The Sturbridge recycling, hazardous waste collection and landfill programs have been a model for many of us in the region. The sixth grade science curriculum at the Burgess Elementary School in Sturbridge is equally as impressive and worth sharing. It focuses the entire year on the environment and man's impact on it. Veronica Spokis, one of the teachers involved with developing the curriculum, mixes texts such as Creative Activities for Teaching About the Environment, (Stevens and Shea Publishers, Stockton, California) with local field trips and school projects. I would like to share four of their projects with the suggestion that these ideas could be duplicated in many of our schools.
Each year the 6th grade class goes on a field trip to the recycling center, hazardous waste collection facility and landfill. The tour is hosted by towns- people responsible for designing and operating these facilities. The students are given a dozen questions to answer while touring the facility. A few of the actual questions are:
The students use the answers to these questions to write a final report. They also have many follow up exercises about what they have seen. I especially enjoyed seeing their state-of-the-art landfill diagrams and hearing about their trip to ENVIROPLASTICS of Auburn.
Additionally, students take care of a number of composters throughout the school that become subjects of many lab experiments. The school has just received a grant to buy several worm composters that will expand the possibilities for experimentation and comparison. The school perennial gardens are the final and grateful recipient of the compost.
Burgess Elementary also has a Recycling Club. Responsibilities of the 6th grade members include collecting paper from classrooms and bringing it to the receiving area, as well as handling the school's battery recycling . They analyze packaging products brought from home, deciding whether they are recycled, recyclable or excessive. They complete the study by writing to the manufacturer praising or criticizing the packaging. What a creative way to teach young people to evaluate the products they use, write a business letter and become environmentally aware at the same time!
If you are interested in learning more about their programs, contact:
| Veronica Spokis Burgess Elementary School 45 Burgess School Rd. Sturbridge, MA 01566 (508-347-7041) |
(And as an editorial note, why not make a copy of this article and send it along to your elementary school principal.)
Back to Top | Back to NewsLetter IndexThis was the title of a panel discussion moderated by SCRAM Director John Alphin at the Annual State Hazardous Waste Forum . Five panelists from across Massachusetts told horror stories about their experiences helping schools manage their hazardous materials. Todd Dresser, Burlington Board of Health member, described an incident when a school employee poured a water reactive chemical down a drain. The resulting explosion blew up the plumbing and put a large hole in a concrete wall. Each of the participants had similar stories involving the need to call a bomb squad to remove chemicals stored in one of their schools.
Most schools have never cleaned out hazardous materials and in fact, teachers don't have accurate inventories of the materials stored in their classrooms. They know what they use regularly but all complained about stockpiles of mysterious substances purchased years ago by previous teachers. Schools have duplicates of chemicals rarely used, expired chemicals, improper storage and disposal procedures, and dangerous or extremely toxic chemicals that should not be stored or used around kids.
Thanks to a DEP grant, SCRAM has been able to work with four regional school districts to implement Hazardous Material Management programs. The management programs were outlined during a two-day training provided by SCRAM and the Franklin County Solid Waste District. We worked with Lisa Dufresne from the State Office of Technical Assistance to inventory the hazardous materials in the four districts and make disposal recommendations. In one building, a bomb squad removed a shock-sensitive (explosive) chemical that the teacher didn't even know they had. The administration was so troubled that they inventoried the entire district and filled a tractor trailer with material for safe disposal. Fortunately two of the schools were considered very small quantity generators and were able to take part last fall in the Brookfields Regional Hazardous Waste Day coordinated by SCRAM. They were able to self transport their minor inventory of waste to the collection site after receiving a price and instructions from Laidlaw Environmental Services, the contractor for the event. This proved to be a safe and inexpensive method for disposal. We encourage towns holding collections to invite their schools to participate.
Since this initial program, SCRAM has coordinated five haz-mat training workshops for teachers during in-service days and is anxious to help other schools get started. All schools should be offering this training yearly. See related "Right To Know" article on page 6.
Accordingly, the state recognizes the hazardous material management needs in our schools and has been holding inter-agency meetings to address the issue. John Alphin has been attending these meetings together with representatives from other non-profits, EPA, Executive Office, Environmental Affairs, and the Departments of Environmental Protection, Education, and Public Health. The problem is huge and the group is focusing on many issues including the following:
FACE (Fundamental Action To Conserve Energy) and SCRAM have received a grant from the Farmers Home Administration Rural Utilities Service to help rural towns in West Central Massachusetts reduce construction and demolition waste.
C & D materials make up as much as 30% of our waste stream. Imagine the impact if only a small portion of this material could be reused or recycled. FACE and SCRAM have set a goal of diverting up to 20% of these materials from our waste stream in 1998. This may seem like an overly ambitious goal but if we could capture the corrugated cardboard alone in the C&D waste stream, we would meet this goal.
FACE and SCRAM will co-sponsor a meeting on May 21st to help municipalities start C&D reuse and recycling programs. The meeting will cover existing programs and future possibilities for our member municipalities. We will also discuss the details of the grant program described below to help finance your own project.
FACE and SCRAM will be allocating funds to selected municipalities to start C&D recovery programs. Projects could include building C&D materials swap shops, cardboard collection programs for local contractors, and/or transfer containers for C&D material reprocessing. If you would like to participate send a one page proposal including a budget, by May 29th to SCRAM, 27 Ashley Road, North Brookfield, MA 01535. Contact either Bill Stanwood at 978-345-5385 or John Alphin at 508-867-9491 to discuss your ideas and don't miss our May 21st meeting.
The Town of Leicester has a great C&D recycling program. They take old pallets, unused lumber and scraps from contractors to use on nature trails. They bridges over wet areas with these recycled lumber products. This is just the sort of project we are interested in funding. Programs already operating will qualify for funding under our grant program to sustain or expand the program.
Back to Top | Back to NewsLetter IndexAll documentation for Phase II of MRIP has been extended to May 15. This is the drop dead date so get your paper work in.
MRIP Incentive Payments Reach Municipalities
$94,104 is currently being disbursed to the 23 Central MA municipalities participating in MRIP. Boards of Health and Recycling Coordinators are being notified by Regina Barrett, Coordinator for Central MA when their MRIP incentive payment is sent to the municipality. This check is usually sent to the appointed financial officer, not the Board of Health or Recycling Coordinator. Talk to your financial officer to make sure this money has come and is being put in the right place for you to use.
Two municipalities have planned to give half their MRIP money to SCRAM for technical assistance with specific projects in mind. This can help us begin the work of setting your school up with a Hazardous Materials Management Plan. SCRAM has brought much grant money into the region and will continue to do so. At the same time we have asked very little from the municipalities we serve.
Back to Top | Back to NewsLetter IndexAmy Fieder of Global Recycling Technologies, Inc. presented to our March meeting on GRT's State Contract to recycle mercury bearing lamps, lamp ballasts, batteries, computer equipment and transformers. The contract is available to all Massachusetts municipalities, agencies, authorities and political subdivisions.
Mercury contamination poses a serious threat to public health and the environment. High levels of mercury in Massachusetts have caused the Dept. of Public Health to issue "fish consumption advisories" for 37 bodies of water and a statewide advisory to pregnant women. Improper handling of spent fluorescent tubes that results in breakage and disposal in landfills and incinerators contributes to the problem of mercury exposure. Facilities that dispose of fluorescent bulbs rather than recycling them, are subject to regulations of hazardous waste. As a generator, if your waste bulbs are improperly disposed of and mercury contamination is later detected at the disposal site, you may be held jointly liable for cleanup of the entire contaminated site. Thanks to the new Universal Waste rules, we can handle these materials as recyclables with the help of Global's contract.
Under the contract, GRT provides 100% recycling of mercury lamps. All lamp components including the mercury, are reclaimed and sold as products for reuse. Lamps are hand fed into one end of a highly specialized machine that cuts the metal ends off, crushes the glass, extracts the white powder and mercury and leaves each component in its own place. The mercury is then distilled into its pure form. When the components exit the machine, all are of the highest quality and without any trace of mercury. Fieder explained how to use the GRT storage and transport containers to collect lamps. A number of the region's municipalities including Hardwick and Sturbridge are currently using the service. If you are interested in collecting lamps, ballasts, computer equipment or transformers for recycling, call Amy Fieder at (781) 341-6080.
Back to Top | Back to NewsLetter IndexThe Massachusetts Right- to-Know law was established in 1984 to provide information to public employees and community residents on over 2,00 hazardous and toxic substances (listed on the Massachusetts Substance List) to which they may be exposed. It is the public sector's equivalent to the OSHA Hazard Communication Standard.
Massachusetts public schools are responsible to comply with the Massachusetts Right-to-Know law.
The information that the public employee and community have a right to know about is contained in Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) which describe the product's ingredients, hazardous charachteristics, occupational exposure limits, necessary personal protective equipment, and first aid procedures. All products must have a MSDS that provides all of the above information, but they vary in format and take practice to read.
Schools who process, manufacture, use, or store materials which are on the Massachusetts Substance List are required to:
Any public employee and his/her designee has the right to obtain and examine the MSDS for any toxic or hazardous substance the employee is, may be, or has been exposed to. Upon written request by an employee, the public employer must provide the MSDS information within four working days. If the employer has not furnished the employee with the MSDS or proof diligent effort has been made to get it, the employee may refuse to work with the substance. However, any public employee classified as performing "essential services" may not refuse to work with a substance.
Some materials are exempt from this law. Those include:
The law actually states that copies of all MSDSs are to be filed with the Department of Environmental Protection but there has been no enforcment of this requirement in recent years. This does not mean that the provisions of the law have no legal effect. The fact that these activities are required by statute would support a legal contention that these activities constitute the standard of care a reasonable person may expect. In other words keep your records as if you were filing them regularly with the state.
For a list of state certified Right-to-Know trainers call John Alphin or come to our September meeting (see SCRAM Meetings below).
Back to Top | Back to NewsLetter IndexTwelve municipalities participated in our Buy Recycled Project. None of the towns to that time, had a recycled procurement policy, knew of the state procurement contract guide, or were using the recycled paper products we were testing. We provided a "Buy Recycled" training session with Marcia Deegler (from the State's Operational Services Division), gave out cases of copy paper and envelopes for the municipalities to test and provided technical assistance.
Six months later half of the towns have recycled procurement policies and have made a paper purchase from the state contract!
Timing of the project gave our membership a head start on writing a recycled procurement policy to meet the Municipal Recycling Incentive Program (MRIP) requirement. A number of the towns expressed an interest in expanding the program to their schools, and for America Recycles Day, we did! A dozen schools received copy paper to test and a number have asked for details on purchasing more.
SCRAM ran a Buy Recycled Poster Contest for America Recycles Day which drew a great deal of attention. John Alphin gave over 40 Buy Recycled presentations in 12 communities to 4th & 5th graders participating in our contest. The posters had to show an understanding of the America Recycles Day Theme - "Keep Recycling Working: Buy Recycled". And what amazing posters these kids produced! If you were at the Annual Buy Recycled Fair in Boxboro, you got to see the forty best posters. What has been most gratifying is to see how much information the students have retained about buying recycled products six months later. The contest was a great deal of work for SCRAM, the teachers and the students involved. The retention of details on such a difficult concept proves this method of teaching produces results and bears repeating.
Back to Top | Back to NewsLetter IndexOn October 2-4, the sixth graders of Hardwick Elementary School and the Hardwick Recycling Committee held a used clothing and textile collection in the school parking lot. The sixth grade students were raising money for their year end trip to Natures Classroom. An eighteen-wheeler truck was parked in the Hardwick Elementary school parking lot. Some students took turns staying in the truck throughout the school day. During this time, people could drive to the truck and drop off clean, dry, clothing and textiles in plastic bags that the students would load into the truck. Some of the things that could be dropped off included women's, men's and children's clothing, drapes, sheets, towels, bedspreads, blankets and coats. Also shoes, belts, purses, bags, backpacks, and stuffed toys could be donated.
After the drive was finished the Talbert Trading Company took the clothes, sorted them and made sure they were put to good use. Some clothes were sent to third world countries. The Talbert Trading Company paid $100 per ton. The sixth graders collected 7,000 pounds and were paid $360 to help them go on their trip to Natures Classroom. The sixth graders recycle weekly in the school and they would like to thank everyone who donated clothing to the drive.
Talbert Trading Company would like to remind us to think of them when we think of buying recycled. They offer two outlets in Worcester to buy great used clothes and household linens. Next time your town orders wiping rags for the DPW or custodial staff, give Talbert's wiping rag division, Beacon Wipers, a call at (617) 884-5304 and speak to Jerry Sullivan. If you want to run a Textile collection like Hardwick's call Talbert Trading at (508) 755-1342.Back to Top | Back to NewsLetter Index
Bill Stanwood of Fundamental Action to Conserve Energy(FACE) and John Alphin of SCRAM will present information on successful C&D recovery programs and reveiw the FACE and SCRAM C & D municipal grant program.
July 16 , Thursday, 7:00PMSturbridge Recycling Ctr. Directions: From Rte.20 in Sturbridge take Rte.131 south to 1st set of lights in front of Sturbridge Town Hall. Go right onto Haynes Street which becomes Rte.15. You will come to a Roy Rogers and a Mobil station take a left and then a quick right turn. There will be a sign at this right for the recycling center, Follow this road over a mile to the recycling center.
Sept. 17, Thursday 7:00 PM