1. Recycle Your Reusables Can the Town of Warwick keep tons of materials from the Waste Stream?

2. The answer is YES! let’s Visit a Successful Model... A community in Ayer, Massachusetts has just held their 7th Annual Recycle Your Reusables event, a program that has been deemed overwhelmingly successful in keeping tons of materials out of the waste stream. It is sponsored by the Ayer Recycling Committee, Ayer, Massachusetts; operated entirely by volunteers on a limited budget, with some contributions by local business.

3. History of Ayer’s Event 2009-2013 - 200-215 cars dropped off materials 2014 - over 350 cars 2015 - more than 420 cars from 26 surrounding communities This is just a sampling of what they collected in 2015: 5 tons electronics 2.5 tons textiles 55 pounds soaps and shampoos 4 tons plastic 2+ tons shredded paper and media 30 boxes arts & crafts supplies

4. More... 45 cubic yards styrofoam 2 tons construction material for Habitat for Humanity 4 tons scrap metal 25 tons household items for the needy...and much more! Additionally, they collected $1,693 and 945 pounds of food for the food pantry.

5. What Is Collected? The complete list on their website is far too extensive to list here. It includes 150 category types, with hundreds of accepted items within those categories. The group’s flyer lists but a few: Household goods, appliances, furniture Rigid plastic kids’ toys and lawn furniture Textiles: clothing, linens, shoes, leather goods, nylons Baby equipment Books, CDs, DVDs, video games Garden supplies Bikes, scooters, tennis balls Paper and media for shredding

6. More... Styrofoam and bubble wrap Usable construction items, paint, tools, hardware Office, arts and crafts supplies Electronics Sporting Goods Wood pellet/bird seed bags Tires House keys, eyeglasses, soaps, shampoos, wine corks, dog toys Visit https://recycleyourreusables.wordpress.com/ for the complete list.https://recycleyourreusables.wordpress.com/

7. Where Does It All Go? In 2014 and 2015, the event included approximately 30 Vendors, ready and willing to accept and haul off all of the collected material. Some of the vendors are for-profit and some are not, such as Habitat For Humanity, which accepts construction materials that are in good to excellent condition and installation-ready (faucets, ceiling fans, tiles, etc.) A number of the vendors are local non-profits who benefit from the event, while many of the vendors are large corporations who recycle, such as DuPont and No Nonsense.

8. Some of Ayer’s Operating Details Held in October One Day Only - 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Rain or Shine Free and Open to All Held at their local Middle School Specific Questions by residents about what’s accepted by particular Vendors are directed to and fielded by those Vendors prior to the event

9. Duplicating Success The Town of Warwick is poised to not only duplicate the tremendous success of this Massachusetts community’s program, but to go beyond it with continuing programs that sustainably service the ongoing needs of our community. Several Warwick Vendor groups can be set up to participate in and benefit from the Recycle Your Reusables Event.This would provide the start-up inventory to satisfy existing and future vision plans for such programs as Tool- Sharing, Makers’ Space, School Supply & Sports Equipment Recycling, among others. We have the location (the Big Barn at the prison property) and the means (volunteers) to maintain a facility whose purpose would be to provide these and other sustainable community services.

10. Action Steps Phase I - Event Duplication and Going Beyond ✔ Establish communication with the Massachusetts community to obtain their model [This was done on October 27 and was quite helpful.] Assemble a volunteer group Research expansion of scope in every possible way (vendors, materials, hours of operation, fees for fundraising, etc.) Establish an ideal annual event date Recruit & Coordinate community groups (gov., schools, scouts, DPW, etc.) Implement the program

11. Action Steps Phase II - Ongoing Programs Assemble Committee(s) Coordinate with existing groups (C2K, SW, schools, charitable, etc.) Collect and Maintain Inventory throughout the year Oversee operation and distribution

12. Financial Benefits Our DPW resources are utilized over several weeks each year in order to perform village-wide junk collection. This use of resources and waste of reusable materials can be sharply decreased by giving residents the opportunity to transfer a carload either on the Recycle Your Reusables Collection Event day or to drop off Town-accepted-only items at the permanent collection site (to be established) throughout the year. While the Massachusetts community does not charge an entrance or poundage fee for vendors to participate in the event, it is something we should consider implementing — at least to the For-Profit Vendors. Such fees could offset operation of the “Ongoing Programs” Phase at The Barn.

13. Site Setup Large rectangle - an outer Vendor ring and an inner Vendor island, with at least 2 traffic lanes (a Local and an Express) Vendor Site Map provided on website ahead of time, along with a Materials List Venues to be considered: Drive-In; Middle or High School parking lot, etc. Event Staff T-shirts needed