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DEA National Take Back Day

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The next drug take-back day is Saturday, October 24, 2020. For participating locations in our area, click here.

Next District Meeting: Thursday, October 22, 2020

What Can You Do With Your Food Scraps?

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  • Compost them in your backyard, or
  • Bring them to the transfer station's food scrap bucket (free but subject to change), or
  • Pay someone to pick them up at your house.

To help residents that want to do backyard composting, we are selling Soil Saver composters. If you would like to buy one, download and print out the order form and mail it in with a check. If you can't print out the form, contact us at 674-9235 or mobrien@swcrpc.org and we will mail you one.

We do not sell Green Cones, the in-ground digesters. If you are interested in purchasing one, click here.

Our spring backyard composting workshops were canceled because of the state of emergency. However, we are offering an alternative opportunity to learn how to compost food scraps in your backyard. 
Ham Gillett, a Master Composter, filmed a backyard composting presentation which Okemo Valley TV aired. OVTV also shared the program with other local cable access television stations for them to broadcast. Click on one of the links below for Ham's presentation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tfua6dkR2Po&feature=youtu.be
http://okemovalley.tv/virtual-composting-workshop

The Central Vermont Solid Waste Management District has a helpful booklet, "The Dirt on Compost," about backyard composting that you can access here.

Composting in your backyard...it's easy, saves you money, and produces a great soil amendment for your garden.  Basically, composting is just collecting kitchen scraps and leaves and putting them in a pile or bin. Then Mother Nature does the work of turning it back into soil. Composting can be done with almost no effort. Just add  kitchen waste and leaves from the autumn leaf drop  at a ratio of 1:3 and ...compost happens!

But what about bears?!
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Bears can be a nuisance when they are attracted to the food scraps in a backyard composter.

The Agency of Natural Resources has developed a short, helpful  management guide.
Click here to read.

Got Household Hazardous Waste?

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We will not have another collection until 2021. If you need to properly dispose of HHW before next spring, "The Rutland County Solid Waste District has a permanent hazardous waste collection facility that is generally open year-round. Visit their website or call 802-775-7209 for more information."

If you just have paint to recycle, and the cans are labeled and not leaking, you can bring them to a local participating retailer. In our area, the following retailers accept all brands of paint, year-round, during regular business hours:
  • Aubuchon Hardware, Ludlow
  • LaValley Building Supply, Ludlow
  • Bibbens Home Center, Springfield
  • Sherwin-Williams, Springfield
  • Aubuchon Hardware, Windsor
If you have leaky, unlabeled cans of paint, bring them to a household hazardous waste event.
Visit PaintCare Inc. Vermont for other locations.

Latest District News:

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Banning Straws - Have you heard about this?
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What happens to the glass that you bring to the transfer station? 
Well, if you go to the Ludlow, Springfield, or Weathersfield transfer stations, all of the pickle jars, peanut butter jars, Snapple bottles, and wine bottles end up in a big pile on Springfield town land. Every few years, the glass is ground up. That glass is called processed glass aggregate or PGA. Contractors can use PGA as a gravel substitute in a variety of applications. Read More...
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Battery Recycling
Drop off your used batteries for special recycling and save our one-and-only landfill!         Have you been throwing the used batteries from your remote controls, flashlights or toys into the trash? Stop! 
Until recently that was acceptable in Vermont. However, since Jan. 1, 2016, the State has added alkaline batteries (AA, AAA, C, D, 9v, etc.) to the list of batteries that can be recycled for FREE.  Read More...
Clean Wood, Leaf and yard debris are banned from the landfill as of July 1, 2016. Haulers who offer trash collection must also offer a service to collect leaf and yard debris, separate from other waste. Neither haulers nor transfer stations are required to collect clean wood. However, transfer stations may offer a spot for dropping off clean wood for other residents to pick up for reuse.  Read More...

"Sewing Peace."    A job in a box!

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Forty-three sewing machines (up from 36 in 2018) from the District joined the Vermont shipment that made its way to New Jersey in late September. From there, the machines were shipped to  partnering organizations overseas.

If you have a no-longer-used but working sewing machine, please consider donating it to the Sewing Peace project. Just bring it to your local transfer station (Ludlow, Rockingham, or Springfield) and let the folks there know that you want to donate it to Sewing Peace. Thank you.   Read More...

Member Towns:

Click on a town below to get recycling, food scrap diversion, and trash information specific to that town.

Quick Links:
Vermont's Universal Recycling Law. Vermont has solid waste legislation that focuses on recyclables and organics. It will lead to more consistent services throughout the state. To read more about this law, click here. If you would like to look at and/or use the new universal recycling symbols for recycling, food, and trash, click here.  Download the Universal Recycling timeline and/or a summary of the new law.