Stefan Lasiewski

April 2010 Newsletter from Councilmember Linda Maio

One Hot Topic!  Garbage and Recycling

Berkeley’s refuse operations and fees have been in the news a lot lately.  I’d like to offer a bit more perspective on our refuse situation and budget.   It’s important to know that our refuse-collection taxes can be used only for refuse-related services: refuse-collection, recycling, street sweeping, graffiti abatement, and a few others.  For several reasons, which I will describe below, income to our refuse-collection budget is down while the cost of providing those services has remained constant in some areas and increased in others.

The decline in the economy has resulted in lower tonnage overall in most refuse areas.   “Regular” trash sent to the landfill has diminished.  Congratulations to us!   But in spite of this reduction, the city’s landfill costs continue to rise.  As we’ve been reducing our trash levels and watching our personal budgets more closely, many of us have switched to smaller, less expensive, trash cans.  This has happened rapidly, resulting in a serious decline in revenue to pay for our collection services. 

While traditional refuse is declining, the city is also stretching on other fronts toward our “zero waste” goal.  We’ve implemented the very successful green bin for composting, the collection of waste oil, mattress recycling, and the recycling of electronics.  We are assiduously pursuing construction and demolition (C&D;) recovery, which reuses concrete debris for new aggregate or road bases, and recovery of lumber both for biomass production and for new product (gypsum board).

There are several approaches under discussion for meeting our budget deficit.  Currently, we are the only city in Alameda County that uses two-person garbage trucks.  The Manager is considering single-person trucks, which of course raises concerns among our employees, who fear for the security of their livelihood.  As we discuss this direction, I believe we will want to phase in changes through reassignments and attrition. 

We are also considering a separate fee of a few dollars per month to cover our expanding resource recovery operations, noted above, as well as the ongoing need for education and advancing waste reduction policy at the state and national levels. 

This fall residents can look forward to receiving new, deep, rolling recycling carts to replace the blue bins we currently use.  The carts will provide one receptacle for all our recyclables, split between one side for fiber, the other for beverage and other containers.  They will make our recyclables less susceptible to poaching and keep the materials covered from the elements (no more papers blowing around the neighborhood).

In Berkeley we sort our recyclables, resulting in clean materials that generally are in high demand at good prices.  Because of the budget pressure, some have suggested that we change our recycling program to “single stream,” which some cities use. A “single stream” system (mixing all materials together into one container) is cheaper and more convenient, but “single stream” contaminates materials and does not meet our criteria for highest and best reuse (about 14% of single stream material ends up in the landfill.)  If you value a sustainable future, “single stream” is not the answer.  Also, since recycling is not the lion’s share of our refuse budget, a switch to “single stream” would do little to alleviate our deficit. 

It has been Berkeley’s policy to move toward a “zero waste” economy, that is to send as little as possible to the landfill, by reducing material consumption overall and recovering as much as possible of what we use.   That continues to be our goal as the Council considers how best to move forward.

For information on our recycling program: http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=5624

Tour Berkeley’s EcoHouse Installations, April 18^th

See Berkeley’s first city
-permitted wetland/graywater system, on-demand solar water-heater, rainwater cistern and water catchment, a living roof garden, solar system, mushroom cultivation, earthworks rain garden, and much more.  Corner of Hopkins/Peralta.  Call to register at: 548-2220 x239

Update on 1800 San Pablo

This apartment building is on the southwest corner of Delaware and San Pablo, and is almost completed.  Work was stopped because banks changed hands, but I have learned that the new bank will be moving to restart construction in the near future.

The Maya Visit Berkeley

Last week a delegation from the Guatemalan town of Todos Santos Cuchumatan, near Huehuetenango, dropped in to make an official visit, their Mayor to ours.  Specifically, they were asking for our ideas and referrals to help them sell their organic coffee from their small farms without going through a middle-man; hoping to stimulate interest in their hand-woven textiles; and looking for ideas to help them stem deforestation from the cutting of wood for cooking and heat.  We were able to make a few referrals on the spot.  Any thoughts or comments would be gratefully appreciated.

Celebrating National Library Week

April 11-17, 2010

National Library Week is an annual celebration of the contributions of our nation's libraries and librarians. All types of libraries – school, public, academic and special – participate. The theme for 2010 is “Communities thrive @ your library,” and libraries across the nation look for ways to raise awareness about libraries and library services during this week. This theme is especially appropriate this year, reflecting how many citizens are turning to their public libraries for assistance and solace during these times of economic distress.

We Need Your Input!

Each April, the staff of the Berkeley Public Library devotes activities and programs in honor of this important recognition of how libraries everywhere play a vital role in supporting the quality of life in their communities. This year, Library staff is launching the first of a planned annual patron satisfaction survey, to monitor what the Library’s users think of the library services they receive, and to receive feedback on potential areas of improvement.

Please fill out our Berkeley Public Library Customer Satisfaction survey available at any Information or Reference Desk or @ http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JYBDVWC.

As always, we value your comments, questions, and suggestions….any time.

Linda Maio