Waste Not! Carroll

From the Carroll County Times, August 31, 2010

By Carrie Ann Knauer, Times Staff Writer

Wineries at The Maryland Wine Festival have recycled thousands of bottles used for pouring samples during the two-day festival held annually in Westminster, but this year, festival attendees will also have the opportunity to recycle their disposables.

Waste Not! Carroll, a local group that aims to reduce waste in the community, had volunteered to provide extra waste collection containers, waste sorting services and even disposal of compostable materials and paper for the county for The Maryland Wine Festival, which will be held Sept. 18 and 19.

The group has provided waste services for two years at the Maryland Heartland Sustainable Living Fair and at the 2010 Roots Music Festival, which, like the wine festival, are held at the Carroll County Farm Museum.

Don West, a leader of Waste Not! Carroll, said the group achieved an 85 percent waste diversion rate through recycling and composting at the Roots Music Festival, with more than 31 barrels of recyclable and compostable resources recovered and kept out of landfills.

West gave a presentation of the group's previous efforts and goals at the July meeting of the county's Environmental Advisory Council. Impressed with the group's accomplishments, the council voted unanimously to support the group's goal to provide services at The Maryland Wine Festival, and sent a letter to the county commissioners encouraging them to accept the group's waste diversion efforts.

Dan Andrews, another leader of Waste Not! Carroll, said the group will have four waste-sorting containers at each disposal station: one for organics that will be composted, one for bottles and cans to be recycled, one for paper recycling and a waste disposal bag. Volunteers in bright-colored Waste Not! Carroll shirts will help educate festival visitors about the recycling stations, he said, and take the waste back to two sorting areas before they are properly disposed of.

"We're going to try and keep track of it and quantify what we're able to divert," Andrews said.

The group will take the compostables and paper recycling, West said, and leave the county to manage the pickup of the rest of the recycling and trash. The group is hoping for a 60 to 80 percent diversion rate at The Maryland Wine Festival, which could mean a cost savings for the county on its trash disposal bill.

"Logistically, it's going to be a challenge," West said, considering that the wine festival has more than 20,000 visitors, much larger than the two events the group has handled before. "I like a challenge, and we'll do the best we can."

County Director of Recreation and Parks Jeff Degitz said the county would appreciate any savings, but more importantly, it's a great opportunity to promote recycling to the public.

"With the wine festival being pretty much the most populated event that's held in the county, what a great opportunity to try and promote that idea," Degitz said.

Degitz said some of the final details are still being worked out, but that the majority of the sorting stations will be centered near the food vendor areas.

"They're going to be very visible, they're going to be right there in front of people's eyes, seeing the recycling efforts, and hopefully that puts it on the front burner instead of the back burner," Degitz said.

Kevin Atticks, executive director of the Maryland Wineries Association, said he and the wineries were excited about the expanded recycling plans for this year's festival.

"Having Waste Not! volunteer their recycling expertise at the festival is an incredible opportunity for us," Atticks said. "We already recycle all of the wineries' wine bottles at the end of the event, and we love that our festival guests will now be encouraged to recycle."