According to Sustainable Suffield chairperson Anna-Kristin Daub-Murphy, the town task force is pursuing five measures to help improve our environment this fall.
- Free compostable bags – if you collect food scraps in a countertop bin, you’re now eligible for free rolls of compostable bags. Pick up your three-gallon rolls from the first selectman’s assistant, Kris Lambert, on the second floor of the Town Hall. Bags are funded through “nips” fees, the surcharge on small liquor bottles bought in town that are refunded to the town semiannually.
- Free food scrap workshop, pizza and countertop bin – With the help of the Parks and Recreation Department and Youth Services, Sustainable Suffield is hosting a free food scrap collection seminar. It’s on October 16th at the Senior Center from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. You will be served pizza and drinks at 5:30 p.m., followed by a talk on why and how to collect food scraps for disposal in the dumpster behind the town hall. You’ll go home with a free countertop bin and compostable bags. To register, go to suffieldct.myrec.com and click on the “View All Programs” link at the bottom of the page. Then, go to “Community Programs,” which lists the workshop.
- Suffield on the Green food scrap collection – At this year’s Suffield on the Green, the task force and town volunteers redirected fair-goers who were throwing out leftover food to food scrap bins provided by USA Waste and Recycling. About 100 to 150 lbs. of food scraps were collected and sent to anaerobic digesters on farms in New England. “Based on this success, we hope to hold similar collections at future town events where food is served,” said Daub-Murphy.
- Food scrap collection started at McAlister Intermediate School – On September 4, Sustainable Suffield and the high school’s Sustainability Council, headed by senior Keila Silva, helped launch a new food scrap collection program at McAlister. All grades watched two videos on food scrap collections. Then, fourth and fifth graders got to eat oranges, raisins and fruit snacks. The Sustainable volunteers coached them on where to dispose of leftover food (food scrap bin), raisin boxes (recycling bin) and fruit snack bags (trash bin). Because third graders collected food scraps at Spaulding School last year, they were shown the videos as a refresher during their lunch break.
- Free backyard composters at landfill – The town still has 48 new at-home composters available for free to resident gardeners. They remain from an earlier composting program. Go to the landfill to get yours. No landfill permit is needed to pick up the composters.
Suffield on the Green volunteers Marla and Peter Adelsberger helped collect food scraps from fairgoers, keeping it from the waste stream.
Moving on, Daub-Murphy said plans call for a solar energy symposium/fair featuring energy providers like Eversource and vendors, as well as more town clean-ups.