Happy Earth Day! 2022

On April 22, 2022April 22, 2022 By lrswmdIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

“Gratitude is most powerful as a response to the Earth because it provides an opening to reciprocity, to the act of giving back. Reciprocity–returning the gift–is not just good manners; it is how the biophysical world works… Let us live in a way that the Earth will be grateful for us.” – Robin Wall Kimmerer

Today marks the 52th Earth Day. Since the first Earth Day, people have brought attention to environmental problems by picking up trash and marching in support of the Earth. We can still pick up trash that we find on the side of the road and pay special attention to our environment today, but we can also have a much greater positive impact on the planet by our every day actions.

Heading into the spring, summer, and fall seasons of abundance on this Earth Day in 2022, we challenge you to consider: how will you celebrate and give back to our planet this year?

Below are just a few examples of things we can do to celebrate and give back to the planet that provides our food and resources. Spread the word! Even if we all just do one thing, the more people who take a step, the healthier our planet will be and the more it will be able to provide for us and our descendants.

1. Reduce food waste.

Approximately 30-40% of food in the US is wasted. If it ends up in a landfill, it contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. But disposal isn’t the only problem with food waste or even the biggest — when the food isn’t eaten, all of the resources that went into making it — the inputs like fertilizers and water, the micronutrients that were in the soil, the labor, the transportation to the store or restaurant or our plates — are wasted too.

The best way to help the food waste problem is to prevent food waste in our home kitchens. We can be more intentional about our grocery shopping (planning meals and making lists ahead of time), store our food properly, organize our fridges for optimal food storage, share excess food with friends and neighbors, donate food from our pantries, use substitute ingredients if it’s just for one recipe, and using up our leftovers.

If we do end up with extra food (and we’ll always have things like egg shells, banana peels, onion skins), keeping these items out of the landfill can make a huge impact on the planet. Have chickens, or maybe your neighbors do? They might want your scraps. When we compost, we help return some of the nutrients that went into making the food in the first place, which helps offset some of the loss associated with the food not being eaten by a person or an animal. If you don’t want to compost in your backyard, bring us your food scraps. We’ll turn them into beautiful compost to help return nutrients to the Earth and grow more food for tomorrow.

2. Before you buy new clothes, ask yourself how often you’ll wear it and if you really need it.

The fashion industry is responsible for many environmental problems, from microplastics to pesticide use to massive soil and groundwater pollution to contributing 8-10% of global carbon emissions (more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined), and on top of that so much of what is produced just ends up being thrown away even before it’s sold, or after only a few uses.

If you’re shopping, consider buying from a thrift store or for vintage items. Opt out of the cycle of demand for producers to keep overproducing each season.

If you have old clothes or towels you want to get rid of, check out our **new** and **expanded** guidelines for what textiles we accept at our Johnson and Stowe locations. We partner with the organization Helpsy, which accepts CLEAN, DRY, and ODOR-FREE textiles. Helpsy will either donate them to an organization with the capacity to make sure the clothes are distributed to people in need or will ensure that they are recycled. Depending on the material, your old clothes could get made into rags or stuffing and insulation — this is so much better than ending up in a landfill or, worse, in one of the world’s “Great Fashion Garbage Patches.” Don’t go to Johnson or Stowe? Check out our site for other donation options, or cut the clothes up to use at home as cleaning rags.

3. Dispose of your hazardous waste and special recycling properly.

Keeping hazardous waste out of the landfills and making sure they don’t get mixed in with our blue bin recycling helps keeps toxins out of our air and groundwater, and it also protects waste management staff from exposure to toxins or fires that can start if reactive chemicals are mixed with other materials.

If you find yourself with an item you want to get rid of and it’s not something that you use and dispose of regularly (like an aluminum can or a plastic bag) so you aren’t 100% sure what to do with it, check our A-Z list for instructions on how to properly manage less-common items like batteries, electronics, or personal hygiene and cleaning products.

And don’t forget to mark your calendars for our household hazardous waste collection events and check our list of acceptable items. By participating in these events, you’re helping to keep toxins out of the environment.

Our first one for 2022 is May 6 at Lamoille Union High School (details below).
We are planning future events for August 20 in Worcester and September 10 at Lamoille Union High School.

4. Want more ideas? See our site for more ideas on how you can help the planet by learning more about waste management topics and reducing waste.

Partnerships and Corporate Responsibility Make Textiles Easier to Manage

On November 18, 2021November 18, 2021 By lrswmdIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Clothing (aka – Textiles)

“Globally, the fashion industry produces 92 million tonnes of waste annually – costing the economy over $400 billion every year.” The waste is largely generated in the production end of the process, but the fast fashion industry creates a lot of casts-offs as well. This article further explains the problems and solutions of the fashion industry. The Brewing Fashion Waste Issue And What Brands Are Doing About It – Waste Advantage Magazine

Textiles are a tricky material to manage in this part of Vermont. The LRSWMD has partnered with Helpsy to keep usable clothing in the supply chain. Our agreement currently allow us to only accept clean, dry, reusable clothing at the Stowe Transfer Station (fees apply, https://lrswmd.org/pricing-guide/). Clothing needs to be in wearable condition, not something that you discard. If the items you are looking to get rid of do not meet these criteria, finding ways to repurpose the items as rags or remnants for repairs or projects is the best option.

However, manufacturers are becoming more cognizant of this problem and are creating takeback programs for some of their labels. Below are some companies and organizations to explore to see if any of them will accept your items. Thank you so much for putting in the additional effort to minimize the amount of materials heading to Vermont’s only landfill.

Goodwill Industries International, Inc. – Goodwill Industries International

Give Back Box

Buy Better, Recycle More – Levi Strauss & Co : Levi Strauss & Co

The North Face Clothes the Loop | Recycle Unwanted Clothing

Worn Wear – Used Patagonia Clothing & Gear

Plato’s Closet (platoscloset.com)

Annual Report Released: Fiscal Year 2021

On November 10, 2021January 21, 2022 By lrswmdIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Annual Report Released

It was a productive and challenging year at the LRSWMD

The effects of the pandemic persisted into this year; we continued to struggle with staffing and consequent last-minute closures. We acknowledge that these unexpected closures caused our customers to experience inconveniences and sometimes disappointment, but we were grateful for the overwhelming amount of patience and understanding we experienced from our communities. Our priority was and will continue to be the health and safety of all staff and customers. Looking ahead, we will continue to do what we can to keep our facilities open and safe; however, we anticipate unpredictable last-minute closures. We request your continued understanding and patience when these occur. Despite the interruptions, we were able to face a challenging year head on and achieve significant progress at our facilities over the course of the fiscal year.

With solid waste being deemed an ‘essential service,’ our field staff donned PPE and smiles and continued to be as available as possible to the public. Despite some facility closures, the numbers for the year were inspiring. A 3% decrease in the amount of waste and a 3% increase in the amount of recycling came through our facilities last fiscal year. (See year to year comparisons in the table.) This reduction helps in achieving the requirements of the State Materials Management Plan to “dispose of 25% less waste each Vermonter disposes per year by 2024.”

**Materials collected at all five drop-off facilities**

To find out other facts about our progress over the last fiscal year, including:

how we kept 20 tons of hazardous waste on the path for safe and responsible disposal
what our balanced budget looked like
some of the ways we promoted and shared information with our District members
how many special materials we collected and
what happened at Lamoille Soil
Click here

Date Labeling: How It Relates to Food Waste

On October 23, 2021January 21, 2022 By lrswmdIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Food waste is a wicked problem in the United States. As we embark on the holiday season of overindulgence, it is important to consider this topic. There are so many layers of complexity, waste, confusion and frustration associated with the problem of food waste in this country. Let’s take a little bit of time to try to identify the wickedness of our food waste problem and see if there are ways each of us can contribute thoughtful solutions to mitigate the issue.

It is a well substantiated fact that 30-40% of the food grown in this country each year is wasted. It is waste at various steps of the supply chain but the majority of this waste is at the consumer level – that you and me. We cannot deny that 30-40% is an incredibly large amount of food! The next fact that immediately comes to mind after hearing this astronomical percentage of food waste is that in 2020, 38.3 million people lived in food-insecure households. (See the Google resource in the list of resources at the end of this post for help in locating food support.)

The piece of information that logically comes next is the number of resources lost during the growing, preparation and transportation of these wasted crops. “A quarter of the world’s freshwater is used to grow food that will never be eaten.” Here’s another one that always blows my socks off: “Around 1.4 billion hectares of agricultural land is used to produce food that is lost or wasted. That’s 28% of the world’s total agricultural area.” You should check out the Waste Food Statistics website and pick some of your own party facts to share in your social circles.

fruits and vegetables in the carton box — Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

Then there is the cost of the actual disposal. When we waste food, it gets expensive! We can waste up to 25% of what we purchase. That’s like buying 4 bags of groceries and leaving one in the shopping cart on your way out. According to savethefood.com, “A 4-person family can lose at least $1500 a year on wasted food” which is a chunk of change wouldn’t you say? Collectively, the U.S. spends over $218 billion dollars a year throwing away uneaten food.

One identified source of why American’s waste so much food in their households is because of confusion with the date labels found on many food items. As a matter of fact, the Center for ECO Technology tells us that 20% of household food waste results from this confusion. DYK that product labeling is not regulated or required by law. Do you know the difference between “Best Before” and “Sell By”? The companies using those labels may not know the difference or meaning either, as it turns out. It’s not to say that there isn’t value in those labels. It’s just to say that they are: confusing, interpreted very differently across varied groups of people, and contribute largely to household food waste generated in this country.

Using your senses is a good way to clear up the confusion about labeling and can save cents!

If it is smells bad (think old milk), do not eat it.
If it is moldy or slimy, it likely shouldn’t be consumed either.
If it has changed color (grey meat, not brown avocado), be choosey about whether or not to eat it.

Check out this article for more tips and tricks: 5 Ways to Tell If Your Food Has Gone Bad (spoonuniversity.com)

If you have determined food unable to be eaten, good disposal choices make a difference. If things have some life left, make something new with them; soup is the ever-forgiving catchall for veggies on their way out. If it’s not fit for human consumption, can your pets or livestock eat it? Lastly, if it must be disposed of – compost what you can. Lamoille Soil accepts all foods: moldy, spoiled, expired; we’re not too picky. https://lrswmd.org/lamoille-soil/

We don’t do all this research and data collection by ourselves. If you find the topic of food waste exceptionally captivating, check out any of these resources to fill out the rest of this costly problem story. Please add your own resources in the comments section.

For Your Deep Dive

Food Waste in America in 2021: Statistics & Facts | RTS

Find Food Support – Google

Food Waste | NRDC

Spoiler Alert: Confusion Over Date Labeling Creates Avoidable Food Waste – Center for EcoTechnology

Let’s Scrap Food Waste

The Power of Compost

On October 1, 2021October 19, 2021 By lrswmdIn CompostLeave a comment

SPREAD COMPOST: The fall is a terrific time to spread compost – not COVID! There are innumerable benefits that come with applying compost in what some people think of as the “wrong” season for doing so. One is that you likely won’t be competing with as many growers for that coveted supply of spring compost that has been selling out so quickly in recent years. Secondly, compost is a slow-release supplier of plant nutrients. This means that the compost you put down in the spring may not actually be available to plants until after the start of the growing season when they really need it….hence – fall compost application!

verimcastings — Harvesting worm castings.

Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm offers these additional reasons to apply compost in the fall:

Getting full benefit from natural soil amendments can take weeks or even months. Compost you apply in the spring might not be fully activated until mid-summer. (See, told ya!😉)
The soil in the spring stays muddy for quite a while. Dryer soil in the fall is easier to work.
You will have tons of garden and yard work to do in the spring. Getting your soil partially ready in the fall frees you up for spring chores.

HOW MUCH TO ADD: This article found on Gardeners Supply website, suggests adding 3”-4” of compost to your garden beds after you’ve removed the season’s expired plants.

Don’t forget your flower beds! “Dig in some compost wherever you’ve pulled out annuals and whenever you’re planting bulbs. Pile on a good 2″ to 3″ layer around the base of established perennials and shrubs (keeping it back an inch or so from the stems).”

SOIL HEALTH: Healthy soils take time, attention, and WORK. Adding compost is work up front but makes soil less “needy” later in the season. It’s recommended to add 2” of organic matter each year in order to foster healthy soils and reap both the benefits and the abundant harvest provided by living soil. If you’d like a quick lesson on the definition of healthy soil, read this: Organic Garden Soil: Use Organic Compost +more | Gardeners.com If you’d like a longer, more immersive soil health experience, consider participating in this webinar series beginning Oct. 7 presented by Dr. Elaine’s Soil Food Web School.

Kiss the Ground provides this graphic to show the power of healthy soil.

Healthy soils do not only benefit us by producing healthier more abundant crops. Healthy soil makes up the skin of the Earth and provides essential benefits to humans and the environment. It allows soil to retain more moisture, reducing the need for watering as often during dry seasons. This also helps soil remain in place during large weather events helping to reduce erosion and chemical runoff into larger bodies of water. It provides natural fungicide and pesticide protection reducing the need to apply chemical fertilizers throughout the growing season. Additionally, it provides fertility to the soil allowing plants to grow bigger and stronger and grab carbon out of the atmosphere and process it into the carbon sink that is healthy soil. To find out more about all of the wonders of compost, review the Soil Builders: Education in Action program hosted by the Composting Association of Vermont.

GET STARTED: If you have yet to divert food scraps out of your household waste stream, there’s no time like the present. In fact, since July 1, 2020 Vermont has required food scraps to be sorted out of your household trash. While composting at home is the most efficient way to take care of those scraps not all Vermonters have that luxury. But if you do and you are looking six reasons to start composting at home – check out this list published by TeraGainx, 6 Reasons to Start Composting.

Your hauler needs to offer an option for managing your food scraps if you have waste and recycling picked up at your residence. If you self-haul your materials to a drop-off facility, you should find a place to deposit your food scraps there, as well. If you don’t – Ask! Food scraps are accepted at all LRSWMD Drop-off locations for a minimum of $1 per tip.

GET SOME: Those food scraps that you deliver to LRSWMD drop-off locations get transported to Lamoille Soil and made into this amazing soil amendment. If you’d like to take a virtual tour, click here. Five gallon bucket refills will be available beginning TODAY, Oct.1 at the Johnson and Stowe Transfer Stations, and Oct. 2 at the Morrisville Drop-off site. Product available only while supplies last.

We are anxiously awaiting a few larger piles to pass the maturity test so we can have $50 bulk cubic yards to sell yet this fall. Please check the website or call 635-9246 Friday – Sunday to know when sales will begin and how much finished compost is available.