May 2024 Newsletter

Living Green Expo; Repair Cafe; Swap 'N' Drop; Break Free from Plastic Pollution; Battery Recycling; May WM Calendar; May Litter Cleanup;

What We're Reading, Watching, and Listening To

SalemRecycles' mission is to reduce trash tonnage in the City of Salem by increasing recycling, diverting reusable items, and motivating city stakeholders through education and information.

Living Green Expo

2024 Salem Living Green Expo

Saturday, May 11

10 am – 1 pm

Old Town Hall, 32 Derby Square

Salem's Living Green Expo is a rite of spring, offering free fun for the family and the latest tips on how to live a healthier, more sustainable life.

Kids and families will enjoy checking out these and other highlights:

Salem Police's new EV (a Ford F150 Lightning) & Derby the Dog
A touch tank from Salem Sound Coastwatch
Info about biking & community gardening in Salem
Games for all ages!

The Expo will also offer helpful, money-saving information for homeowners and businesses on these and other topics:

Energy efficiency improvements
Recycling
Salem Power Choice and home energy assessments
Recycled products for homes and businesses

Don't miss the featured climate conversations on local efforts to create a more sustainable future, including an update on the Salem Offshore Wind Port and a discussion about the South Salem Train Station and the MBTA's plans for rail electrification.

For more information, see the Salem Chamber of Commerce event page here.

Below: an artist's rendering of the proposed South Salem train station.

Repair Cafe

Repair Cafe & TerraCycle Collection

Saturday, May 18

9:00 am - 12:00 pm

Community Life Center

401 Bridge Street

Don’t throw away your broken item – bring it to the Repair Café!

Volunteers will be on hand to mend clothing, sew buttons, and tinker with or rewire electronics and lamps.

Appointments are required and space is limited, so act fast to secure your spot! Register here.

We hope you'll also take this opportunity to bring us any of the following TerraCycle items:

Used, dried Swiffer pads
Razors, including blades, cartridges & packaging
Dental care products including toothbrushes and their packaging, toothpaste tubes, mouthwash bottles & floss containers
Deodorant containers & caps
Brita dispensers, pitchers, bottles, filters & their packaging

We hope to see you at this fun event where you can get your favorite broken item repaired, learn how to fix things, and reduce your waste!

Interested in joining our volunteer team of fix-it pros? Email us to lend a hand at a future Rapair Café!

SAVE THE DATE!

Swap 'N' Drop

at Salem Common

Saturday, June 8

10 am – 1 pm

(Rain Date June 15th)

We’re excited to announce the return of Swap ‘N’ Drop to Salem Common! This is a fun, free opportunity to swap or donate usable clothing and household items, keeping them from the waste stream.

SWAP or simply DROP OFF:

Small household appliances in good working condition (microwaves, coffee makers, toasters, lamps, etc.)
Accent furniture (end tables, coffee tables, chairs, desks)
Home decor (artwork, vases, knick-knacks, collectibles)
Kitchen items (dishes, pots/pans, glassware, utensils)
Women’s, men’s, & children’s clothing and accessories

Drop off donations between 9:30 and 12:30 on event day

All un-swapped items will be collected by ReSupply and then donated or re-sold.

To volunteer to help out on event day, please register here.

Break Free from Plastic Pollution

The Break Free from

Plastic Pollution Act

The US recycles only about 5% of its plastic. The other 95%, about 51 million tons of plastic each year, is discarded as trash and ends up in our landfills and incinerators -- and, even worse, in the rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and coastal waters so vital to our survival.

It's a huge problem, but Senator Jeff Merkley (Ore.) and US Representative Jared Huffman (Calif.) have reintroduced the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act, a bill that would make companies that produce single-use plastic more responsible for it.

If passed, the bill would:

Reduce single-use plastic and packaging nationwide
Finance new recycling, composting, and reusable infrastructure systems
Prohibit the dumping of trillions of plastic pellets (also known as "nurdles") into our nation's waterways

By shifting the cost of recycling and waste management to the corporations that make and sell these wasteful plastic products, the bill would also save states billions of dollars every year.

Read a summary of the act here.

Learn about the global movement to #BreakFreeFromPlastic here.

Next month, we'll look at the UN's landmark agreement to create the world’s first global plastics pollution treaty and negotiations to finalize the agreement.

Battery Recycling

Recycle Old Batteries

at Staples!

Many products such as hearing aids, watches, children's toys, computers, and cameras run on batteries containing mercury, lithium, or cadmium -- hazardous materials that make it dangerous and illegal to dispose of these batteries in the trash. Although it is considered safe to trash alkaline batteries (AAA, AA, C, D, and 9 volt), recycling keeps these items out of our incinerators and landfills and is thus a more sustainable option.

In Salem, recycling batteries is easy! Our local Staples accepts all types of batteries for recycling, free of charge. (You can bring your used ink cartridges and old pens to Staples as well!).

Bonus: When you bring Staples your old batteries, you'll get a coupon for your next battery purchase and a free battery recycling box to store your used batteries in at home.