Newspaper rain bag. Eco-Friendly Shopping: Seattle’s Ban on Single-Use Plastic Bags Explained

Why did Seattle ban single-use plastic carryout bags. How can shoppers adapt to the new regulations. What alternatives are available for grocery and retail shopping. What items are exempt from the ban. How to properly recycle paper and plastic bags. What are the environmental impacts of plastic bag pollution.

Understanding Seattle’s Plastic Bag Ban: Reasons and Regulations

Seattle’s decision to ban single-use plastic carryout bags stems from a pressing environmental concern. These lightweight bags often end up as litter, polluting waterways and posing a significant threat to marine life. Fish and other aquatic animals frequently mistake plastic fragments for food, leading to dire consequences for the ecosystem.

The persistence of plastic in the environment is a key factor driving this ban. As plastic breaks down into smaller particles, it enters the food chain through consumption by small marine animals. This microplastic pollution has far-reaching implications for both wildlife and human health.

What exactly does the ban prohibit?

The ban specifically targets lightweight, single-use plastic carryout bags commonly provided at retail checkouts. However, it’s important to note that not all plastic bags are banned. Here are some exceptions:

• Bags used for bulk items (fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, etc.)
• Bags for wrapping frozen foods, meat, fish, and other damp items
• Newspaper and dry-cleaning bags
• Packaged garbage bags, yard waste bags, and pet waste bags

Alternatives to Single-Use Plastic Bags: Adapting to the New Normal

With the ban in place, shoppers need to adapt their habits. The most environmentally friendly option is to use reusable shopping bags. These are widely available at most grocery and drug stores, typically costing around a dollar or less. While there may be a small upfront cost, using reusable bags saves money in the long run by avoiding paper bag fees.

Are paper bags a good alternative?

Paper bags are available as an alternative, but they come with a 5-cent charge. This fee serves as a reminder to bring reusable bags. While paper bags are more easily recyclable than plastic (with over 80% recycled in Seattle), the best option is to minimize single-use items altogether.

Recycling and Proper Disposal: Navigating the Post-Ban Landscape

Even with the ban on single-use plastic bags, recycling remains an important aspect of waste management in Seattle. Here’s what you need to know about recycling various types of bags:

1. Newspaper and dry-cleaning bags can still be recycled
2. Plastic bags from packaging new electronic products are recyclable
3. Bundle recyclable plastic bags in one bag, tie it shut, and place in your recycling cart
4. Do not recycle vegetable bags from grocery stores or any bags used for food
5. Avoid recycling bags marked “biodegradable” or “compostable” – these go in the Food and Yard Waste cart

How should paper shopping bags be handled?

For paper shopping bags, the best practices are:

• Reuse them multiple times if possible
• Donate clean bags to local food banks
• Recycle clean paper bags
• Compost paper bags with food or grease residue in the Food and Yard Waste cart

The Environmental Impact: Why Plastic Bag Recycling Isn’t Enough

While recycling is crucial for many materials, plastic bag recycling has proven ineffective in addressing the environmental issues associated with their use. In Seattle, despite being a city with a high plastic bag recycling rate, less than 15% of single-use plastic carryout bags are actually recycled.

This low recycling rate, combined with the persistent nature of plastic pollution, underscores the need for more drastic measures like the ban on single-use plastic bags. The environmental cost of producing, distributing, and disposing of these bags far outweighs their convenience.

What happens to recycled paper and plastic bags?

When properly recycled, both paper and plastic bags can be repurposed:

• Recycled brown paper bags are often made into cardboard
• Some paper bags end up in mixed paper bales, used for corrugated cardboard, newsprint, or paperboard
• Recycled plastic film can be made into plastic lumber, pipe, garden edging, or shipping corner boards
• Some recycled plastic is shipped to Asia for manufacturing various consumer products

Biodegradable and Compostable Bags: Not a Solution for Shopping

While biodegradable and compostable bags might seem like an eco-friendly alternative to traditional plastic bags, they are not intended for use as carryout shopping bags. These bags are specifically designed for other purposes:

• Lining kitchen food waste containers
• Lining Food and Yard Waste carts

It’s important to be cautious of “greenwashing” – some bags claiming to be biodegradable may not actually be environmentally friendly. When using compostable bags, look for specific logos that indicate proper certification.

Can biodegradable bags be recycled with other plastics?

No, biodegradable or compostable bags should not be recycled with other plastics. These bags are made from organic materials that can contaminate plastic recycling processes. Instead, they should be disposed of in the Food and Yard Waste cart.

Enforcement and Compliance: Ensuring the Ban’s Success

The success of Seattle’s plastic bag ban relies on both consumer awareness and retailer compliance. The city has implemented measures to ensure stores adhere to the new regulations:

• Customers can report non-compliant stores to Seattle Public Utilities (SPU)
• SPU’s outreach staff visit reported locations to address compliance issues
• Small stores were given time to use up existing inventory of plastic bags

It’s worth noting that some exceptions exist. For instance, strong plastic bags (2.25 mils thick or greater) are considered reusable and may still be provided by certain retailers like department stores and bookshops.

How can consumers report stores using banned plastic bags?

If you encounter a store using banned plastic bags, you can report it by calling Seattle Public Utilities’ customer service line at (206) 684-3000. This information will be forwarded to outreach staff who will investigate and address the issue.

The Bigger Picture: Reducing Single-Use Items Beyond Bags

While the plastic bag ban is a significant step towards reducing environmental pollution, it’s part of a larger movement to minimize the use of disposable items. Consumers can contribute to this effort by adopting habits that reduce waste across all aspects of their lives:

• Bring reusable containers for takeout and leftovers
• Use refillable water bottles instead of purchasing bottled water
• Opt for products with minimal packaging
• Choose durable, long-lasting items over disposable alternatives

How can businesses support the transition away from single-use items?

Businesses play a crucial role in facilitating the shift away from single-use items. They can support this transition by:

• Offering incentives for customers who bring reusable bags or containers
• Providing clearly marked recycling and composting bins
• Sourcing products with eco-friendly packaging
• Educating staff and customers about proper waste disposal and recycling practices

Looking Forward: The Future of Sustainable Shopping in Seattle

Seattle’s ban on single-use plastic bags is just one step in the city’s broader environmental initiatives. As consumers and businesses adapt to these changes, we can expect to see further developments in sustainable shopping practices:

• Increased availability and variety of reusable shopping bags
• Innovation in eco-friendly packaging materials
• Expansion of bulk shopping options to reduce packaging waste
• Growth of zero-waste stores and refill stations

How might future policies build on the plastic bag ban?

Building on the success of the plastic bag ban, future policies might address other single-use items such as:

• Plastic straws and utensils
• Disposable coffee cups and lids
• Styrofoam food containers
• Excessive product packaging

By continuing to address these environmental concerns, Seattle aims to create a more sustainable and eco-friendly shopping experience for all residents and visitors.

Answers for Shoppers – Utilities

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did Seattle ban single-use plastic carryout bags?

Lightweight plastic carryout bags are commonly found in litter and escape into our waterways where they remain as a pollutant forever. Fish and other marine animals commonly mistake pieces of plastic and bags for food. When plastics break down into smaller and smaller pieces, those microscopic particles may also be consumed by small animals in the oceans and enter the food chain. Because of plastic’s persistence in the environment, the City believes the use of throw-away plastic products should be minimized.

Why not just recycle plastic carryout bags?

After years in use, even in cities like Seattle that have tried to recycle throw-away plastic bags, recycling hasn’t caught on. Less than 15 percent of single-use plastic carryout bags get recycled in Seattle, which is reputed to have the highest plastic bag recycling rate in the country. In contrast, more than 80 percent of paper shopping bags are recycled here.

What about bags for vegetables and meat in stores and other plastic bags like newspaper and dry-cleaning bags? Are they also banned?

No. Bags used by customers inside stores to package bulk items such as fruit, vegetables, nuts, grains, candy or small hardware items are still allowed, as are bags to wrap frozen foods, ice cream, meat or fish, flowers and other items where dampness is a problem. Newspaper and dry-cleaning bags are still OK, too, and of course you can still purchase packages of garbage bags, yard waste bags and bags for pet waste.

Can I still recycle other plastic bags?

Yes, you may still get newspaper and dry-cleaning bags and plastic bags used for packaging new electronic products. They can all be recycled. Bundle them in one bag, tie it shut, and put it in your recycling cart. Do not recycle vegetable bags from the grocery store or any others, such as Ziploc bags, used for food. Food residue and moisture makes them unrecyclable.

Another caution: Do not recycle plastic-like film bags marked “biodegradable” or “compostable.” They are made of organic material which contaminates plastic recycling and should go in your Food and Yard Waste cart. Compost only bags that have the logos to the right.

What should I do with the paper shopping bags I get?

Reuse them a few times if you can, donate clean ones to your neighborhood food bank or recycle them. Paper bags with food or grease on them go in your Food and Yard Waste cart.

Where can I get reusable shopping bags?

Most grocery and drug stores already sell reusable bags for about a dollar or less. Let the 5 cent charge for paper bags be a reminder to shop with your reusable bags and you’ll save money in the long run.

Why not use biodegradable or compostable bags?

Biodegradable and compostable bags are not meant to be carryout (shopping) bags. They’re specifically designed as liners for kitchen food waste containers and as liners for Food and Yard Waste carts.

Also, there are some plastic film or composite-material bags on the market that claim to be “biodegradable” but are just “greenwashing.” Some merchants mistakenly use or sell these. To make sure you’ve got the right ones for your kitchen container or Food and Yard Waste cart, look for the logos above.

When recycled, what are paper and plastic bags used for?

Recycled brown (kraft) paper bags sorted from the stream of recyclables at the Republic Services processing facility in SODO are often made into cardboard. Some bags pass through and end up in the bales of mixed paper which is commonly made into the middle layer of corrugated cardboard, newsprint, or paperboard, typically the gray paper liner in cereal and cracker boxes (according to a Seattle Public Utilities 2008 study).

Some of the plastic film recycled here, including plastic bags, is made into plastic lumber or wood-plastic composite lumber (commonly used for decking), pipe, garden edging, or shipping corner boards. Other plastic film is shipped to Asia where it is made into a number of consumer products, component parts or black plastic bags (SPU 2008 study). The largest quantity of recyclable plastic film is recovered from commercial and industrial sources, not consumer carryout bags, which are not needed to maintain viable plastic film recycling markets.

How can I tell the city about stores using plastic bags?

A call to Seattle Public Utilities (SPU)’s customer service line, (206) 684-3000, will forward store names to outreach staff who will visit the location. Note that small store, those without branches outside Seattle where they can send their existing stock of bags, were allowed some time to use up inventory. Also, strong plastic bags (2.25 mils thick or greater) are considered reusable and some stores such as department stores and book stores will be using them. You may also call this number if you see a store not charging for large, recyclable paper bags. (No charge is required for small paper bags. )

What about low-income customers for whom a bunch of 5-cent bags can mean real money?

Many low-income customers are exempt from the charge. Specifically, no retail store at any time may charge the 5-cent pass-through fee for large recyclable paper bags to customers having vouchers or electronic benefits cards issued under the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) support programs, or the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly “Food Stamps,” also known as Basic Food), or the Washington State Food Assistance Program (FAP).

Paper, Plastic or Reusable? | STANFORD magazine

SAGE (Sound Advice for a Green Earth) is a project by advanced students in Earth Systems and other programs to answer sustainability questions.

Q: I’ve heard that reusable shopping bags can be less sustainable than plastic shopping bags. Is this true? Which shopping bags are most sustainable: reusable, plastic or paper bags?

Asked by Connie McNair, Medford, Ore.

The Essential Answer

A trip to the grocery store entails a multitude of decisions. Many of us are drawn to discount prices; claims of health benefits; bright, sexy packaging — and, recently, environmental considerations. But the decisions don’t end with the products themselves. Those of us striving to be green want to make sure we’re using the most eco-friendly carrier. Thus, the question: paper, plastic or reusable cloth bags?

The plastic bag has a bad reputation. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Americans go through hundreds of billions of these each year. The result has been called a “modern menace,” with stray bags gathering in the streets, the ocean and landfills, where they endanger wildlife and never biodegrade. They can be recycled but usually aren’t.

Paper bags are biodegradable and easy to recycle or compost. But producing them in quantity requires a lot of water, fuel and cut-down trees. And they usually aren’t made from recycled material, because new paper has longer, stronger fibers. Cloth bags are typically made from cotton, a particularly pesticide-intensive and water-guzzling crop. Reusable bags made from nonwoven polypropylene plastic are also common, and they’re actually less carbon-intensive to produce.

Reputation aside, single-use plastic bags have the smallest carbon footprint, at least in terms of single-bag production. But that’s only the beginning. How we use and dispose of bags matters even more.

Two of the most important considerations for the eco footprint of a bag (or any other item) are whether we reuse it and, if so, how many times. An exhaustive Environment Agency (U.K.) report from 2011 found that paper bags must be reused at least three times to negate their higher climate-warming potential (compared with that of plastic bags). A cotton bag would have to be reused 131 times to break even with a plastic bag, in terms of the climate impact of producing each bag. Of course, plastics can be reused as well — they just don’t look as trendy.

But the answer isn’t quite as complicated as these details might make it seem. Which bag is the most “sustainable”? It really depends on how many times you’re going to use it and, especially with plastic, how carefully you dispose of it once its useful life is over. Use the bags that you’ll reuse the most — and check out previous SAGE answers at stanfordmag.org for advice on filling them with food that’s as gentle on the environment as the carriers you’ve chosen.

Photo: velkr0/Visualhunt.com

The Nitty Gritty

Let’s dish the dirt on each type of bag individually — then we can compare.

Paper

According to the previously cited U.K. study, it takes three reuses of a paper bag to neutralize its environmental impact, relative to plastic. A bag’s impact is more than just its associated carbon emissions: Manufacturing a paper bag requires about four times as much water as a plastic bag. Additionally, the fertilizers and other chemicals used in tree farming and paper manufacturing contribute to acid rain and eutrophication of waterways at higher rates.

Paper may not be the first choice for your reusable grocery bag, since it tears easily and doesn’t hold up in the rain. However, paper bags can be repurposed once they’ve been carted home — for bagging lunches; making arts and crafts; or collecting compost, trash or recyclables.

In terms of disposal, paper bags are better than their plastic counterparts. Paper is compostable. If you have access to composting, just tear it up and toss it in. Or if, like me, you’ve grown pots of mold in your kitchen too many times and are now a little compost-shy, recycling is the next best option. As long as they’re not overly contaminated with food, paper shopping bags can go in any municipal recycling bin.

Plastic

The standard grocery store plastic bag is made from high-density polyethylene (HDPE). Studies agree that plastic bags are by far the least costly (i.e., carry the smallest ecological footprint) to produce. Still, there is no way around the fact that plastic is derived from petroleum. Petroleum is a finite resource, and as it becomes increasingly limited, obtaining it becomes increasingly damaging to the environment.

Recycling plastic bags can be difficult. They often fly out of bins or cling to machinery. For these reasons, many cities do not accept them in the municipal recycling stream. Some large grocery stores offer plastic bag recycling options on site (find a recycling center near you). But unlike metal or glass, plastic can be reincarnated a limited number of times before it is too costly to revive.

Many people do reuse plastic bags. And this lowers their carbon footprint — but only to a point. Most plastic shopping bags are fated to become waste-bin liners, or dog pooper-scoopers. They do an excellent job fulfilling these duties — but when done, they’re off to the landfill. Plastic bags simply don’t have the reusable potential of cloth or even paper bags.

Reusable cotton or polypropylene

Reusable bags may be made from many different materials (hemp fiber, for instance, is especially good for people who fancy themselves as hip), but the two most common types are cotton and nonwoven polypropylene (PP), a more durable type of plastic. Even these chic reusable bags have caught flak from some environmentalists. Are they really better than plastic bags? The answer depends on how faithfully you reuse them. As mentioned in our essential answer, above, an average cotton shopping bag would need to be reused 131 times to account for its higher impact on the production side. So if you’re going to use this bag for the next five years, have at it.

Nonwoven PP, on the other hand, is less costly than cotton. These bags need to be reused only 11 times to break even with the conventional plastic (according to the same U.K. study). Remember — not all bags are created equal! If you do opt for a reusable, be sure to consider the material, its origins and how much you will reuse the bag. Of course, the best option is to use a tote you already have (or buy one secondhand).

In the end, your actions will make the greatest difference — not the bag itself. The most sustainable choice is one that’s sustainable for you. What are your preferences? Which considerations, environmental or otherwise, are most important to you? And which lifestyle changes will you make for the long-term?

Take these questions as food for thought the next time you’re on your way to the grocery store.

Claire Thompson, ’16, plans to receive her MA in Earth Systems in 2018. Edited by Dylan Anslow, ’16, MS ’17.

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Trying to Recycle That Plastic Bag? The Odds Are Nine to One It’s Not Happening

It can feel impossible to get away from using plastic. In our consumer world, plastic is everywhere and deciding what to do with it, can be confusing.

More than 4.83 million tons of plastic film has been generated to date and only about 9.1% of that plastic is recycled.

The Ecology Center Helpdesk fields dozens of calls each month highlighting the challenges that come with plastic disposal. Where can I take my plastic bags and film? Is it being recycled? Where does it go?

Figuring out what to do with what the industry calls film plastic—produce bags, plastic wrap, dry cleaning bags, padded shipping envelopes, trash can liners, food pouches, newspaper bags, and other flexible plastic packaging—is a difficult task, but the Ecology Center is here to help.

It has taken our staff months to track down answers about where plastic bags, and other plastic films, end up when collected at local stores. In short, we don’t know the final destination of most plastic film because recycling is an ever-changing industry, in which markets are constantly shifting. While there were significant roadblocks and a serious lack of transparency, we were able to conclude that, like many other plastics, we can’t guarantee that plastic film is getting recycled, even if it is clean, dry, and disposed of in the “right” place. We also know that all plastic ever manufactured is still on this planet. Whether it is in use, recycled, landfilled, or in micro pieces in the environment, there is no “away” when we throw out plastic.

So what can you do? The best solution is to recycle what is accepted, and to refuse and/or reduce the rest! 

Understanding that it is not always that simple, we’ve compiled additional info and answers to some of your pressing questions about plastic bags and film:

Plastic everywhere. How did we end up here?

Since the 1980s, disposable plastic film has provided a convenient way to bag groceries and carry purchases, transforming the way we shop and store our items. Plastic bags are relatively strong, incredibly cheap, waterproof, and, perhaps most importantly, made to be thrown away. The plastics industry sold consumers and retailers on the convenience of “disposable” plastics. Whether it be in the kitchen cupboard, the landfill, or the ocean, plastic is piling up.

In the 2000s, a new shift in packaging began moving food and other consumer goods out of boxboard, and even cans, and into new kinds of plastic bags and pouches. Newspapers moved from delivering their papers with just a rubber band to delivering in a plastic sleeve, rain or shine. Online purchasing drove significant increases in plastic shipping bags and fillers. Today there are dozens of new applications of flexible plastic packaging used in hundreds or thousands of ways.

In 2009, the Ecology Center piloted a disposable bag reduction strategy, banning plastic bags and charging for compostable or recyclable ones, at our farmers markets. This strategy was followed by San Francisco and later, Alameda County. This movement inspired California to pass the Single-Use Carryout Bag Ban (SB 270) through legislative action in 2014. This was challenged by the plastic bag industry who ran a ballot measure in 2016, Prop 67, in which voters ratified the legislative action. As a result, grocery stores, liquor stores, convenience stores, and pharmacies, were prohibited from distributing single-use carry-out bags. This law significantly reduced the amount of disposable bags, however, other kinds of plastic film remain abundant.

Why have grocers like Berkeley Bowl, or recycling centers like the one in the City of El Cerrito, stopped collecting plastic film?

From 2007 to 2019, the state of California mandated stores to collect plastic bags for recycling via SB 270. Many large retailers utilize large quantities of plastic wrapping to secure boxes onto pallets. Until recently, this clean, uniform, bulk material had decent markets. Though blending in some post-consumer film collected from customers into the bulk bales was not a big deal initially, markets have since collapsed and quality control has become prohibitive. Today, if retailers can even identify a market, the material has to be extremely clean and not mixed with multiple types of colors of plastic. On top of that, as of January 1, 2020, the SB 270 mandate has ended and stores are no longer required to collect (and ideally recycle) plastic film.

In March 2019, Berkeley Bowl informed us that the plastic film collection service they were using shared that the collected plastic bags were in fact not being sold for recycling and were instead being sent to the landfill. So, Berkeley Bowl decided to stop collecting it. This is a common story, and explains why so many supermarkets have stopped accepting plastic film donations.

Who is collecting plastic bags/film?

The Ecology Center in Berkeley has never accepted plastic bags or plastic film in the blue curbside recycling cart—they get tangled in sorting machinery causing safety and efficiency issues.

In the East Bay, we know that some Walmart, IKEA, Target, Safeway, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and Lucky grocers locations will accept plastic bags, but this is likely to change.  Because of their volume, these large chain stores may be able to accept the public’s plastic bags to mix with their own that gets aggregated in regional warehouses. The Ecology Center advises to always contact locations first to ensure they are still accepting these materials for recycling.

September 2020 Update: Walmart, Target, IKEA, and Whole Foods are still accepting plastic bags for recycling

Do plastic bags and film actually get recycled?

We found that some plastic film does get recycled into other materials, but it is difficult to follow these film plastics into their next form. The entire recycling process is not well tracked, and thus, for the most part, we do not always know what becomes of the post-consumer plastics that are processed. This is part of our concern, and why it is most important that we focus on reducing our use first. To the best of our knowledge, the most common end products are plastic lumber and woven plastic shopping bags.

Locally, Roplast Industries, Inc. purchases post-consumer LDPE (#4) polyethylene to create recycled plastic products (printed, handled, reusable plastic shopping bags). Currently, we cannot find any other products made in California from collected plastic film.

Why isn’t there a market for plastic film in other countries? 

The U.S. used to sell most of its plastics to China. China was able to buy a lot of this plastic due to low wages and environmental protections. Unfortunately, much of this plastic ended up in informal and uncontrolled industries where the residual (sometimes 50% or more) was burned or illegally dumped, entering our oceans and other waterways. However, in 2017, China stopped accepting mixed plastic scrap because it was so poorly sorted and full of non-recyclable plastics and other contaminants.

At the same time, because of increased fracking for natural gas and petroleum, virgin plastic is cheaper and more readily-available than recycled plastic, and thus large companies opt for the virgin plastic. The fracking boom has only exacerbated the collapse of recycled plastic markets. Some major brands have recently begun to include more post-consumer plastic in their packaging in response to consumer demands, but this has not had major impacts yet.

In 2020, prospects are grim for international plastic film markets. Most have closed down completely or are only accepting extremely clean, uniform industrial scrap (like leftovers from production), as opposed to post-consumer waste. New international laws like the Basel Convention have begun regulating mixed plastics and film specifically, and many countries are now rejecting contaminated shipments. Some unscrupulous, grey market, and illegal waste trade still exist, but there are increasing barriers even in less regulated countries.

What can we do as individuals?

Reduce and reuse!

As a consumer, you vote with how you spend your dollar.

• Purchase items with as little packaging as possible, and bring your own reused packaging to the store/market!
• Don’t buy proceed foods sold in pouches.
• Bring your own reused plastic or cotton produce bags for produce and bulk items.
• Opt for highly-recyclable glass and metal options when they are available.
• Eliminate plastic wrap by using containers or “beeswaxed” cloth alternatives like those we sell at Ecology Center store.
• Subscribe to newspapers online instead of in paper.
• Use paper instead of bags for trash and don’t bag your recycling.
• Reuse the last of the old bags you’ve got in that drawer at home.
• Pick a few things you can do and stick to them.
• Get a copy of Beth Terry’s Plastic Free at our store (or library), and challenge yourself to make big changes for Plastic Free July.

Last but not least, visit our EcoStore and online store to purchase and learn more about sustainable products for your home—we have all the alternatives you need. As our store product policy, we generally avoid products that are:

• packaged in non-reusable, non-recyclable or excessive packaging
• made from substances that are harmful to the environment, the end user, or the workers who produce it
• disposable, if there is a good reusable alternative
• made from plastic or other products that are derived from petroleum
• made from genetically modified crops

Become an Ecology Center member and get a 20% discount on books and a 10% discount on everything else.

Please contact [email protected] with any questions—we’re here to help!

———————————————————————

This article was written by Andrea Tineo and James Hosley of the Ecology Center Help Desk.

Recycling | City of Melbourne, FL

All recycling materials will be collected on Wednesdays.

Recycling is single-stream, which means that items do not need to be sorted. The co-mingled recycling items will be transported to a materials recovery facility for sorting and transporting to various markets.

The cart with the yellow lid is to be used for recycling only.  Please keep lid of recycling container closed at all times. Rain that gets on paper products makes them un-recyclable. 

Place clean and empty recyclables loose in carts. Don’t placed bagged or boxed recyclables in carts. 

These Items Go in the Recycling Carts

Mixed Paper

Please keep these items dry and remove plastic bags, which can cause the automated sorting system to fail.

Mail, catalogs, mixed paper

Newspapers

Magazines

Paper roll cores

Milk, juice, other drink boxes

Paper bags

Paper boxes from cereal, shoes, eggs, toothpaste, etc

Cardboard boxes (flattened)

• If there is too large a quantity, please call Waste Management at (321) 723-4455 or the City’s ECO Division at (321) 608-5080 to schedule a special pickup.

Plastic and Cans

Plastic yogurt, salsa, margarine containers with lids (rinsed)

Metal beverage and food cans (rinsed)

Clean aluminum foil and aluminum pans

Clean and empty non-hazardous aerosol cans (lids OK)

Bottles, jugs, and tubs with lids (rinsed)

Glass

Any color bottles and jars (lids removed; labels OK).

These Go In the Trash

DO NOT place the following items in your recycling cart (they can be placed in the garbage cart or, in some cases, deposited at a facility that accepts them):

DO NOT put any of the following items into your recycling cart:

• Plastic bags of all kinds, plastic packaging and films
• Wrapping paper
• Pet food bags
• Paper towels, napkins and coffee cups
• Plastic silverware, cups and lids
• Shredded paper

Clam shell containers

Dirty pizza boxes

Disposable cups

Clothes hangers

Styrofoam food containers, products and packaging materials

Plastic plant pots

Window and mirror glass

Light bulbs

Pyrex glass

Ceramics

Alkaline batteries (AA, AAA, C, D)

This recycling guide is also available in PDF format that you can download and print. 

For More Information

• 
  For service needs or questions, contact Waste Management at (321) 723-4455 or send an e-mail to [email protected].
• You can also call the City of Melbourne’s ECO Division at (321) 608-5080 or send an e-mail to [email protected].
• If you live outside of Melbourne, contact your local government or the company that provides collection services.
• View Brevard County’s Room-by-Room Recycling Guide.

Reducing and Recycling Food Waste

Food waste and food-soiled paper make up about 30 percent of a typical household’s waste. Whether you live in a home, condo, apartment or have a business, there are steps you can take to help reduce the amount of food waste sent to landfill.

Reduce first!

What’s the best way to limit food waste sent to landfill? Make the most of the food you purchase!

Countless resources go into wasted food, including fossil fuels, land use, water and money. The average family of four in the U.S. spends $1,200 each year on food that is not eaten!

Check out this guide for tips and tricks to help you maximize the food you have at home, saving you time and money! It includes tips for:

• Turning leftover takeout into lunch
• Storing food to keep it fresh longer
• Meal planning to help you shop quickly for what you need
• Learning what food label dates actually mean, and when food really expires past use

Want more hands-on help? Watch out for our “Reduce Wasted Food” class in the Greener Living class series. New classes added every spring and fall. 

Compost Right

Keeping valuable food waste and compostable paper out of the garbage provides great environmental and economic benefits.

• The raw material becomes rich, nutrient-filled compost that helps feed gardens around Bellevue. 
• Compost added to gardens helps reduce water use – it slows runoff from sprinklers and rain.
• Compost can substitute for fertilizers, which are harmful to Bellevue’s streams, lakes, and wetlands.

To get these great benefits, here’s how to compost right.

Food in, plastic out

The best way to compost right is to put food and food-soiled paper in the compost bin and keep plastic out. Plastic bags, containers and packaging should never be put in the compost because they do not break down and can contaminate compost that people use on their lawns and gardens.

What to do with food containers

• Scrape food out of containers and packaging and into the compost bin.
• Containers must be clean and dry before going in the recycling bin.
• Clean and dry plastic bags can only be recycled if you take them to a takeback location external link, otherwise put them in the garbage. If you can’t empty and clean a container, then the whole thing goes in the garbage to avoid contaminating the compost and recycling bins.

What to compost

No matter if it’s scraps or ends, moldy or rotten, food can always be composted. Food-soiled paper like pizza boxes can be composted, but cardboard boxes like those that come from a package delivery company should be recycled – just make sure you recycle right. Common compostable items include:

• Meat, fish, poultry, bones
• Dairy products (yogurt, cottage cheese, etc.)
• Vegetable and fruit trimmings
• Egg shells, bread, pasta and coffee grounds
• Paper towels and napkins
• Paper coffee filters
• Food-soiled cardboard like pizza boxes
• Non-shiny/uncoated food-soiled paper like napkins, paper towels, brown paper bags and paper plates

How to Compost Right

gear – How to keep paper from being damaged by water in the outdoors?

The ideal solution for maps is laminating them with acetate sheets. While managing without bubbles is somewhat of an acquired skill, it doesn’t require a machine. They’ll be nearly indestructible at the cost of being somewhat more difficult to fold. Best of all you can write on them easily with a permanent marker and wipe it off later with alcohol. (Fine point Sharpies and prepackaged sterile wipes work well.)

[ On a side note you ought to be using permanent inks or pencil regardless, because water based inks don’t fare well after a swim. ]

Short notes you can put on the back or side of the map. Long form writing like a journal is best done out of the rain. If you need to do it regularly in the rain I’d get used to carrying a poncho or light tarp and a couple of bungie cords to allow instant shelter. Important information, like research notes, should be taken down on separate papers and transferred into the journal or notebook later in the safety of a reliable shelter like a tent or cabin. Don’t be the guy who drops a notebook out of three waterproof bags into a puddle.

As far as protecting regular paper goes I’m fond of sandwich and freezer bags. Clear sandwich bags make a pretty decent “field expedient lamination device” for any information handed to you on small card stock that you may need to read in the rain. Freezer bags work well for notebooks. Both are a lot cheaper than specialty pouches and the fact that you discard them after saves wear and tear. Wrap the bag containing your book with a shirt or towel for extra protection and keep it inside the waterproof bag in your pack.

If you just want a memo pad that can be kept out of your pack the waterproof paper ones aren’t awful. They do work and give you some protection against being submerged, but they’re much less pleasant to write on than paper. Short of being required to take notes at a sprinkler research facility I’d opt for a hard-shelled waterproof case and regular pad. The biggest advantage of the waterproof pads is being flexible enough to be comfortable in a pocket.

90,000 From plus 50 to minus 50

The asphalt on 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya Street was covered with a continuous carpet in 34 hours (photo on the left). In this downpour, more than 60 mm of precipitation fell on Moscow in an hour and a half, which is 80% of the monthly norm. Photo: Mikhail Metzel / TASS; Sergey Mikheev / RG

Cataclysms of nature

Pyotr Pavlovich, recently Muscovites sympathetically observed how cities and settlements of the Crimea, the Far East, Perm are struggling with serious flooding … But the downpour reached Moscow.What did he show?

Petr Biryukov: Indeed, for the city it was a kind of stress test. On Monday, in an hour and a half, more than 60 mm of precipitation fell on Moscow, 80% of the monthly norm in June. Any stormwater system is designed in such a way that water is first collected on the surface, and then through water intakes it is discharged into large underground collectors. The greater the rainfall, the longer it takes to drain the water. The power and volume of precipitation on Monday can be judged by the sharp rise in the water level in the river beds.So, on June 28, the Likhoborka river rose to 1.5 meters at its normal depth of 0.5 m – or three times, the Tarakanovka river rose six times, the Beggar – ten times. The Yauza River in the north-east of the capital exceeded its level three times and reached the level of 2.95 meters. Look what was happening these days in other regions of Russia. In a number of subjects, the forces of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, army formations were involved to eliminate the consequences of heavy rains. Our drainage network took in the entire volume of water after the completion of precipitation.Within a matter of hours, city services completely eliminated disruptions in the movement of public transport and local flooding, cleared the territory of fallen trees.

We are constantly working on the modernization of all engineering networks. For example, five years ago there were about 2,500 flooding sites in the city, which occurred even with average rain, when only up to 20 millimeters of water fell. Now they are practically all liquidated. There are 50 places left, we are working with them. For five years, 360 kilometers of underground utilities and storm drains have been laid, and work has been carried out to change heights.

What else is bothering you? Very often, with such changes in weather in Moscow, like this time, there are winds with great speed. Therefore, I ask Muscovites to be extremely attentive to notifications. They are well established – on the radio, on TV, and via SMS. We must listen to the warnings of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

According to the forecast of meteorologists, rainy weather awaits Moscow all this week …

Pyotr Biryukov: Yes, in the coming days we expect new thunderstorms and torrential rains.Getting ready for them. The cataclysms of nature in our time are unpredictable. Let us recall the Moscow winters over the past ten years: now abnormal frosts, now abnormal snowfalls, when the snow falls twice as much as the norm. Yes, and in the summer, since 2015, all the time records – it was hot, like last week, then such a rain. This was not the case before. Happens now. But the city lives its usual life. How do you manage? The fact is that our economy is designed in such a way that it can function with any changes in air temperature – in the range from plus 50 to minus 50.Of course, this is possible only if all engineering systems are properly maintained.

Consumption of water and electricity in Moscow in the heat increased by 15-17 percent. However, there are enough reserves: most of the capacities remain in reserve

And the heat with its air temperature up to 37 degrees, which tested the strength of Muscovites last week, was left behind?

Pyotr Biryukov: I would not assess the situation that way. Summer is yet to come.

On hot days, Muscovites watched an interesting sight: watering machines walked along the streets of Moscow and launched fountains.Did they make artificial rain?

Pyotr Biryukov: When the air temperature exceeds plus 25, it becomes harder to breathe in the city. To make it more comfortable, the Moscow government decided to water all streets, squares, sidewalks, in a word, all asphalt and tiled surfaces five times a day on these hot days. Plus, carry out aeration, which not only looks beautiful in the sun, but also temporarily lowers the air temperature in this place by a couple of degrees.About 4.5 thousand cars are involved in this work.

Muscovites at home and at work on such days turn on everything they can to cool the air. Air conditioners, fans … This is also an additional load on the energy sector. Are the lines, substations withstand, do not turn off?

Petr Biryukov: Electricity consumption has indeed grown by 17 percent. But the city drew conclusions after 2005, when one day half of Moscow was left without electricity, and increased the volume of generation.Now, even with an increase in consumption of 30 percent, electricity is in stock. The main thing that is required from specialists is constant control over oil-filled power supply systems, monitoring of oil-filled cables, transformer substations. In addition, timely cleaning of all cooling systems of supply ventilation at transformer substations so that there is no fluff sticking and air exchange is carried out in accordance with the standards.

If anyone is worried about whether Moscow will have enough water – its consumption in June also increased by 15 percent, then I will immediately reassure you: enough.We are currently using only half of the available capacity reserves. In addition, in the winter we did a great job of filling our water supply systems. Thanks to this, the reservoirs of the Vazu and Moskvoretskaya systems are filled from 90 to 94 percent of their maximum marks. The system as a whole works with dignity. In short, everything is going according to plan.

For many summer residents, the lawns turned yellow in the heat, and in Moscow, the 12 millionth megalopolis, they turn green as if nothing had happened, everything is blooming around. Share how to achieve this?

Petr Biryukov: Green spaces are the pride of our city.There are not many capitals in the world where they occupy almost half of the entire territory. We try not only to preserve what we have, but also to increase it. If in 2010 there were 130 park and green areas, now there are more than 700 of them. Flowers are impossible not to notice – there are 45 million of them in the city now on 80 hectares! Well, in order for this beauty to always please the eye, you need to take care of it in time. Otherwise, everything will dry out. To prevent this from happening, the city services also connected watering equipment here.At night, she waters all lawns, flower beds and trees.

Comfort plus safety

Many Muscovites were more worried not even by the heat itself, but by the fact that 2010 could be repeated, when the capital, in the heat, was also drowning in smoke from peat bogs burning in the Moscow region. It is known that most of them were watered. But how reliable is this protection against new fires?

Pyotr Biryukov: The Moscow region has been systematically engaged in all the years that have passed since then in protecting forests from possible fires.In the region, not only 73 thousand hectares of peat bogs were watered, but a number of water intakes were also created so that water could be collected and pumped to where it was needed. We prepare for each fire hazardous season together with specialists from the Moscow region. We hold joint meetings of the commissions for emergency situations, we work out the whole range of fire-prevention measures. In the past four years, we have also involved representatives of the Tver, Ryazan, Vladimir and other regions in this work.They are located 180-200 kilometers from the capital. And if it flares up there, then the smoke will reach Moscow. Therefore, in case of any emergency on the territory of these regions, Moscow immediately comes to the rescue. This was the case, for example, when grassy vegetation caught fire in the Ryazan and Vladimir regions. To extinguish them and prevent the flames from spreading to the peat bogs, our special group of 170 firefighters, 35 units of various equipment for extinguishing the fire, including three helicopters, helped.

The Moscow economy is designed in such a way that it can function with any changes in the air temperature – in the range from plus 50 to minus 50

And there were no such fires in Moscow?

Pyotr Biryukov: There were no major landscape fires at all on the territory of Moscow in this and last years.In general, in recent years, the number of grass burns has decreased by 50-60 percent. Basically, there are small hearths in New Moscow due to the fact that people forget to put out the fire. But with the help of fire aircraft and drones, we regularly monitor the situation and quickly notice them, do not allow them to turn into large wildfires. For extinguishing, in addition to the forces of the fire rescue garrison in Moscow, in recent years, a subdivision of 650 pieces of equipment has been created. These machines are equipped with water intakes, pumps, fire hoses.If necessary, they can extinguish a fire in houses up to 12 stories high. We understand that Moscow can be comfortable only if there is security throughout the entire Moscow metropolitan area.

Summer brought a lot of unexpected troubles for public utilities. They also had their own plans for it, in particular, for the improvement. Are they persisting?

Pyotr Biryukov: Yes, we are planning a comprehensive improvement of new territories that we have chosen for this year together with Muscovites.The largest significant ones are the embankments of the Balchug Islands – Sofiyskaya, Raushskaya, Sadovnicheskaya and Kosmodamianskaya. And also Repinsky Square on Bolotnaya Square, Dekabristov Park on Presnya and many others. And not only in the city center, but also in almost every district. New pedestrian zones will also appear. In particular, in the Lyublino area, a wonderful pedestrian zone will spread over as much as 20 hectares in a residential area built fifteen years ago. Another pedestrian zone will appear, for example, in the north-west of the city, on Berzarin Street, on the site of a vacant lot along an abandoned railway.On all of them, as planned, we will try to complete the work by September 1, while many Muscovites are on vacation.

Pyotr Biryukov: After the rain on June 28, the level of the Likhoborka River rose threefold, the Tarakanovka River – six times, and the Beggar’s – tenfold. Yauza exceeded its level three times and reached the level of 2.95 meters. Photo: Press Service of the Moscow Government

The other day Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin opened a new station “Shchukinskaya” at MCD-2, ahead of the opening of five more stations at the central diameters and 11 stations – the Moscow Metro.Before opening each of them, it is required to build approaches to these stations, to equip the entire territory around them. How are you doing?

Petr Biryukov: We are in time, although it is not easy, since we are working at the final stage, and we have very little time left before the opening. Fortunately, there is technology, experience, urban standards. We try to prepare for each object in advance. Develop a project, discuss it with residents, think over so that all stations are conveniently connected with other objects of the transport system.At Shchukinskaya, for example, they made a “dry feet” passage from the MCD-2 to the metro, installed new pavilions for stops for surface urban transport, and paths to the nearest trade.

Recently, road workers on 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya Street replaced asphalt – from Pushkinskaya Square to Belorussky Railway Station. Traffic was closed on Saturday and Sunday, and on Monday Muscovites had already started driving on fresh asphalt. Will this speed affect the quality of the coverage?

Petr Biryukov: New technologies that we have been using for the last six to seven years, as well as crushed stone-mastic mixtures, on the contrary, make it possible to increase the service life of the roadway by an average of one and a half years.Where it should change according to the standards in three years, we will change it in four and a half years, and where the period is four years, we will repair it in five to five and a half years. Well, the 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya was repaired not even in two days, but in 34 hours. We milled and straightened the curb, raised the manholes of the wells and set them to the required marks, and then laid the asphalt. A solid carpet, without joints and adhesions. At the same time, 1400 pieces of equipment were involved in these works. In total, 23 million square meters of asphalt will be replaced in the city during the season – from courtyards to major highways.

Such work does not stop in the city and in the heat?

Pyotr Biryukov: On 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya, most of the work took place at night, when the air temperature is lower. Improvement work cannot be stopped at other addresses, otherwise we will not make it on time. We are just trying to create more comfortable conditions for those working on the streets – we provide them with water, we extend lunch until three o’clock – from 12.00 to 15.00 in order to get out of it when it gets a little cooler.

Last year, due to the pandemic, the overhaul of the housing stock was stopped. Is it being conducted this year?

Pyotr Biryukov: Yes, work has begun on putting in order 2,500 residential buildings. By the end of the year, their repairs should be completed.

Winter is ahead

Are preparations for winter also underway?

Petr Biryukov: There are no breaks in the housing and communal services. One season is coming to an end, and in parallel preparations for the next are already underway.In accordance with the plan approved by the mayor, all social facilities and housing stock must be prepared for the new heating season by September 1. In total, there are about 74 thousand buildings, of which almost 34 thousand are residential buildings. And in each of them, engineering systems must be prepared. The works are proceeding according to the schedule, the readiness is about 20 percent. And there is also the repair and maintenance of energy facilities – thermal power plants, district thermal stations, the re-laying of hundreds of thousands of kilometers of highways, which should be in full readiness a little later – by September 15.

And who is doing all this? The widespread opinion claims that for the most part in the housing and communal services of the capital, migrants from the near abroad traditionally worked. But because of the coronavirus, many of them went home, and then the borders were closed for them. Who replaced them?

Pyotr Biryukov: We have a considerable guard that keeps the city in order and makes it beautiful. This is about 500 thousand people – power engineers, thermal workers, road workers and others. But they also have a considerable amount of work – today our specialists work simultaneously on 10 thousand objects of complex improvement.Who are they, you ask? Large companies such as State Budgetary Institutions “Automobile Roads”, “Gormost”, “Mosgaz”, “MOEK”, “OEK”, “Moskollektor” employ Russians, residents of different regions of the country. There are also migrants, they work mainly in the State Budgetary Institution “Zhilischnik” – as janitors, plumbers, gardeners. When the borders were closed due to the pandemic, we managed to save these frames. We have created normal living and sanitary conditions for them in household townships and provided medical assistance. Including with their help, the city last year was able to prepare the entire housing sector for winter within two months instead of the traditional four months.They still repair houses in Moscow, clean streets, take out garbage … In a word, they create coziness and comfort in our city, and we, in turn, give them stable work and the opportunity to take care of their families.

Finally, a few words about summer. We have been waiting for it for so long! And now, when many Muscovites are forced to spend their vacations at home, and not on travel or in overseas resorts, city beaches have become an outlet for many. But how safe are they?

Petr Biryukov: The Rospotrebnadzor Department regularly checks them for a variety of indicators.Now out of 10 beaches equipped for summer, only 8 are allowed to swim – a list of them is available on mos.ru. The novelty of the season is the recreation area with swimming pools at the Northern River Station, which was reconstructed by September last year. But now Muscovites and guests of the capital from there not only go on water voyages, but also swim and sunbathe next to the pools right at the berths. All in all, there are 125 water zones in the capital. All of them are well equipped.

rakes and bags, music and good mood

Apr 14.2017 10:37

“Znamenskoye –
Gubailovo “-
central
site
The central site of the general regional subbotnik in Krasnogorsk was the territory of the estate “Znamenskoye-Gubailovo” – one of the main attractions
attractions of Krasnogorsk, as well as a significant adjoining part of the city park.
At 10.00 a large column of subbotnik participants moved to these sites from the district administration building: deputies and employees of the administration, the Center for State and Municipal Services “My Documents” (MFC), territorial department No. 29 of the State Administrative and Technical Supervision of the Moscow Region, the Committee on Competition Policy of the Moscow regions, city residents – more than 150 people in total.
Cheerful songs were sounded from the speakers, setting up for a work mood, the participants of the cleanup were provided with equipment and bags for collecting garbage. And so around the central building and the outbuildings of the estate, work began to boil, the lawns and the entire territory were renewed before our eyes. From under the debris and heaps of decayed foliage, clean land emerged, on which young greenery was already making its way.
“Most of our deputies work here, many of our colleagues, deputies today work in other places together with their organizations,” said Tatyana Zvereva, deputy chairman of the Council of Deputies of the district.- For me, Saturday is really a holiday. I rejoice in the good mood of my fellow countrymen, their desire to make the city clean. I want to thank everyone who responded and came to the Saturday cleanup.
Denis Kotryukhov, the head of the territorial department No. 29 of the State Administrative Technical Inspectorate, noted that the good mood and labor activity were promoted by the good weather – without rain.
Residents have a great demand for cleanliness and order in the city. Within the framework of the month of improvement in the city district, unprecedented in scale and pace of work unfolded.The administration of the municipality gives this priority and the utmost attention. Residents see this desire to transform the urban area and want to participate in the improvements themselves. It is no coincidence that the subbotnik was a success in all territories.
Members of the church community worked at the Znamensky Church in Krasnogorsk, putting in order the territory after winter.
“We work with God’s help,” said parishioner Elena. “The children are now in their Sunday school classes, and we, the parents, want to contribute to the improvement of the church and the city at this time.
Employees of the archival department of the district administration Elena, Marina and Larisa have been participating in subbotniks for several years. We remembered that last year, together with the governor Andrei Vorobyov, they planted apple trees in the Pavshinskaya Poima microdistrict. Great impressions from that day were enough for a long time. This time, they are just as carefully tidying up on the territory of a remarkable monument of history and culture – the estate “Znamenskoye-Gubailovo”.
– Let us remind our residents of the words that have become familiar: clean where there is no litter.It is unacceptable, because of indifference or banal laziness, to throw garbage on the side of the road, to create heaps from bags near city bins. I really want it to be always clean in Krasnogorsk, ”said the employees of the administration.
By the end of the subbotnik, the improvement department of the housing and communal services administration reported that more than 55 cubic meters of water had been collected at its central site m of debris and rotten foliage.
At the end of the work, the participants enjoyed themselves with porridge, hot tea and biscuits in the field kitchen.

WORKED
ON CONSCIOUSNESS
In Nakhabino, the main place of application of the forces of residents on April 8 was the forest area adjacent to houses 15, 17, 19 on the street. Panfilov.
The head of the Nakhabino territorial department of the Krasnogorsk city district administration, Vladimir Kupriyanov, said that, having come out on the Saturday clean-up on April 8, residents showed civic activity. However, the territory of the village of Nakhabino is constantly being cleaned up.
On April 22, the central site of the subbotnik will be the park.D.M. Karbyshev.

In Novy settlements
and Istra
Employees of the Ilyinskoye territorial administration, SOK Petrovo-Dalnee, recreation center Luch, residents held Saturday clean-ups in the settlements of Istra and Novy on April 8. Despite the cold, windy weather, families and children came to the clean-up day. The guys worked with great pleasure, they removed the garbage not only in the playgrounds, but also in the adjacent territories.
Subbotnik participants were provided with cleaning equipment, gloves, garbage bags.Special equipment was also involved.
At the places of subbotniks, food items with hot porridge, tea, and coffee were organized.

Cleaned
and order together
Inhabitants of the village Putilkovo, employees of the territorial administration of the Otradnenskoe administration of the city of Fr. Krasnogorsk, MBU “Center for the provision of municipal services” took an active part in the regional cleanup on April 8, held under the slogan “Clean suburbs. Let’s do it together! ” As the head of the territorial administration of Otradnenskoe Vladimir Tsukanov said, the territory of the slope in the area of ​​houses 6, 8, 10, 12 on the street was put in order.Bratsevskaya in the village of Putilkovo and the banks of the Sinichka river near the village of Angelovo.
Saturday clean-ups were also held in all large residential areas and settlements: Morton-grad Putilkovo, Novoye Tushino, Pyatnitskiye Kvartaly, as well as in the village of Otradnoye.
On April 22, in the Moscow region, including in the city district of Krasnogorsk, the second stage of the regional subbotnik will take place. On this day, the main goal of the participants of the public event will be the planting of seedlings and assistance in landscaping the territories.
Y.Sokolova, Y. IVLEVA,
O. PETROVA.
photo by A. Petukhov,
Y. IVLEVOY.

Source: http://inkrasnogorsk.ru/novosti/obshchestvo/subbotnik-grabli-i-meshki-muzyka-i-horoshee-nastroenie

Urban rhythm – newspaper of the Troitsk urban district

Saturday clean-up will take place in any weather. Or bad weather. On April 16, rain mixed with snow and hail did not frighten the Troicans: about 500 people went out to clean up their hometown.Obligatory attributes this time – rubber boots and raincoats – were brought with them. More precisely, on yourself. Gloves, garbage bags, rakes, shovels were given out at the inventory distribution points. Four areas planned for harvesting – a grove between Kaluzhskoye Highway and Central Street, a forest strip near the turning circle of INR and the Solnechny microdistrict, the territory near the House of Life and ATS, lawns along Bolshaya Oktyabrskaya – got rid of 189 m ³ debris in a few hours.

“Many types of work have been planned for today,” says Lada Voyteshonok, head of the housing and communal services department, “but because of the weather, not everything could be done.For example, in the Troitskaya grove they decided not to prune bushes in the rain, they limited themselves to collecting garbage. ” And after the clean-up, the Troicans who had worked in the fresh air were waiting for buckwheat porridge with stew and sweet hot tea.

Between Central and Kaluga

Rain, hail and even snow are the weather conditions in which we had to carry out the cleanup. Trinity Grove is one of the four main points selected for cleaning on April 16. A small queue has formed at the “gazelle” with the inscription “Point”: inventory, gloves, garbage bags, rakes are handed out here.Irina Savitskaya, head of the educational center No. 1 “Success”, wears rubber boots and a scarf. “We are always in a good mood,” she smiles. “It’s nice to know that today practically all city collectives have gathered here: administration, education, culture, science. And everyone has a wonderful mood: positive and friendly. Naturally, we will not work a full day today. But the 23rd is still ahead, I think it will please us with good weather! ”

Nearby there are three Natalia – Tripolskaya, Atakishieva and Mirmova, all of which are directly related to the cultural life of Troitsk.They certainly don’t care about the rain. “It’s hard to surprise us with the weather conditions,” laughs the head of the culture department Natalya Trypolskaya. “This is better than Maslenitsa at -25,” adds Natalya Atakishieva, head of the MOST Center. “This was 10 years ago. It’s not so cold today. ” The head of the TTSKT Natalya Mirmova puts on the issued gloves over the rubber gloves brought from home. “It’s warmer this way, your hands won’t get wet or cold,” she explains.

Vyacheslav Danilov, a well-known fireman in Troitsk, is fighting against an element that is unusual for himself – water.“Yes, I deal with fire, I perform at the holidays in Troitsk,” he says, “but today it’s the other way around. All kinds of weather can happen, but the forest must be cleaned up. Usually I go alone or with friends when I have time. We are clearing the forest from Oktyabrsky Avenue towards Puchkovka, a clearing, collecting garbage … “

Cleaning specialists – employees of DHB and management companies – sawing branches and fallen trees. Chainsaw sounds are heard throughout the forest. During this time, residents focused on household waste. “There are a lot of papers, bottles, cigarette butts and two syringes,” Svetlana lists, in her hand she has a half-filled bag.- How to get through to people so they don’t litter? ”

For this kind of weather, the forest is crowded. Among the trees, people can be seen in raincoats: green, pink, blue, yellow. The brightest, red, as it should be, belongs to the worker of culture, the director of the theater-studio “Kotel” Irina Orlova. “Surprisingly, this year there is much less rubbish,” she says. “We even dig up pieces of paper. The only thing is that we don’t collect bulls. The weather does not bother, – continues Irina, – we are in raincoats, like traffic lights, we are happy, good. And then, – her tone changes to heartfelt, – it is so pleasant to walk in the clean morning forest! Do you feel the air? The best! In general, I love to get up early in the summer in the morning, go out, when there are still no cars, and breathe! ”

Subbotniks, as Irina admitted, are usually not outdoors, but in the Cauldron’s dressing room.“At the end of every season. – she explains. – You have no idea what it is! It’s not for you to clean up the forest: it’s very hard! Hang everything up, stroke it, throw out the excess. ”

Ludmila, Irina and Olga from the Ryabinka kindergarten are cleaning the forest a little further away. Proven people, in fact, professionals. They go to subbotniks regularly, they haven’t missed a single one yet. “We have a lot of empty bottles, cigarette butts and even one child’s shoe in our bag,” they say. – In general, this year the forest is much cleaner. Maybe there are more bins – there is where to throw garbage along the way. “

From INR to Solar

From the INR turning circle to the already inhabited houses of the Solnechny microdistrict, this is the second cleaning area planned for this day. Last year, garages were removed from here, and construction waste was removed at the same time. Today everything is serious here: dump trucks, tractors, harvesting machines are working. “We have eight technicians,” says Vadim Kukishev, head of MBU “DHB”, “about 60 people work: Teploenogo, gas workers, MBU“ DHB ”and the administration.We plan to remove 60 m ³ waste from here. ” Logs, old heaped trees are sawn and removed. The overgrowth is cleaned out, the garbage is removed. “We do everything under a rake, there will already be beauty,” adds Vadim Kukishev.

“The city subbotnik took place in spite of the weather,” sums up the head of the housing and communal services department Lada Voyteshonok. – Of course, everything was in a truncated mode. But people went to all the facilities, where we planned to work. They cleaned up household rubbish, chopped down dead wood.The shrubbery was cut off at the House of Life. We also cleaned Bolshaya Oktyabrskaya. The procession will go along it on Victory Day. Everything needs to be in order. ”

Natalia MAY,

photos of Alexandra TOSCHEVIKOVA

The city clean-up day on April 23 will be held in the B microdistrict. “Gazelle” with inventory will stand on Nagornaya Street near house No. 5 from 9 am. This time the Desna embankment in front of the “Zarechye” recreation area will be the shock object for cleaning.

90,000 And in the rain and in the snow.Borisov postmen – about the specifics of their work. Call 31

It’s time to deliver mail

During the conversations, time flew by unnoticed. Now postmen are waiting for registered letters. This process is long, which can last from half an hour to an hour and a half. It all depends on the number of such securities. After all, operators pierce each letter through the base. But even here the cheerfulness does not leave the workers: someone is joking, someone is sharing the latest news.

Wait.”That’s it, let’s go!” – exclaimed one of the women, and the postmen went together to receive registered letters. While I was waiting for them, through the window I saw a mail car pull up. I decided to approach her. The driver was just picking up the bag of mail.

“Where are you going, if it’s not a secret?” – I asked.

As the driver answered, it was a post office for the inhabitants of the village Berezovka . And he immediately went on the road.

Svetlana Vasilyeva, who has already received registered letters, is walking towards me.We go up to the second floor for bags with mail and then go down to the exit, where the bicycles of the postmen are. In an accelerated mode, she equips her two-wheeled vehicles with everything she needs. It’s hot outside today, so she has a whole bag of gear in her bag: sunglasses, a cream, a Panama hat and two bottles of water.

And so Svetlana Ivanovna and I hit the road. Its daily route for mail delivery consists of offices and multi-storey buildings in the center of the village, streets Lunacharsky , Krasnoarmeyskaya , Lesnoy, Sandy and lanes Krasnoarmeysky and Degtyarev .The postman has learned this road by heart over the years. First, we go with correspondence to Borisov School named after A.M. Rudogo , and further on our way Central Committee for Regional Development “Borisovsky”, Administration of Borisovsky District and other organizations. While we were moving from one point to another, we talked.

– Tell me, are you not afraid to leave your bike on the street while delivering mail?

“What else remains to be done. No choice. And would anyone really want to harm the postman? Our work is already difficult … Although there was such a case.Once upon a time a bicycle was stolen from a colleague while working. The woman left him and went to distribute newspapers. But the police quickly found the culprit, ”she said.

The postman quickly bypasses all establishments from the route. Now according to the plan – delivery of newspapers and letters for residents of multi-storey buildings. Svetlana Ivanovna has a key from almost every entrance. She works at such a pace that her quick movements can be envied. In about an hour, she walked around all the sites in the center of Borisovka.Now she needs to deliver mail to the private sector.

Photo: Karina Muratova

90,000 Smolensk ONF activists found closed FAPs

Society
17:15, 20 September 2018

They stated that residents of two villages in the Pochinkovsky district were deprived of medical assistance.

Activists of the All-Russian Popular Front in the Smolensk Region, as part of the second stage of monitoring the availability and provision of medical care in rural settlements of the region, carried out a raid on five feldsher-obstetric points (FAP) in the Pochinkovsky district. Voroshilovo Vaskovsky rural settlement. Community activists noted that the rural medical institution, located in the administration building, has a spacious premises.It has been redecorated and supplied with water. There is also the necessary medical equipment, however, according to the Popular Front activists, a number of devices are missing.

“In particular, there is no portable electrocardiograph, blood sugar analyzer, manual breathing apparatus (Ambu bag), oxygen inhaler, etc. etc. Despite the renovation of the roof, it leaks when it rains. The FAP medical worker uses the Internet and computer equipment in the village administration or in the library located nearby, ”said the ONF activist in the Smolensk region Elvira Martynova.

Then we visited the feldsher-obstetric station in the village. Belik of the Shmakovsky rural settlement. Despite the fact that the FAP paramedic was officially on vacation, she was engaged in mowing the grass and cleaning the area near the medical facility. The villagers noted the high professionalism of the medical worker, her sensitive attitude towards them. The ONF experts stated that the FAP premises had been renovated, the wooden windows were replaced with plastic ones, there was also the necessary medical equipment and medicines, the interaction of the paramedic with the leadership of the central regional hospital and local executive and legislative authorities in the field of improving the FAP’s activities was well established.

Three other medical facilities were closed. The FAP in the Klimshchinsky rural settlement, which is located in the same building with the rural library, was closed due to the leave of a medical worker, and the paramedic and obstetric posts in the villages of Shmakovo and Krasilovka, as it turned out, are generally closed, although they are listed as functioning.

“How the residents of the village of Shmakovo told us, due to the fact that about a year ago the medical worker of the local FAP resigned, the medical facility was closed. Local authorities have now located a post office in the FAP building.About 200 residents of this settlement are deprived of medical assistance. The village of Shmakovo is located at a distance of about 40 km from the town of Pochinok, and citizens can receive emergency medical care only by calling an ambulance. A similar situation has developed with the FAP in the village of Krasilovka, where about 250 people live. This medical facility, according to residents, has actually not functioned for about 5 years. The building of the FAP is large, brick, but has already begun to collapse, ”said Marina Safonova, coordinator of the ONF project“ People’s Assessment of Quality ”in the Smolensk Region.

Representatives of the ONF in the Smolensk region have prepared an appeal to the regional health department with a request to clarify the situation with the checked feldsher-obstetric points. All remarks revealed during the raid will be entered on the medical care accessibility map of medkarta-onf.ru.

90,000 Questions and answers about Weber-Vetonit

products

Weber self-leveling floor for more than 20 years.vetonit 3000 occupies a leading position in the Russian market and is highly regarded among builders. Consumers often ask how to solve floor problems with the weber.vetonit 3000. Weber-Vetonit technicians answer your questions.

Can weber.vetonit 3000 floor leveler be used after leveler from other manufacturers?

Application is possible, but undesirable, since it is impossible to guarantee 100% compatibility of materials from different manufacturers.At the same time, the use of a complex of materials for leveling the floor from one manufacturer guarantees full compatibility of products and high surface quality.

How many days can you walk on the weber.vetonit 3000 floor? When can the flooring be laid?

You can walk on a flooded floor in 3-4 hours. The laying of the floor covering is started after 1–3 days.

Can tiles be glued to weber.vetonit 3000?

On lined with weber material.vetonit 3000 surface can be installed with any floor covering, including ceramic tiles. All flooring work should be carried out in accordance with the recommendations of the tile manufacturer.

What happens if weber.vetonit 3000 is used to fill a layer of more than 5 mm?

If you fill in accordance with the instructions for use, observing the technology for performing the work, then everything will be in order. However, you need to understand how much the maximum application layer will be exceeded, and how many centimeters the floor should be as a whole.The permissible thickness of the floor filling with weber.vetonit 3000 is 0–5 mm. If the thickness of the fill is significantly exceeded, the manufacturer is not responsible and cannot guarantee the quality of the floor.

What happens if I mix weber.vetonit 5700 floor leveler with weber.vetonit 3000?

There will be a homemade product for which Weber-Vetonit cannot be held responsible.

What substrates can weber.vetonit 3000 be applied to?

Self-leveling floor is intended for concrete and cement-sand bases.As a base, screeds made with leveling agents weber.vetonit 6000, weber.vetonit 5000, weber.vetonit 5700 are suitable. What can the self-leveling floor be applied to: on a dry, hard, dust-free and primed base.

How to prime the floor before applying weber.vetonit 3000?

4 hours before applying the self-leveling floor, prime the base with weber.prim multi or weber.vetonit MD 16.

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All Weber-Vetonit products are certified and certified.Distributors of the brand, selling a high-quality original product, can provide all the necessary documentation.

Can weber.vetonit 3000 be machine applied?

Weber.