Press Release:
GREEN Northampton is starting a free service available immediately to all businesses
and residents in Northampton, GARBAGE AUDITS. GREEN Northampton has formed
teams of auditors to visit homes and offices and give informational and sometimes
excavation-al exploration into garbage, recycling and other collections of objects that need
a destination other than the landfill.
Mary Clark of Florence was among the first to receive an audit. "I found I could recycle
or compost much more than I had thought. I learned which old appliances I could put in
scrap metal rather than just throwing them away. The auditors answered my questions
about things like whether I could recycle old Drano bottles (yes, if rinsed) or old
videotapes (donate to the Got Books Box at the transfer station on Locust Street.) My
waste basket literally went from full to half empty."
“The process,” continued Clark, “first you call GREEN Northampton.The audit
team shows up at your house or business.You show the audit team your trash
and recycling bins. The audit team dumps your trash onto a tarp, pulls out the
recyclables, re-usables and compostables while you watch. You end up with less
trash and a better understanding of what is reusable, recyclable, compostable
and where things should go that should be buried at the landfill.”
The garbage audits are a variation on the energy audits that are part of the MassSave
energy saving program in Massachusetts. In that program, homeowners can contact the
Center for Ecological Technology (for homes with oil heat) or Honeywell (for homes
that heat with gas) for free energy audits which result in recommendations on increasing
the energy efficiency either by air sealing or added insulation. In GREEN Northampton’s
program, homeowners can now request a free garbage and recycling audit to increase
their recycling and lower their trash bill.
GREEN Northampton is working with Karen Bouquillon, Northampton DPW's Solid
Waste Manager. Ms. Bouquillon, who is also on the advisory board at the MRF in
Springfield, is Northampton's ultimate say on defining recyclables. She is working with
audit teams to insure that their analysis meets her gold standard of separation.
Are these recyclable? Metal soda bottle caps? YES! Metal lids from jars? YES! Paper
envelopes with plastic windows? YES! If you can rip paper, it’s recyclable. Disposable
plastic forks, knives, spoons and cups? NO!!! NO!! NO! Plastic bottle screw tops?
NO!!! Black plastic deli containers? NO BLACK PLASTIC is recyclable.
For many things like disposable plastic utensils and cups the best way to avoid their path
to the landfill is not to buy or use them in the first place. Instead GREEN Northampton
advises buying and using reusable plastic utensils and cups that can be used indefinitely
and perhaps will never end up in the landfill.
According to David Starr, co-founder of GREEN Northampton, “There’s lots of
confusion about what is recyclable and what’s not recyclable. Experts don’t always agree.
Our purpose is to provide a consistent voice on what is recyclable for the city of
Northampton. This should tremendously increase compliance with the 1988
Northampton recycling ordinance that requires all businesses and residents to recycle all
recyclable items. We feel the city of Northampton needs to commit more resources to
educating the public. This is GREEN Northampton's attempt to amplify the recycling
message and divert as much solid waste from the landfill as possible. Our goal is to
divert 90% of the solid waste stream from the landfill to prevent its closure. With
increased recycling rates and aggressive composting, we could meet that goal. We
reduced the food waste at the Jackson Street School cafeteria by 87% in just three weeks
with no funding and just a few volunteers. Imagine what we could do in three months
citywide with enough manpower and funds to promote the effort. If we diverted 90% of
the solid waste from the landfill, we wouldn’t need to have an expansion conversation
until 2015.”
To sign up for a free garbage audit, contact David Starr at:
