to “scrap metal” for a list of local dealers who will pay for large amounts of high-value scrap metal.
If you have any questions about keeping anything out of the landfill, we’re here to help!
Call (802) 872-8111
Email info@cswd.net
Visit www.cswd.net.
Beauty may be skin-deep, but toxins in beauty products go much deeper
In 2011, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration found traces of lead in 400 lipsticks, according to an article in The New York Times. Other undesirable materials were found as well. According to the story, the FDA doesn’t consider the materials in such small amounts a concern. It’s the constant application over time, however, that can result in accumulation in your body.
How can you tell if your health and beauty products contain harmful ingredients? Check out the California Safe Cosmetics Program Product Database. The searchable website allows you to see whether the products you use have been reported to contain toxic chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive harm. As of last November, about 475 companies have submitted product information on about 30,000 products.*
So what’s a girl to do if her lipstick is on the list? How’s a guy supposed to manage chemical-free manscaping? There are many products available that keep you looking your best without filling your body with toxins. Another great resource is the Environmental Working Group’s Consumer Guides. Many of the products they mention can be found in local health-food stores. Due to rising demand, many of these safer products are now carried in major grocery and drug stores.
If you are getting ready to dash to your bathroom to purge your countertop of products listed in the database as containing undesirable ingredients, please DO NOT throw them in the trash. Instead, bring them to the Environmental Depot (1011 Airport Parkway, South Burlington; open Wed-Fri 8-2, Sat 8-3:30), available free to Chittenden County residents only. Chittenden County businesses must call 865-4663 to make an appointment for disposal.
*Inclusion in the California website does not necessarily mean that a product has been shown to cause cancer or other harmful health effects because products that contain even low levels of potentially harmful chemicals must report to the program. The website does not list the amount of the reportable chemicals in products.
CSWD FY13 Annual Report now online
The online version of CSWD’s Fiscal Year 2013 Annual Report has been published. The report covers CSWD’s activities and disposal and diversion stats for Chittenden County for the term covering July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013. Whew! What a busy year!
Pilot program gets agricultural plastics out of the landfill
If you’re a farmer, sugar maker, greenhouse tender or another of those folks who measure the year by sap rising and soil warming, the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, AgriMark/Cabot Creamery Cooperative and Casella Resource Solutions have announced a new free pilot program for recycling all that ornery agricultural film, tubing and wrap that comes along with your craft.
The pilot collection will run from February 1 through April 30, 2014, and recyclable items include:
• Silage Wrap/Bunk Covers
• Nursery Pots, trays, flats
• Maple Tubing
• Greenhouse Film
• Bale Wrap
• Drip tape/irrigation tubing
Casella’s collection locations include Middlebury, Montpelier, Highgate, Hyde Park and Bennington, VT.
Plastic that lives in, around, and on the ground can get mighty dirty, so prospective recyclers must follow specific requirements for film preparation and storage; likewise for maple tubing.
For all the details and contacts for more information, see the flyer posted at https://cswd.net/recycling/ag-plastic-recycling-pilot/.
CSWD Calendar
Monday, February 17
– All CSWD facilities will be closed in observance of President’s Day.
Regular hours of operation will be in effect on Saturday, February 15, and will resume Tuesday, February 18.
CSWD Drop-Off Centers
Green Mountain Compost
Environmental Depot (closed per regular schedule)
Materials Recovery Facility (open special hours Saturday, Feb. 22, 8-12)
CSWD Administrative Offices
McNeil Wood & Yard Waste Depot (closed per regular schedule)
Open regular hours through the holiday:
Casella Waste Systems Transfer Station (Avenue B, Williston)
Burlington Area Transfer Station (Redmond Road, Williston)
Burlington Residents: Residential recycling WILL be picked up on Monday, February 17, by the fearless folks at Burlington Public Works. Give ’em a salute as they go by!
Courtesy of CSDW