[Summit] report from the field re greenup
Hope for Health
libertyliterary at yahoo.com
Mon Nov 2 15:19:45 UTC 2009
It's nice that Smithfield reduced their trash
- although it is important to note that the
reduction was in their "overtonnage", not the
total trash load.
However, I still think that it is not right
to use the punitive - and unhealthy - tactic
of leaving trash around in neighborhoods for
a week (or longer) at a time to try to bludgeon
people into recycling.
For one thing, I'm sure that many people are
still confused about what goes where and which
items are recyclable in which bin. Also, that
folks who do use the bins often put stuff in
that doesn't belong.
One question - isn't it true that some towns
have different rules about what they'll pick
up? And that Whole Foods Market is the only
place that will take #5 plastic items?
No one has yet answered my concern that many
will continue to avoid the bother of actually
recycling, and just put out the empty bins.
Some might just leave the recycling bins
out permanently so they don't even have to
bring them out each week.
Also, no one has explained how the trash
people can tell who in a multiple family
dwelling is the bad guy without the bins.
Do they take the trash anyway, or do the
folks who did the right thing suffer?
Better education might do more to encourage
people to really recycle than threats of
stinking garbage by their house.
Blessings,
Liberty G
--- On Mon, 11/2/09, Elizabeth Grossman <egrossman1 at cox.net> wrote:
> From: Elizabeth Grossman <egrossman1 at cox.net>
> Subject: Re: [Summit] report from the field re greenup
> To: "Allan Tear" <aktear at gmail.com>
> Cc: summit at sna.providence.ri.us
> Date: Monday, November 2, 2009, 10:01 AM
>
> I put out the big green and the little green. And lo, the
> big green was emptied.. even without the little blue. So
> there you go. A reasonable approach wins the day. E
> On Nov 2, 2009, at 8:43 AM, Allan Tear
> wrote:
> Thanks Tony, a very insightful and reasonable
> analysis. My bins are by the curb !
>
> Best,
>
> Allan Tear
> 93 Lauriston St.
>
> On Sun, Nov 1, 2009 at 11:21 PM,
> aa44ee <aa44ee at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> The Mayor's plan for increasing
> recycling rates is not without precedent and is certainly
> warranted, in my opinion, considering our city's poor
> trash and recycling habits.
>
> In 2006, the town of Smithfield had budget problems for
> sending too much waste to the landfill and came up with a
> winning plan. They sought to address the issue of compulsive
> non-recycling with the same plan, a "No Bin, No
> Barrel" policy. It successfully reduced their
> over-tonnage by 50% and has increased their rates from 19%
> in 2006 to a projected 24% in 2009. Here's the scoop on
> how RI's trash fees work and the incentives created to
> reduce, reuse and recycle.
>
> Each municipality in Rhode Island that sends its solid
> waste to the Johnston landfill is charged per ton. It's
> called the tipping fee. The fee runs on a sliding scale from
> $32/ton down to $29/ton depending upon how much the city
> manages to direct to the recycling center (green and blue
> bins) versus the landfill itself (the big green barrel).
>
> Each town is allocated a certain number of tons of trash
> into the landfill. It is termed the Municipal Solid Waste
> Cap, or MSW Cap. The Municipal Solid Waste Cap allocation is
> "based on the previous Calendar year’s waste
> generation and population estimates" and are applied to
> the coming fiscal year's municipal cap. Here's a
> document which describes the MSW cap calculation in detail:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/yepzzea
>
> And this next document has interesting numbers which show
> the 2009 projections for the participating municipalities in
> Rhode Island (Narragansett and Tiverton dump elsewhere):
>
> http://tinyurl.com/yblbuag
>
> So, our city pays per ton up to an allocated cap.
> Here's the kicker. If a town exceeds its MSW Cap, it is
> charged an additional $26/ton on top of the standard rate.
> This is the case for Providence - $58/ton.
>
> In fiscal year 2009, the city of Providence was projected
> to generate 68,324 tons of MSW (trash), exceeding its cap of
> 60,629 tons in FY 2009 by 7,695 tons. That additional 7695
> tons will cost the city of Providence ~$438,615.
>
> Sadly, Providence ranks at the bottom of the list in the
> state in terms of recycling rates. In that second document,
> you'll see we're projected to only recycle
> approximately 10% of that 68,324 for the fiscal year. We get
> charged the highest rate at $32/ton.
>
> The bottom line is that less refuse means lower landfill
> fees. To get the citizens of Providence to just meet the cap
> and avoid paying a severe penalty would require a much
> tougher campaign of discipline - REDUCE. This campaign is
> attempting what will hopefully be an easier campaign -
> RECYCLE.
>
> I fully support the Mayor. It's good for the taxpayers
> and it's good for the state.
>
> One additional comment. There's a rebate incentive,
> again on a sliding scale, for those cities that reach
> recycling rates of 24% or better.
>
> Imagine if Providence were to be as successful as East
> Providence or Central Falls. By my calculation, if we were
> to stay below our cap and recycle just over 24%, we'd
> pay ~$1.4M and even get a rebate check for $60,629. Instead,
> if we do nothing and track according to the projection,
> we'll be paying $2.4M at the end of this fiscal year. A
> million dollars is no small change.
>
> -Tony Adams
> 286 Rochambeau Avenue
>
> On Sun, Nov 1, 2009 at 8:14 PM,
> Theresa Mathiesen <elvamath at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> Hi, all,
>
> Well, Providence has been trying to get us to voluntarily
> recycle for
> years, right? Why aren't we? From my observations
> at work, where
> recycling containers are all over the place, some people
> think about
> recycling a lot and others don't think about it at
> all. My guess is
> that this is an attempt to get the nonthinkers to think
> about it.
>
> The plain fact is that the Johnston Landfill is running
> out of room.
> It has only one or two years left. A little more, if we
> can dump
> less. What happens when it *is* out of room? Do we
> taxpayers have to
> pay lots more to dump in someone else's landfill?
> All the garbage has
> to go somewhere.
>
> My hat's off to those who finish the week with so
> little garbage,
> cans, and paper. Please, put out your wheeled bin, and
> feel free to
> stop by and borrow a can, bottle, or newspaper off me for
> your blue
> and green bins.
>
> Best,
> Elva
>
>
>
> On Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 3:45 PM, Greg Gerritt <gerritt at mindspring.com>
> wrote:
> > The stickers cost way less than the $300K that more
> recycling will save the
> > city. More and more cities around the country and
> the world are going to
> > mandatory recycing. It is about time. And if
> there is no enforcement, you
> > get no additional recycling. Greg gerritt
> >
> >
> > on 10/28/09 12:12 PM, David Zenofsky at davidzen at yahoo.com
> wrote:
> >
> > So I guess that explains the new stickers on the
> trash cans... Wonder how
> > much those cost us? I thought the city was hurting
> for cash, but they can
> > afford frivolous things like stickers hawking a new
> recycling initiative?
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: Brian Leveille <brian.leveille at gmail.com>
> > To: Summit at sna.providence.ri.us
> > Sent: Wed, October 28, 2009 11:23:11 AM
> > Subject: [Summit] I fail to see the logic in the new
> GreenUp requirements.
> >
> > So I just got an email from the City announcing the
> upcoming change in trash
> > pickup:
> >
> >
> > GREEN UP PROVIDENCE is part of Operation Opportunity
> > <http://www.providenceri.com/press/article.php?id=490>
> , a new initiative to
> > double Providence’s recycling rate and save nearly
> $300,000 in waste
> > disposal fees. Starting on Monday, November 2, 2009,
> residents will need to
> > place BOTH their recycling bins (or containers for
> segregated recyclables)
> > at the curb on trash day next to their Big Green Can.
> Two recycling
> > containers must be placed at the curb with each Big
> Green Can or the trash
> > will not be picked up.
> >
> >
> > Looking at the FAQ (http://www.providenceri.com/green/docs/GreenUP_faq.pdf)
> > I see a tad more info like:
> >
> > What if I don’t have enough recyclables to fill my
> bins each week?
> > Your recycling bins don’t have to be full for your
> trash to be collected.
> > All you need is to put out your bin.
> >
> > The recycling truck collects before the trash truck,
> and I bring my bins in
> > right away. How will they know I recycle?
> > The garbage collectors won’t know you recycle if
> you bring your bins in
> > right away, so residents need to leave their empty
> bins next to their trash
> > cans and bring all containers in at the same time.
> >
> >
> >
> > I'm an avid recycler, but I probably only fill my
> recycling bins twice a
> > month.
> >
> > My question to everyone is: what is the city trying
> to do by forcing me to
> > put empty bins out every other week? It seems silly
> to me to not get my
> > trash picked up (which I pay (a lot of) taxes for)
> because I don't use
> > enough plastic bottles to fill my recycle bins every
> week. (Heh, maybe I
> > should just get an extra 6 pack of beer every now and
> then to put in the
> > bin. Ya, I like that idea!)
> >
> > Is this a social experiment to see if forcing people
> to put out recycling,
> > by NOT picking up trash, will encourage more
> recycling? Won't NOT picking
> > up trash cause MORE rodent problems (which is why we
> got the bins in the
> > first place)??
> >
> > -BL
> >
> > ________________________________
> > _______________________________________________
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> > Summit at sna.providence.ri.us
> > http://mail.sna.providence.ri.us/mailman/listinfo/summit_sna.providence.ri.us
> > SNA Website: http://sna.providence.ri.us/
> >
> >
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> >
>
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