To help you learn about our expanded recycling program, we sent out mailers -- has this handy reference arrived in your mailbox already? We have put the mailer online (PDF, 1.63 MB):
We're running this newspaper ad (PDF, 839 kb) as well:
We encourage you to share these links and documents with others!
Yesterday, my colleague, Ana, and I gave a composting presentation to the Darne Bloomers Garden Club in Darnestown.
No sooner did we enter the meeting room, I whipped out my camera, and started snapping away! Never mind the composting presentation -- we were in waste-reduction paradise!
The meeting invitations were printed on the inside of brown paper bags. Their last line read: "Please compost this announcement".
The tables were covered with brown paper (also compostable!), each sporting a different garden-related quotation. The table decorations were arrangements of fruits and vegetables.
Delightfully-decorated "fruits" and "vegetables" -- tiny cakes! -- were among the goodies served. These were presented on cabbage leaves, in cookie crumb "soil".
There were no plastic utentils or other disposables here! The cutlery was wrapped in a cloth napkin package, easy to pick up and take back to one's seat.
Three labeled containers awaited the end of the meeting, and the return of silverware; dishes; and cups, glasses, and bowls (from left to right).
Congratulations on the thoughtfully prepared meeting, and on the negligible amount of material which went out as trash!
Do you have a meeting coming up? Benefit from the zero-waste meeting lessons learned by a US EPA employee, and check out the EPA's Green Meetings resources.
Monday, September 7, 2009 - Labor Day - is a recycling and trash collection holiday. After the holiday, all County-provided recycling and trash collections will be one day later than normal.
| If your normal collection day is: | Your collection day for the week of September 7, 2009, is: |
|---|---|
| Monday | Tuesday |
| Tuesday | Wednesday |
| Wednesday | Thursday |
| Thursday | Friday |
| Friday | Saturday |
If you have any questions or concerns about your County-provided collection, please contact our Customer Service staff online or call 240-777-6410.
Note: if you (or your community) have a private contract for your trash collection, or if you live in a municipality, these schedule announcements may not apply to your trash service -- check with your hauler or community manager.
The Montgomery County Agricultural Fair ended on Saturday, and we've packed our tents, tables, and supplies up for the next event. Here's a short retrospective of our nine days there.
The sign taped to the bus next to our booth was one you don't see every day: “Path MUST be kept cleared – cakes coming thru!” On the Fair's opening Friday, easy passage to the Home Arts Building across the way from us was critical for bakers bearing entries for the cake competition! (Did you have a chance to check out the winners? They looked scrumptious!)
Our recycling tatoos, with a reminder to "Recycle Every Day!", were popular with the younger set. Our teen volunteers enthusiastically offered their application services for on-the-spot tatooing!
Our display of things we accept in our curbside recycling program was a great conversation starter! Thanks for the interesting chats we had about what to put into your blue bins, and... what to keep out. (And about that child's hand holding a yo-yo string... It's a bonus addition to this photo, but a nice opportunity to note that the yo-yos we gave out as prizes were made from recycled content!)
Here's Ana, our tireless Recycling Volunteer Program Manager, who kept track of our staff and volunteer schedule to make sure that our booth was attended at all times, replenished supplies as we ran out, and cheerfully boosted spirits on those hot, humid afternoons.
If you missed us at the Fair, maybe we'll cross paths at one of our upcoming Fall events. Our staff and volunteers look forward to meeting you!
Congratulations to our Recycling Center! It has just received the Solid Waste Association of North America's 2009 Recycling Systems Silver Excellence Award.
Read details about the Award in this news release.
This is the third Excellence Award earned by the Recycling Center. Why? We invite you to come by for a first-hand view! See how the trucks which service our County neighborhoods deliver those blue bin materials and paper to our Center, and how these are sorted. Individuals may simply drop in; for group visits, please set up an appointment. Full visit details are on our website.
And, if coming over in person isn't possible, we have an alternate option for you. Our online Recycling Center tour gives you the highlights of our operation.
Whether you have a live or virtual tour, enjoy your visit!
Our GoGreen tips have moved to the radio waves! Tune in to 94.7 Fresh FM to hear ideas for making your home and office more environmentally friendly.
Tomorrow's tips will air at 6:51 a.m. and 9:20 a.m. If you miss them, you'll have many more opportunities to listen over the next few weeks.
We often refer to our Solid Waste staff being "out in the field" when they are working in neighborhoods, apartment and condominum properties, and businesses.
In other parts of the Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection, our colleagues are literally in fields collecting data. Sometimes, they are in the water, too!
In today's Biological Monitoring for MoCo post, learn about some of the 53 items that aquatic biologists in the Department take with them to help keep tabs on habitat conditions, water chemistry, and critters large and small in our local streams.
To get updates as they come in, subscribe to the biologists' field reports.
During the week, our Compost Facility bustles with activity. It receives deliveries of the yard trim you've set out at the curb for collection, and workers are busy turning and processing leaves and grass in various stages of becoming LeafGro.
But, early in the morning, before the Facility's workday begins, things are much quieter. Here's a photo taken by a colleague on her way to an assignment:
In addition to the beautiful compost-in-progress within the Compost Facility itself, staff and visitors are greeted by a cheerful patch of wildflowers near the entrance, complete with industriously buzzing bees:
The July 2009 issue includes:
Interested in reading back issues? Visit our TRRAC Newsletter Archive.
"Today, we had someone in here looking for a diamond watch and ring. Maybe this would be something for the blog..."
Indeed it is! Part of the daily Transfer Station operations includes keeping the various dropoff areas humming, and the trucks unloading. Generally, the material that's brought in is intended to stay there. However, sometimes, valuables mistakenly end up in the trash. When this happens, our Transfer Station staff springs into action.
On that day, it was jewelry that had accidently ended up in the wrong place.
Thankfully, the trash collection truck which serviced the resident's home had not yet come to the Transfer Station to unload. When it arrived, staff pulled it aside, and had the driver unload in a separate area. (If the truck had already unloaded when the resident contacted us, it would have been too late to attempt to find the items.)
We contacted the resident, who then came to begin the hunt for the bag which held the missing items. We provided safety equipment, and assisted as much as possible. This can be very challenging work, especially if the sought-for things are small.
Was there a happy ending? The missing bag was recovered! We were ready to celebrate! However, it turned out that the jewelry was not in the bag after all. The story did ultimately end in victory: the resident called us later to share that the missing items were found behind the dresser. Hooray!
What should you do if you discover that an item of monetary or sentimental value has been whisked away as trash? We've taken this particular jewelry situation as inspiration to jot down the procedure for how to (possibly) recover a valuable item from the trash.
From our mailbag, in response to my recent post about the importance of labelling yard trim cans:
I agree with your concerns about labeling yard waste cans. The problem is that those labels are not robust enough to stick or stand-up to moisture and come off readily.
Thanks for your comments, M.
Agreed. Getting the yard trim labels to remain on cans has been a challenge sometimes. We haven't given up! When we ordered our most recent batch of labels this Spring, we selected ones which are supposed to have better adherence and fade-resistance than our previous ones. We'd be happy to mail you replacement yard trim labels from our new stock.
We're also happy to make a house call with spray adhesive for yard trim stickers which refuse to stay stuck. To request a visit, please contact our Customer Service staff.
TRRAC is our program for recycling and waste reduction at apartment and condominium properties.
Interested in reading back issues? Visit our TRRAC Newsletter Archive.
Isn't this plaque beautiful?! We gave this -- and others just like it -- to the individuals, and multi-family and business properties we honored during our Recycling Achievement Awards Recognition Program yesterday.
Our Recycling Poster Contest winners were announced on Tuesday: view the winning student posters in our Flickr set.
Here is a small random sample:
Monday, May 25, 2009 - Memorial Day - is a recycling and trash collection holiday. All County-provided recycling and will be made one day later this week.
If you have any questions or concerns about your County-provided collection, please contact our Customer Service staff online or call 240-777-6410.
Note: if you (or your community) have a private contract for your trash collection, or if you live in a municipality, these schedule announcements may not apply to your trash service -- check with your hauler or community manager.
Solid Waste Transfer Station hours and other details
Beauty Spot locations, hours and other details
The issue challenges our collection crews throughout the year. But, it's especially acute in the spring.
Quick! What's in this can?
Since it *is* a trash can, there a good chance that the contents are trash. But, what if the resident has followed our advice on using reusable cans for yard trim, and has set out grass, leaves, or brush instead? It's hard to tell, right?
Our collection crews have the same problem! As they drive down your street, the only way they have of knowing the can contents of a lidded trash can for sure is stop, lift the lid, and peer inside.
Yard trim collection routes typically service approximately 1,500 homes per day. Stopping to check every trash can that's set out to see whether there are leaves, grass, or brush -- or trash -- inside slows the crew signficantly.
We are happy to send you yard trim decals at no charge. The decals are also available at local libraries.
Are you interested in picking up one of our compost bins, but concerned about how you'll get it home? When set up for use, the bins are roughly 2.5 feet tall, and the same in diameter (the diameter is adjustable).
However, the bins come packaged as tight rolls of approximately 2.5 feet long, and 4 inches in diameter.
So, the roll fits easily into the truck, foot well, or seat of your car.
And, if you're using public transportation? Carrying one bin is no problem. Carrying multiple bins... well, that can get interesting, especially during the rush hour -- I've attempted it! And, while you're on the bus or Metro, you'll find your bin to be a good conversation starter.
Regardless of how you get your bin to your home, happy composting!
Please share your omposting success stories! And, what questions do you have about composting? We'd love to address them in future blog posts!
Last week, a colleague reminded me that May 3 through May 9, 2009 was International Compost Awareness Week.
Oops! Is this post a week late, then? Not really: just as "Earth Day is every day," "Compost Awareness Week is every week" for us.
Do you compost? Please share your success stories! And, what questions do you have about composting? We'd love to address them in future blog posts!
Were you able to join us for our Earth Day Celebration on Saturday? If you were, thanks for coming out - you helped us set a new attendance record! If not, perhaps we'll see you next year.
A big round of applause and thanks to the many Recycling Volunteers who helped us at this event! We are so grateful to you all!
Some snapshots of the day...
The photo in my last blog post had a badly cracked recycling bin in the foreground. If you have one in similar condition, how do you get a replacement bin?
You may order a new bin at no charge through our "web store", or by calling our Customer Service staff at 240-777-6410.
If you'd like us to take your broken bin when we deliver your new bin, just let us know during the ordering process. We send the broken bins we pick up to a recycler.
The bin deliveries and pickups are made by our staff, not the recycling collection crews. Therefore, while your new bin may arrive on your recycling day, it is possible that it will happen on another day.
