April 10 Green Acton meeting minutes: Dumptique, Drop/Swap, Cleanup day, Invasive Plants & more!

[Jim Snyder-Grant]

Tuesday April 10th 2012 AGENDA:  "Trash to Treasures: Lincoln's 'Dumptique" Experience

Present: Debra Simes, Terry Maitland, Janice Ward, Laura Berland (special guest from Lincoln), Pam Harting-Barratt, Jim Snyder-Grant, Karen Herther, Lee Ketelsen, Sue Jick

1. Opening Go-Round + Introductions

2. Special Guest: Laura Berland of Lincoln MA laurab...@comcast.net on Building the 'Dumptique' - How creating a permanent SWAP Shed in Lincoln changed Recycling Habits

Talking about the swap program in Lincoln at the transfer station. In Lincoln it is very inexpenive to get a transfer station sticker, so many residents go there.  The swap area started before Laura got involved. She was involved in expanding and organizing in 2010. It was too small - a single table with stuff dumped there, thrown away at the end of each day.  First step in remaking the program was to get a shed. Contacted Minutemen Tech & asked, and they agreed to build, and it was a beautiful 8 X 16 structure lined with sheds. (Wish they had adjustable shelves) Lincoln just had to pay for materials.

Sections - kid toys, dishes, etc. Volunteers do the sorting. 2 days a week.  It has stayed clean. Formerly: everything left over was thrown away at the end of each day. New shed is emptied only by volunteers. Lincoln has 5,000 people. 6-7 volunteers keep it going. Tried fixed schedule, and it wasn't happening. So, folks drop by as they can, and that works out OK.  

Recycling rate has gone up, and the only change has been the swap shed. Rate going up may be that total trash volume has fallen, or that recycling has picked up. 

 

Not accept: Hazardous materials. electronics, other stuff that has fees. 

Open Wednesday & Saturday, 7:30 - 3:30. Huge social component. People hang around. It's become the gathering spot for fund raisers, politicians, etc. Some folks hang out for hours. Good stuff has been there. 

Avoided rules about taking too much or other 'fairness' issues. Keep it fun & easy.

Considering limiting furniture, or other heavy things - those cost a lot to dispose of, and often don't get taken. 

We started discussing Acton implications (this discussion defintely to be continued some time!)

In Acton: may be times when folks can drop stuff off who are residents but don't have stickers? Or at least let recycling-only stickers come in. 

Another good town is Sherborn - Swap area is only open a few months out of the year. 

For a Look at "Things they Left" at Acton's Transfer Station Now: https://picasaweb.google.com/100286491299909647388/2012ThingsTheyLeft 

3.  Update on BIG plans for Green Acton's 3rd ANNUAL Drop-Swap - MAY 5th, 2012. Sue Cudmore + Crew 

A few more people to volunteer would be needed!  All vendors are lined up. Shared some good publicity ideas. Please document what's done so we can have a checklist for next year.  Contact Sue Jick or drop...@greenacton.org to volunteer. 

4.  CLEAN-UP DAY in Acton April 28th - update?  

Sign up sheet passed around. Dumpster is ready! Combined banner for both events is going up week before. Looking for more groups/businesses to own 'areas'. Ace hardware has come through again with gloves & bags. Dunking donuts for coffee and donuts. Super markets are providing other snacks. Contact  terence....@gmail.com. Pam will see if the BoS can take on some small area. Boy scouts are taking areas. You can go to http://greenacton.org/cleanup_signup 

Passed on some publicity ideas to Terry.  

5. Update Green Acton Energy Challenge (sagewell.com) + Preserveware Sharing in ACTON 

The energy challenge phase I + II was a success - 650+ households signed up for free thermal imaging, and a free analysis of those images, and access to vendors to fix problems. There will be another small burst of publicity after the analysis is done - households that were scanned but didn't ask for an analysis will be encouraged to sign up. More than 100 households signed up for energy audits. 

Green Acton & AB PIP STEM continue to share the use of a bunch of preseveware - cups, plates, forks, knifes & spoons that are washable + reusable, and made form recycled and recyclable material.  Next use is at a Jamie Eldridge fundraiser. Contact in...@greenacton.org if you want to borrow some or all of the set. Some of the items have gone missing - we may be asking Green Acton to spend some money to bring teh set back up to a consistent size. 

6. Time to talk about INVASIVES- Jim 

"Invasive plant species" are those species that have been moved across ecosystem boundaries by humans (typically for agriculture or horticulture) and are escaping and thriving now in unmanaged areas. To be invasive, they also need some advantage over the local plants in some way, such as some combination of having no local species that consume theme; more early or late season growth  than other species; massive seed production, etc. We have plenty of invasive plant species in Acton, because of our combination of a history of agriculture and gardening, followed by the return of forests.  I see removing invasive plant species as part of the larger work of repairing some of the damage our species has inadvertently done to our environment. I've been focued on Garlic mustard for a few years because it has these two qualities: (1) it is continuing to spread and do harm [prevents a wide variety spring ephemerals from growing by creating large dense clumps that out grow almost everything else] and (2) It can successfully be eliminated by volunteer labor, with no use of herbicides or power tools [we just pick it in April or May, after it bolts and before it seeds, and we do this for 5 years in one spot, and it can be kept away after that with simple quick monitoring].  I'll send out a signup sheet soon if this work draws you. We'll be focusing on Fridays, Saturdats & Sundays, starting next weekend. 

 

Learned about AB PIP Stem project to  add a 'tear-out' guide to invasives  to their local fold-out guide. Unanimously agreed to support this AB PIP STEM project in the Fall.

7. Solarize MASS from Mass Clean Energy Center, we learn April 12th if bulk purchase of PV (solar panels) will be offered to Acton residents 

[Late breaking news YES!!!  Stay tuned for how you can participate and help]

8:  Thoughts on WHAT is SUSTAINABLE Leadership?  

Ann has been doing agendas along for about a year. Green Acton needs one or more to do future Green Acton Agendas (are you willing?); 

Some ideas & models - team to rotate creating agendas.  Creating easy ways to submit agenda items. Jim S-G can be part of a team. Sue Jick is willing to think about it. Debra Simes can do it if someone else can be co-treasurer. We will continue to evolve how to do this. We may need an open-agenda meeting or two while we sort this out. 

AB PIP STEM works well combining a small set of scheduled projects during the year, plus being available for special opportunities as they arise.A fine model that Green Acton can learn from. 

ACES has been focused mostly on one project at a time, and usually with a very small (sometimes solitary) leadership. That worked well for certain types of technical projects, especially all the WR Grace work they have done. But a single point of leadership is also a single point of failure, and their leadership losses have left them with big challenges. Green Acton has had a larger core of leaders, and new folks have come in to work on specific projects, but needs to keep widening the circle.

9. ANNOUNCEMENTS + ideas:  (10 min)

REMINDER: JUNE Green Acton @ Jones Tavern, that's June 12;  w Libations-  Iron Work Farm is welcoming us!

May meeting is at the library. 

-Green Chemistry - a high school student initiative that will be speaking at Green Acton at May meeting -  contact mura...@yahoo.com
-Concord talk on sustainable food issues.- Thursday night [oops just past]
-Book donations are down at the library. Got Books is hoovering up the books, and is not a non-profit. Green Acton is not using Got Books this year at Drop/Swap they are using "More than Words". a Waltham bookstore that serves as a training opportunity for youth. 

-The monthly Acton/Maynard Green Drinks events is on Thursday at Local Table in West Acton: 

-Concord /Carlisle League event on Money in Politics is on May 17 at CCHS: http://lwvcc.ma.lwvnet.org/

-Thursday Global Warming talk at the Boston Public Library http://www.massclimateaction.net/calendar/events/index.php?com=detail&eID=83

-Discussed cosmetics & public health issues: http://safecosmetics.org/

-Preserveware will be interviewing a couple of us on success stories with Preserveware.  

-Curt Spalding, regional administrator for EPA, wants to come to Green Acton some time and to learn about what communities are doing. 

-No T-shirts this year for drop-swap.