Zero Waste In Andover?

Candy Dann, 10-11-13

What Can I Recycle?

• Single-Stream Recycling means put all your recyclables together…

What About ….?

YES

• All Paper and Cardboard– Envelopes with windows

– Spiral bound notebooks

– Paperback and phone books

• All glass, metal, plastic and paper containers– Bottles, cans, plastic jars

– Milk, juice, soup cartons

– Juice boxes

– Yogurt, butter tubs

NO

• Plastic bags – save for the grocery store

• Styrofoam – save for UPS or Zero Waste Day

• Juice pouches

• String, wire, cables

Does It Really Get Recycled?

Why No Plastic Bags?

Clothes in any conditionShoes, pocketbooks, belts, flip flops, underwearTorn, stained, worn clothesStuffed animalsLinens, towels, sheets

No wet, oily, smelly or moldy items

Clothing Recyclers Want It All -the “good, the bad and the ugly”!

Anything More?Food Waste is the Next Horizon

Backyard Composting• Vegetable peelings• Fruit• Bread• Napkins, paper towels

Town will order some composters at discounted prices if there are pre-paid orders.

Secret hint: store up 2-3 bags of leaves in the fall next to your compost bin and always add a handful when you add food.

Beyond Backyard Composting

• Curbside collection of food waste– Hamilton and Wenham – doing it now

– Manchester and Ipswich - under consideration

– Cambridge, Newton - planning pilot tests

– Arlington, Winchester, Rockport – private firms offer to collect organics from individual household

– All Andover schools will soon be separating food waste

– All Commercial “Generators” of large amounts will have to separate food waste – grocery stores, etc

School Food Waste Diversion

Now diverting food waste:• Andover High• Wood Hill Middle• High Plain Elementary

Starting this year: • West Elementary• West Middle• Bancroft Elementary

ResultsStudents teaching other students

Parents, volunteers, teachers, staff, and students working together

Students Involved AHS Students led the Middle School Assembly High Plain Elementary Art students took

recycling into their art classes

Wood Hill Middle School9-13-13

Trash12%

Liquids15%

Rec8%

Food, Trays65%

Trash

Liquids

Rec

Food, Trays

High Plain Elementary 9-13-13

Trash5%!!

Liquids21%

Rec14%

Food, Trays60%

Trash

Liquids

Rec

Food, Trays

Other Good Things In AHS

• Environmental Student Internship Class

What To Do With The Miscellaneous Waste?

• Andover’s Zero Waste Day, Lazarus House, Project Home Again accept:– Furniture, household items, decorations– Clothes, linens

• ZWD also takes:– Reusable construction materials– Bikes, toys, books, and styrofoam

• Drop boxes at West Elementary School takes:– Books (hardcover and paperback), CDs, DVDs,

• Best Buy takes– Electronics, TVs,

• Staples takes– Computers, printers, and related peripherals

Have We Forgotten Anything? Is This The Future Of The Trash Can?