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BWRC Approved Minutes Oct 3 2019Beverly Waste Reduction Committee Meeting Minutes — October 3, 2019 Beverly Waste Reduction Committee MINUTES: Monthly Meeting, Thursday, October 3, 2019 7:00 PM, Beverly City Hall, Conference Room A CALL TO ORDER: 7:00 pm COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: Susan Higgins (Chair), Sandy Burgess, Nancy Dillon, Joyce Hermon, Toni Musante, John Swain COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT: None INVITED PARTICIPANTS AND GUESTS: City Councilor Estelle Rand, City Councilor Julie Flowers, Eric Magers and Aimee Voerman (Seaside Sustainability), Ben Wildrick (Brookwood School), Andrew Samperi and Sydney Anderson (BHS DECA students), Mary Barthelmes, Lisa Willwerth, Karen Thaw Treasurer's Report Burgess reported that the current account balance is $25,420.54. There has been no activity in the past month, and there are no issues or concerns. Styrofoam Collection Event The Committee discussed logistics for the Styrofoam Collection Event scheduled for November 2, 2019, including the number of volunteers that would be needed, additional advertising of the event, and items we should bring that day. Higgins reminded everyone at the meeting that we will not need to charge any fees for the event because of the generous sponsorship of the Beverly Rotary Club. Dillon volunteered to create a form to track the number of cars and amount of Styrofoam to help assess the success of the event and plan for future events, as appropriate. Andrew and Sydney volunteered to help advertise the event at Beverly High School. Mary also volunteered to assist with additional advertising efforts on social media and in local newspapers. Hermon recommended that after the event, we prepare a press release with information on how much Styrofoam we diverted from disposal. Promoting and Expanding Curbside Composting Higgins provided an update on the MADEP quarterly meeting of the Municipal Recycling Council (MRC), which focused on composting programs in the region. Higgins and Swain attended, along with Stephanie Bilotti of the Mayor's Office. The meeting included a lot of discussion about challenges with growing programs to greater numbers of participants. One theme was the need to constantly educate people, particularly to capture new residents moving into the City. Mary Barthelmes talked about information she's been gathering from Change is Simple to help educate on social media. Another theme was the desire of residents to have the program be convenient and free. A subject of great interest was Hamilton's discussion of the option of moving to every other week trash collection (with weekly composting and recycling collection). Higgins shared a composting flyer prepared by the Town of Natick, and the Committee discussed the potential to prepare a similar flyer for Beverly. The next MRC meeting will be in December and will highlight composting operations. Page 1 of 3 Beverly Waste Reduction Committee Meeting Minutes — October 3, 2019 The Committee talked briefly about some changes in the Black Earth program that have been problematic, including some incidents of missed pickups and other changes to the business model (e.g., no longer picking up a second bin). Higgins agreed to invite Black Earth to a future meeting to explore ideas for expanding the program and to discuss potential concerns with service. Higgins turned the meeting over to Andrew Samperi and Sydney Anderson for a discussion about their DECA project. Andrew and Sydney explained what DECA is. Their project is called "Carbon Less Accomplish More" and it focuses on decreasing the carbon footprint of the school. They are working with the BHS Accomplish Program to help with education and outreach. Andrew and Sydney explained some of the challenges of recycling and composting at BHS; materials are not effectively being recycled. There will be a pilot project that will set up a four -bin sort (liquid pour - off, recycle, compost and trash) and will collect and track data on the success of the system. Signage will be an important part of the program. They hope to plan an event at the YMCA to further promote their project. The Committee and others at the meeting shared some ideas and suggestions with Andrew and Sydney. We talked about some of the statistics and logistics of Beverly's curbside composting program, and also talked about the alternative of home (backyard) composting as well as the need to advocate for reducing food waste as a first priority. We agreed to collaborate with them and share or review information, as needed. Polystyrene and Straws — Efforts for Proposed Ordinance Higgins provided a brief overview of how the Waste Reduction Committee came to work with Seaside Sustainability and the Brookwood School on the important topic of a polystyrene ordinance, and thanked both of them as well as Councilors Rand and Flowers for joining us at the meeting to further the discussion. An objective we have for tonight is to better understand what the next steps are to move this forward through City Council, including what is the appropriate timeline and what is the best role for each of us. Ben Wildrick (Brookwood School) provided an overview of the extensive work his students have been doing and submitted an information packet to Councilors Rand and Flowers to take before City Council. Their research work showed that most of the trash on local beaches is plastic (e.g., straws). The students developed a survey building on that research and interviewed many local businesses about what could be done, after which they submitted letters to City Council requesting action. Ben said his key question is what comes next, and specifically, what can his students do to effectively make their voices heard in support of the effort to eliminate single use plastics. Councilors Rand and Flowers accepted the information and said they will submit it to the City Clerk for distribution to all of City Council, and commented that the information is a perfect way to get the conversation started within City Council. The plastic bag ban similarly started as a conversation with students, and may serve as a good foundation for this effort. They cautioned everyone about the schedule, noting that efforts like this often take longer than expected to move something through to enactment. Eric Magers and Aimee Voerman provided a brief overview of Seaside Sustainability and gave an introduction to the work they have been doing on polystyrene initiatives including local success stories like Rockport and Gloucester. They advised that with their background and experience, perhaps they can be a tool to help gather information and serve to educate /promote the proposed ordinance. Some of the resources they can offer include an FAQ on polystyrene, lists of alternative Page 2 of 3 Beverly Waste Reduction Committee Meeting Minutes — October 3, 2019 products and vendors, example ordinances, and other outreach information. Eric also suggested that any ordinance should have an enactment date that offers enough time for businesses to use up their existing stock of materials. Councilor Rand talked about the importance of educating the businesses and keeping them involved in the process. She explained that a lot of work needs to go into building consensus before the ordinance comes to a vote. Councilor Flowers commented that this would not only be an ordinance, but also a value statement about what is important to our community. Bringing this before the Council and getting some initial feedback will indicate where further research and education is needed. Eric agreed to provide information that could be used for this process. Councilors Rand and Flowers agreed to work together to review the information that has been provided and talk through how this ordinance could be effectively moved forward. After they have a chance to meet and discuss this further, they will come back to the group with some information on how we can best move forward including timing of when to go to City Council. They also requested that we keep track of business leaders that we think would support this initiative, so we can rally them and solicit their support and perspective at the appropriate time. Old Business and Other Updates Hermon and Burgess provided an update on the Electric Vehicle and Sustainability Fair, which took place in September. This was not our event, but we participated with an information table. We learned from this event that it might be helpful if we could be better prepared for tabling at events — banners, logos, marketing material, tablecloths, etc. Upcoming Events Higgins reminded the Committee that curbside collection of yard waste is starting and will take place for six weeks throughout the fall. Dates are on the City calendar. Other Updates and Discussion Items by Committee Members The Committee agreed that we should reach out to the City Clerk to request a new recording secretary. The consensus is that it's too challenging for a Committee member to take notes while also effectively participating in the meeting. We talked briefly about the need to fill the open slots on the Committee, and hope that some of the volunteers that have been joining us at meetings and /or events will consider requesting an appointment. Lastly, we talked about the need to set meeting dates and times for 2020; we agreed to postpone that discussion until the next meeting. Adjournment There being no further discussion this evening, the meeting was adjourned at 8:25 pm. Page 3 of 3