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Quarterly Newsletter
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Winter 2012
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Who We Are
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Central Vermont Solid Waste Management District is a union municipality committed to helping its 17 member communities work toward Zero Waste.
We are
Zero Waste CentralTM.
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Like our page for tips, resources, and information about reducing, reusing, and recycling in Central Vermont. We'll also post up-to-the-minute news about our special collections and programs; and as an added bonus - we raffle off a prize at every increment of 100 fans. We are Zero Waste Central!
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  Residential Composting Heating Up! Hardwick Pilot Takes Off
We've had a great response to our residential composting pilot in Hardwick this fall. Our new compost monitor, Carol Schminke (see below) has been signing up people at every collection, and we already have "regulars" who bring us their food scraps at least once a week. We've had to do some tweaking as we develop the pilot, changing up Carol's hours, and implementing a door-to-door outreach strategy. But that's the purpose of the pilot; to figure out what works best when implementing a rural residential composting program.
We have decided to wait a bit before getting the Montpelier end of the pilot going, having opted to focus on Hardwick and its unique needs before switching gears to a more concentrated population center with very different needs. We are, however, excited to announce that DJ's Convenience Store, at 56 River Street, has been accepting residential food scraps during its regular trash and recycling collections on Wednesdays and Saturdays. This has been a great way to get residents ready for the full implementation of the pilot. If you're interested in participating or have any questions, call 229-9383 or email out Program Manager, Collin O'Neil. |
Welcome Carol Schminke!
Carol joined us in October 2012 as Compost Monitor for the Hardwick residential composting pilot. Carol had coordinated a fledgling non-profit housing association while pursuing her education in horticulture at the New York Botanical Garden. Then, for nearly 20 years, she operated her own garden consulting/design business and an organic greenhouse/nursery which produced thousands of organic edible and ornamental plants each spring. Partnering with her sister in northern Vermont, they combined their garden/nursery experience, focusing on native plants, and added a worm composting facility to make it just a little more fun! Over the years, Carol has shared her knowledge and enthusiasm for gardening and composting at schools, garden clubs and community events. Carol shares her big old house with her little old dog and 3 old cats. A few of the many activities she enjoys are cooking/baking and eating, hiking, kayaking, playing the recorder, backyard bird watching and, of course, gardening. |
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Household Collections Update
Hugely Successful Hazardous Waste and Special Collections in 2012
Our 2012 collection season closed out with record numbers.
- We collected 20.5 tons of Household Hazardous Waste this calendar year.
- We hosted 11 collections between April and October, including special collections of books, e-waste and textiles as well as household hazardous waste.
- We collected 13 tons of latex paint for re-use, what we consider the highest and best option in our Zero Waste model.
- 48 percent of participants were new users.
- We had 102 percent more users than in 2010, and nearly 20 percent more than in 2011.
- There were several record turnouts, most notably our biggest collection of the year, the September Household Hazardous Waste collection in Montpelier, where 313 households participated.
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School Updates
Members of the Team Summit Green Team at Main Street Middle School talked trash at the Youth Environmental Summit at Vermont College in Montpelier on November 7. Team Summit has been focusing on waste reduction and green initiatives at MSMS for the past year. The group of eight students, along with CVSWMD School Zero Waste Program Manager, Gwen Lyons, ran a workshop teaching other students about how to reduce waste in schools and how to plan and implement a locker clean out at the end of the year. Over 200 students attended the YES Conference, which is put on by the 4-H Teen & Leadership Program through the UVM Extension Program.For more information about Team Summit Green Team initiatives, check out their website.
New School NewsletterOur school staff have been doing so much that they've started recording it in a monthly two-page newsletter sent out to all of our district schools. Manager Gwen Lyons, Coordinator Amanda Garland, and Intern Chrissy Bellmyer have been working hard to create these informational and interesting updates featuring program information, grants, crafts, and photographs of what they're doing with our community children. To check it out, click on the links below:
October 2012 School NewsletterNovember 2012 School Newsletter
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CVSWMD Notes
New at the ARCC
In the past few weeks, we've started accepting tires, fluorescent light bulbs, plastic grocery bags and much more at our ARCC (Additional Recyclables Collection Center). The ARCC, at 3 Williams Lane, Barre, is our multipurpose facility with  uses including the collection and consolidation of a variety of hard-to-recycle items too numerous to mention in this one article. Click here for a complete list and directions. There is a $1.00 fee per visit; and $2.50 per tire or $3.00 per tire if it's on a rim. Staff can be reached at the ARCC at 476-1900 on Mond ays and Fridays, 12:30 - 5:30 p.m. Email our Program Manager with any questions.
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Zero Waste Holiday Tips
There are thousands of ways to have a meaningful, abundant Zero Waste Holiday celebrations. We'll be providing more information on this on our website and facebook page later this month, but for now, here are a few great ideas to Green your Gift Wrap from the ReUse Alliance.
- Scrap Wrap: Reusing leftover wrapping paper, gift bags and ribbons that people gave you last year is one option. Another tried and true method is by wrapping gifts in newspaper, funnies, old calendars, or colorful magazines that you have collected over the year.
- Reusable Wrap: If it's in your budget, I highly recommend reusable cloth gift bag sets. And if you're really creative, you can also try furoshiki, which is the traditional Japanese method of using colorful pieces of cloth as gift wrap. While the method generally uses a specific type of cloth, I don't see why you can't go to your local creative reuse center and find some colorful scrap fabric. You can also consider reusable containers such as baskets, wood boxes, cookie tins, decorative jars - and reuse them yearly.
- DIY Wrap: You can decorate scrap paper, paper grocery bags, or left-over tissue paper with ink or poster paint using cookie-cutters or rubber stamps.
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Winter Air Quality - Another Reason for Non-Toxic Cleaning
Now that the doors and windows are sealed tightly, air quality becomes ever-more of an issue in our Central Vermont homes, so when typical cleaning products get used, hazardous chemicals don't disperse well. This is a great time to switch over to non-toxic cleaning methods. There are countless websites with great ideas, such as this article from the Huffington Post, or this from the Daily Green. We also have a comprehensive, downloadable non-toxic cleaning recipe book on the CVSWMD website. Click here to download your copy and let us know how it worked out! Back to Quick Links
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Congratulations Lauren Mercer Parker!
Lauren was one of our first 200 Facebook fans, and so she was entered into a raffle for (and won) a Green Cone. We are raffling off a Green Cone every time our number of Facebook fans reach increments of 100. Next drawing: 300. If you haven't checked our our Facebook Page yet, take a look. We post announcements about our programs, and also good information about re-use, recycling, composting, and more. |
| Contact Us
Physical Address:
Central Vermont Solid Waste Management District (CVSWMD)
137 Barre Street
Montpelier, VT 05602-3618
PH: 802.229.9383
FAX: 802.229.1318
General Questions or Comments?
Staff: |
CVSWMD Board Members by City/Town
Barre City - Nancy Wolfe
Barre City alternate - Steve Micheli
Barre Town - Fred Thumm
Barre Town alternate - Jack Mitchell
Berlin - Matt Levin
Bradford - Gerhard Postpischil
Calais - Bill Powell
Calais Alternate - John Brabant
Chelsea - Mark Lembke
Chelsea Alternate - Steve Gould
East Montpelier - Ginny Callan
Hardwick - Heather Bryant
Hardwick Alternate- Paul Fixx
Middlesex - Anita Krauth
Montpelier - Mia Moore
Montpelier Alternate - Andy Hooper
Orange - Lee Cattaneo
Plainfield - Vacant
Tunbridge - Vacant
Walden - Vacant
Washington - Vacant
Williamstown - Charles Sandlin
Woodbury - Dave Barnowski
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