Seasons The Greening of Maplewood
Waste as a Resource
By Shann Finwall, Environmental Planner The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) reports that there are 1,800 old dump sites in Minnesota. This is one way many communities managed solid waste prior to the establishment of the MPCA in 1967. The former Maplewood Dump, located east of Feed Products (1300 McKnight Road), operated from the 1950s to the late 1960s. Some residents may remember backing up to the dump site in their station wagon or pick-up truck and dumping their trash, appliances, and other junk right into the ravine! In 2001 the City entered into a Voluntary Investigation and Cleanup (VIC) program with the MPCA to clean up the former Maplewood Dump. Environmental assessments did not indicate contaminants in the soils and groundwater, but the exposed debris did pose a nuisance. The clean up requires that the City cover the site with at least 4 feet of soil to separate the debris from the surface and revegetate the area. The work is scheduled to be complete by the end of the year.
Assessments and clean up of old dump sites come at a cost to the environment and to taxpayers. Avoiding future costs is why sound solid waste management is important today.
Solid waste management has come a long way since dumps and back-yard burn barrels. The 1970s brought numerous statewide solid waste management rules including sanitary landfill requirements and recycling legislation. In the 1980s the first resource recovery facility opened. These facilities sort waste, remove bulky items that can be recycled, and convert the remaining waste to fuel to create electricity. This was a shift in philosophy from waste as something we just dispose of, to looking at waste as a resource. The 1990’s furthered that philosophy with the focus on regional solid waste planning. Now much of the responsibility for waste management is placed on local governments.
Fall 2012 To better manage solid waste in Maplewood, the City has organized its residential trash service. Beginning October 1, 2012, the Maplewood Trash Plan will begin, with the City contracting with Allied Waste Services as the residential trash hauler. The City’s recycling program will continue as is with Tennis Recycling as the City’s contracted residential recycling hauler. Maplewood is the first City in the state to organize trash hauling under the statutory process in the last two decades. The process and the decision by the City Council to organize trash hauling did not come easy – it was long and difficult with many points of views expressed. Now that the decision has been made, the City is moving forward with implementation and the goal of a successful roll out of the Maplewood Trash Plan. Instead of the make, take, waste philosophy of the past, Maplewood is looking forward and increasing our efforts to reduce, reuse, recycle. The Maplewood Trash Plan will help the City achieve the goal of managing waste as a resource.
Maplewood Trash Plan Goals
Save Residents Money on Collection Rates
Better Manage Solid Waste
Decrease Truck Emissions and Road Impacts
Standardize and Automate Collection
Maplewood Trash Plan How-to-Guide
The new City-wide, residential trash service begins October 1, 2012, with Allied Waste Services as the City’s contracted trash hauler. Following are helpful tips to ensure the roll out of the Maplewood Trash Plan is a success.
Customer Service
Allied Waste Services will provide customer service for Maplewood residential trash customers during the hours of 7:00AM to 5:00PM. The telephone number is 651.455.8634.
Billing
Allied will handle the billing for the Maplewood Trash Plan. The bill will be mailed to residents every other month. The first bill will arrive the first weeks of October for the months of Oct. and Nov. Bills can be paid via cash, check, credit card or automatic withdrawal from a bank account.
Trash Carts
The new Maplewood trash carts will be delivered by Allied beginning September 10 until all residential properties have received their cart by September 24. Beginning the week of October 1 residents should put their trash in the new trash cart and place it at the curb on the regularly scheduled trash service day. Trash haulers will not be able to pick up trash from other trash carts/containers after October 1. The current trash haulers will remove their trash carts during their last pick-up in September or sometime in October.
New Trash Carts Arriving In September
Trash Cart Set Out Information
• Place at curb no earlier than 5:00PM the day before collection or no later than 6:00AM on your service day. Wheel your empty cart back to your house no later than 6:00AM the day after collection. • Place the cart at curb with the front facing the street and the handles facing your home, at least 5 feet from parked cars and 3 feet from recycling bin. • Store your trash cart behind the house, in the garage, or screened from view when not in use.
What Can I Throw in the Trash?
The Maplewood Trash Plan includes pick up of residential municipal solid waste including trash, refuse and other solid waste generated from residential activities. Yard waste, electronics, and household hazardous waste are prohibited from the trash by state law. The Maplewood Trash Plan will offer separate pick up of yard waste, electronics, and bulky items (see information below).
Yard Waste
Allied will be offering an annual yard waste service for $79.50 per year. Allied will supply a separate yard waste cart for this service. The subscription runs from April through November and the yard waste will be picked up once a week on your regularly scheduled trash service day. The 2012 rate for the months of October and November is $19.80. Allied will also offer one-time yard waste pick up service for $3.50 per compostable or paper bag. Look for information on the yard waste service from Allied coming to your mailbox soon. Allied will offer pick up of bulky items such as mattresses or furniture. The price ranges from $5 to $24.
Electronics
Allied will offer electronic waste pick up. The price is $30 per item.
Additional Disposal Methods
Maplewood will be holding a fall clean up event at Aldrich Arena in October. Look for more information in the City’s October Newsletter.
Additional Information Visit the Maplewood Trash Plan webpage at www.ci.maplewood.mn.us/trash or contact Shann Finwall, Environmental Planner at 651.249.2304 or shann.finwall@ci.maplewood.mn.us. Seasons 2
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For information on composting, County yard waste sites, and other disposal options, visit Ramsey County’s A to Z Disposal Guide at www.RamseyAtoZ.com or call 651.633.EASY (3279) (24/7).
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Reduce, Reuse, and Save! By Christopher Swanson, Sustainability Intern
Looking for ways to save money this year? We have the answer – recycle! If you recycle more, you can reduce the size of your trash container and save money on your monthly trash bill. It’s just that simple. With the City’s single sort recycling system, recycling has never been easier. Just place all recyclables into the City-supplied red recycling bin. There is no need to sort. Items That Can Be Recycled: Glass • Glass bottles and jars (any color; remove metal lids) Metal • Aluminum and steel cans • Scrap metal, pots and pans with handles removed (household quantities) • Empty aerosol cans (no caps) • Aluminum foil (clean only) Plastic • Clean #1 - #7 plastic bottles, tubs and containers, landscape edging, plastic toys (except Styrofoam) • Rinsed motor oil bottles
Single Sort Recycling Paper • Office paper (no wrapping paper or neon bright paper) • Newspapers, magazines and catalogs • Shredded paper (enclosed in sealed paper bag) • Junk mail (remove non-paper items) • Cardboard (no need to break down boxes) • Brown paper grocery bags • Pizza boxes (no food or grease) • Paperboard (boxes from cereal, cake, soda, snacks, frozen foods, clothing)
Linens • Clothes and shoes (placed in sturdy, sealed plastic bag marked “Linens”)
To plan for the future of recycling in Maplewood, our recycling contractor Tennis Recycling will be conducting a recycling cart pilot project as part of their 2012 Work Plan. The project involves replacing recycling bins with a 65 gallon recycling cart for 213 homes in the Kohlman Lakes neighborhood. The effectiveness of the project will be determined by comparing participation (households recycling) and rates (amounts recycled) from before and after carts are in use to determine if there is an increase. Tennis estimates the new carts will make recycling easier for residents because they hold more recyclables and are easier to move. It also creates a more efficient recycling system because the carts are picked up by an automated lift arm which increases safety for the truck drivers, and the lids on the carts eliminate materials from blowing away on collection day. The recycling cart pilot project will be complete by March 2013, and Tennis will report its findings to the City Council in April 2013. For more information on recycling, visit www.ci.maplewood.mn.us/recycling or contact Tennis Recycling at 651.459.1887.
Resident Spotlight - Zero Waste Superstars By Christopher Swanson, Sustainability Intern
“The amount of trash that we generate each week is the size of a deep dish pizza, without the box.” This was the response by Maplewood resident John Kass when asked how much trash the four-member Kass family generates every week. He followed that by saying “in the future we hope to get that to the size of a thin crust pizza!” John credits his sustainable lifestyle to trips in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area when he was a boy. The “Leave No Trace” approach to camping practiced in the park left a big impression on him and followed into his business and family life. John runs a business based on recycling and re-use. His company, Go Johnny Go, buys and sells used vinyl records. One way he reduces waste in his business is by reusing plastic collected from neighboring businesses to ship records to customers.
Kass Family Zero Waste Superstars
How does a family of four generate so little trash? The Kass family shops smart by buying products that have very little packaging or that can be recycled. They buy in bulk using containers that they bring to the store and reuse for years. What they can’t reuse they recycle. Every week they fill up four recycling bins with paper, plastic, aluminum, and other recyclables. On top of that they compost all of their food and biodegradable waste scrapes. The family is excited for the future of Maplewood and the possibilities for other residents to reduce waste and increase recycling with the City’s new trash plan and recycling program. John recognizes that reducing waste by buying smart, recycling, and composting may take a little effort, but it is worth it. He likens it to dieting – it may be hard at first, but as time passes tricks are learned and it becomes simpler. Way to go Kass family - our zero-waste superstars!
Seasons 3
Nature’s Recyclers
By Ann Hutchinson, Lead Naturalist
“They are beautiful, colorful, bizarre, deadly, delicious, and you wouldn’t be here without them!” So says Ron Spinosa, amateur mycologist (a person who studies mushrooms and fungi). Ron will be presenting two programs at the Maplewood Nature Center this fall that will teach us how to identify mushrooms and about their importance in our yards and landscape. Mushrooms and fungi help break down and recycle yard waste and food scraps. They send their hyphae into dead wood and secrete chemicals that break down cellulose and lignin – the main building blocks of tree trunks and branches. Meanwhile, sowbugs, millipedes, slugs, nematodes, and many other kinds of organisms are busy consuming dead plants and animals. Without their help we might have to wade through tree-high piles of leaves and debris! These bugs are primarily responsible for the fertilization of our forest. Without them critical nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus would not be returned to the soil.
Pear-Shaped Puffball
Nature Center - Nature’s Recyclers Programs
To register, call 651.249.2170 or visit www.maplewoodnaturecenter.com. • The Joy of Mushrooms (Outdoor Hike) Wed., Sept. 12, 6:00 - 8:00PM. Fee: $10/family, register by Sept. 11 Ron Spinosa will lead us for a hike. Learn how mushrooms are Nature’s Recyclers.
Sowbug
• How to Compost - Breaking it Down Sat., Sept. 29, 2:00 - 3:00PM. Free adult program, register by Sept. 28 Are you starting your first compost pile, wondering why your compost doesn’t seem to be working, or are you an experienced composter excited to share ideas? Door prize: Earth Machine compost bin ($45 value).
Printed on 50% post-consumer recycled paper
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Bleeding Mycena
Seasons 4
• Mushrooms and Fungi in Ecological Landscaping and Gardening (Indoor Presentation) Sat., Nov. 10, 2 to 3:30PM. Adults. Fee: $5/person, register by Nov. 8 Ron Spinosa will give a presentation on the benefits of mushrooms and fungi in ecological landscaping and gardening and tips on growing mushrooms.