Green Acton Response to July Recycling / Recreation Status

Just checking in about progress on recycling at rec areas, an important part of an overall waste reduction strategy for Acton.

Here are some additional thoughts and information in case they are helpful.

As you saw, I wrote to Steve on July 9 about allocating the 25K from the Transfer Station fund dedicated to waste reduction initiatives, encouraging the use of those funds for recycling at rec areas materials and labor. Have you met or heard back from Steve on this topic yet?

Your earlier note didn’t mention if you wanted any assistance in picking out recycling stations for rec areas. Green Acton stands by to help if you would want any help. Our initial recommendation is that to increase compliance, it is helpful to have containers where you can see the contents (such as a thin metal grid), and very clear, visually based instructions. Some examples of see-through containers are here: http://recycleclear.com/pricing.html (see the “recycle sport” and “recycle duo” options) and here: http://trashcansunlimited.com/pro1438935.html .

When you wrote that you “propose that the Green Committee, Recreation/Natural Resources and DPW meet to discuss how to allocate the $25,000 once we have figures for the proposed materials required to start these recycling initiatives,” did you mean the Green Advisory Board (GAB), a town committee, or Green Acton, a citizen group? I can get Green Acton representatives to such a meeting, but this seems like an internal town government matter where Green Acton might not have an appropriate role. GAB hasn’t been involved in this initiative until now, and might take a while to get up to speed. It could be that this issue could be resolved directly between Recreation & DPW with the assistance of Steve if it hasn’t been resolved already.Green Acton has met with Corey on the Drop/Swap shed, and all present agreed that targeting a less-than 10K expense for the shed would simplify the procurement, and still allow for an entirely adequate shed. That leaves potentially 15K for the “recycling at rec areas” program, minus whatever is allocated for improving signage and communications about recycling. This signage and communication initiative has not gotten very far yet, and certainly has not gotten to the point of having a specific budget. My reading of the situation and the priorities is that I’d recommend moving ahead as soon as possible with a recycling program at recreation areas, with the working assumption that you can allocate up to a reasonably high fraction of the unallocated 15K.

So, in summary: eagerly looking forward to progress on this initiative, and happy to help out in any way we can