"Its Easy Being Green" Episode 9: Chelmsford Recycling Comity

Last night we taped 2 new episodes of "Its Easy Being Green." The first taping was with 4 members of the Chelmsford Recycling Comity. They were nice enough to come on the show and talk about recycling in Chelmsford. We had a live studio audience there as well. In the beginning of the show the winners of the K-4th grade recycling poster and essay contest were announced. They were awarded a juice pouch item of their choice (made by me). Two of them picked a large 40 page juice pouch notebook, and two of them picked a small juice pouch purse. All of the audience members received a ticket when they walked through the door. At the end of the show 2 tickets were drawn, and 2 lucky people won a larger juice pouch purse.

The show went well. Jenifer, who works at the recycling office, talked about the recycling system in the town. She also talked about different types of events, like fall brush drop off. Mark talked about recycling champions, rain barrels, and composting. Marc and Norman chimed in as well. Mark also talked about the website and how to use. The Chelmsford recycling website is http://www.chelmsfordrecycles.org/. The website has all of the information that you need for recycling in our town. You can click on the link on the right hand side of my blog to go to my you tube page. In one week I will have 3 videos of this show posted on there.

Recently pizza boxes are no longer recycled. This is because of the oil and grease on the box. You can tear up the box and put it in your compost bin instead.

A question at the end of the show, which was cut off, was "where do you keep your food scraps in the kitchen before taking them to the compost bin?" I bought a $5 plastic tub with a lid and a handle from the town. The town was not able to buy any this past year though. I also will keep a large bowl on my counter for the food scraps. Then I take them to the compost in the morning. You can also put them in a paper bag. Since the paper bag is compostable, you can throw the whole thing into the compost bin. Jennifer uses a small stainless steel trash can with a lid for her kitchen scraps. I have seen these for sale at Bed Bath & Beyond before. My parents were able to buy a set of 3 (in 3 different sizes) before.

Another audience member brought up how you can also compost your paper napkins and paper towels. These are other items that can't go in the recycle bin, but they don't need to go in the trash.

If you live in an apartment and don't have the space for a large compost bin, try a small one with red wiggler worms. I have done this before. They don't take up much room.

You can purchase a rain barrel and a compost bin from the town, via the town office or the recycling office. Both are under $100. Others can be more expensive, but may work better for your household. I look at it as a good investment. You will be saving money in the long run, and you will be helping the town to save money as well. The town gets charged for the weight of the trash that gets disposed of. The less you throw away, the more the town can save. The more the town can save, the more money there is to go towards things like schools, libraries, the police and fire department, etc.

Please remember the 3 Rs, reduce, reuse, and recycle. Try to think about them when you are shopping. How much packaging is in the product that you are buying? How much of that can be recycled? Is it a useful product? Is it a disposable or a reusable product? Also think about what you are putting in the trash. Can it go in the recycle bin? Can it be composted? Is there a place or a person who can recycle it (like cell phones, ink cartridges, plastic bags, ect.)?

I highly recommend that everyone watched a 20 minute video called "The Story of Stuff."