While we have not reviewed this in the past couple of years, this is similar
to what we have seen in Ramsey and Washington Counties. The holidays are NOT
the time we have the most trash at the facility. Yard waste is banned from
the MSW stream, so that is not a factor. While we have several residential
colleges in Ramsey County, they are a small proportion of our total
population.
Cathi
Cathi Lyman-Onkka
Saint Paul - Ramsey County Department of Public Health
Environmental Health Section
cathi.lyman-onkka@no.address
phone: 651-773-4449 Fax: 651-773-4454
-----Original Message-----
From: Blair Pollock [mailto:bpollock@no.address]
Sent: Friday, December 05, 2003 10:34 AM
To: greenyes@no.address
Cc: hhoward@no.address
Subject: [greenyes] Re: greenyes Digest Is there really more trash for the
holidays?
John. et al:
Is it possible that Madison data is different from other places as the
students influence the flow of waste. isn't the campus population of
students alone, not including faculty or staff in the 40,000 range. If most
of them leave town in Dec for holidays that could account for the lowered
waste gen. rate then. That same logic would also correlate well with the
high in waste in May (when the students clear out and leave their detritus)
and in August when they return and there is a big slug of new consumption.
I too am based in a college town and Karen's email, followed by your
analysis got me thinking about this "more trash at Christmas" thing too.
Thus here are data from Chapel Hill NC for eight years noting the peak month
and low month for waste in the residential and non-residential waste.
Percentages represent diff b/w high & low months in each sector annually.
year Peak month res. Peak month comm (w/MFU). Low month res.
Low month comm.
95/96 Aug 15% Oct 22%
Mar Jun
96/97 Sep 30% Sep 20%
Feb Feb
9798 Dec 26% Mar 9%
Nov Nov
98/99 Jun 17% Oct 14%
Nov Feb
99/00 Jun 17% Aug 27%
Apr Jan
00/01 Dec 12% Aug 22%
Feb Dec
01/02 Apr 28% Aug 15%
Feb Nov
02/03 Dec * 36% May 14%
Feb Aug
* ice storm resulted in major power outages for up to a week ?---> high
throw out of food?
From: Karen.Hales@no.address
Cc: bnwilliams@no.address
Subject: Trash the Holidays
Message-ID: <OF808E006E.53B5D2CC-ON85256DF2.006BC4DE@no.address>
Did you know that Americans throw away 25% more trash during the
Thanksgiving to New Year's holiday period than any other time of year?
This amounts to 25 million tons of garbage, or about 1 million extra tons
per week. Get the word out on ways to help trim the trash while trimming
the tree. A few simple things you can do to reduce waste this holiday
season:
1. Give gifts that are what friends and family really want or need.
2. Gift certificates or a donation to a favorite charity make great
gifts
as well
3. Homemade food or something youve made yourself from reused items
always great ideas.
4. Instead of wrapping gifts for the kids, hide the presents, and turn into
a treasure hunt.
5. Send holiday e-greetings to family, friends and business associates who
are on-line. Wrap the gift in a gift: put cookies in a flower pot or hide
jewelry
in a new pair of gloves.
This tip was sponsored by the 2004 CRA Conference - Staying on Track
Revving Up Recycling. To find out more about the conference , to
register,or learn about the annual awards or sponsorship opportunities,
visit ourWeb site at www.cra-recycle.org.
Karen Hales=
Recycling/Solid Waste Specialist
TOWN of CARY 919-462-3873 voice919-469-4304
karen.hales@no.address
http://www.townofcary.org
"Make everyday America Recycles Day!"
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2003 13:58:44 -0600
To: "'Karen.Hales@no.address'" <Karen.Hales@no.address>,
greenyes@no.address
From: "Reindl, John" <Reindl@no.address>
Subject: RE: [greenyes] Trash the Holidays
I question the blanket statement of the statistic that "Americans throw away
25% more trash during the
Thanksgiving to New Year's holiday period than at any other time of year".
I have been in the solid waste field for over 30 years, and the data that I
have seen from communities in my area over that time contradict this number.
As an example, in my own town of Madison, with a population of some =
200,000,
here are the data for solid waste for 2001:
As seen, the highest months are August and May. The month of December =
is our
third lowest month for waste generation, and January is only a bit =
higher.
Years ago, the summer months were even higher with respect to other =
months,
before there was the composting of grass clippings and the recycling of
beverage containers.=20
John Reindl, Recycling Manager
Dane County, WI=20
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2003 14:56:34 -0600
To: "'greenYes@no.address'" <greenYes@no.address>
From: "Reindl, John" <Reindl@no.address>
Subject: RE: [greenyes] Trash the Holidays
Message-ID: <A4E3A2EDD526D511B11F0002A5348C490B11CB9D@no.address>
Here are the total for all of the city:
Month Tons
Jan 3,495
Feb 2,736
March 3,248
April 3,585
May 4,151
June 3,574
July 3,716
Aug 4,492
Sept 3,394
Oct 3,802
Nov 3,699
Dec 3,293
December is the third lowest month of generation, and August and May are the
highest
John Reindl
__________________________________________________
Blair Pollock
Solid Waste Programs Manager
(919) 968-2788
fax: (919) 932-2900
PO Box 17177
Chapel Hill, NC 27516-7177