The Mad River Resource Management Alliance includes the Towns of Duxbury, Fayston, Moretown, Waitsfield, Warren and Waterbury.  The Alliance was formed through an Inter-local Agreement that began in 1994.  We changed our name in 2008 to reflect the fact that we are managing resources not wastes.

During 2008, the Alliance held two Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day events at the Harwood Union High School in Duxbury on May 10, 2008 and on October 4, 2008.  A total of 355 households participated in the events this year which represents 6.7% of our population.  We collected over 1,970 gallons, 2,227 pounds, 4,108 feet of fluorescent bulbs at the two events.  Residents within the Alliance communities are able to bring all their waste pesticides and up to 10 additional gallons of hazardous waste to each event for disposal at no charge.  If you have waste mercury containing products such as: thermometers or thermostats; medical or scientific instruments; switches; lamps; batteries or other mercury containing waste you can dispose of these products at the Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day Events.  The Alliance will swap your mercury fever thermometer for a digital thermometer at no charge at these events.  Remember that latex paint is not a hazardous waste and will not be accepted.  You can mix latex paint with kitty litter to solidify it and dispose of the mixture in your garbage.  We are again planning two collection day events in 2009 at Harwood Union High School.  They are scheduled for May 9 and October 3, 2009.

Over 1,142 gallons of used crankcase oil was collected within the Alliance at our Used Oil Collection Tanks during 2008.  The tanks are located in Waitsfield at the Earthwise Transfer Station and at the Moretown Landfill, Inc.  As an Alliance resident, you can bring up to 5 gallons of used crankcase oil to either of these sites at a cost of fifteen cents per gallon at the Earthwise Transfer Station and fifty cents per gallon at the Moretown Landfill, Inc. for proper disposal.  A car and truck oil filter crusher is also available for Alliance residents at the Moretown Landfill, Inc. at a cost of seventy five cents per filter.

The Alliance continues to work with the Association of Vermont Recyclers to provide educational programs, workshops and theater productions promoting reduction, reuse, recycling, environmentally preferable products and healthy homes.  Programs were held in Duxbury, Fayston, Moretown and Waterbury in 2008.  The Alliance collected over 8.98 tons of books, tapes, CDs, DVDs, records, computer software and video recycling program with Got Books, Inc. through August of 2008.  Due to rising fuel costs Got Books stopped servicing northern Vermont sites. Efforts are being made to replace this service. Soft cover books can be recycled with all the other single stream resources.

Visit our web site at madriverrma.org.  You will find information on solid waste issues on this Web site.

The twelfth truckload sale of compost bins was successful with the distribution of 72 compost bins and 36 kitchen collectors.  It is estimated that each compost bin can compost 650 pounds of garden and kitchen waste annually.  This means rich soil to add to your garden and less waste to go to the landfill.  We will hold our Thirteenth Compost Bin Sale this spring.  We also promoted a Green Cone Sale to encourage on site digestion of all kitchen waste.  The Alliance held two car and pickup truck tire and metal collection events at the Moretown Landfill, Inc. and at the Earthwise Transfer Station during 2008.  A total of ~ 2,090 tires and ~ 11 tons of metal were collected during these events.  We are planning to hold a spring tire and metal collection in conjunction with Green UpDay on May 2.  In the fall, the Alliance will not hold a tire and metal collection but will coordinate with the organizers of the Wheels for Warmth Program in Middlesex to encourage participation in this program.  Publicity on this event will come out in the fall.

The Moretown Landfill , Inc. provides Alliance residents with the opportunity to bring their recyclables to the facility at no charge.  This is done as part of the arrangement between the Alliance and the Moretown Landfill, Inc. for being the "host district" for the facility.  Single stream recycling is a reality in the Alliance. You can bring your mixed paper, glass bottles and jars, metal cans and plastics #1 through #7, except for plastic film wrap and bags and beaded styrofoam for recycling.  The recyclables are taken to the Chittenden County Materials Recovery Facility for processing.  The Casella Earthwise Transfer Station and Moretown Landfill, Inc. also participated in the free disposal of roadside litter during the Green Up Day celebrations.  The Alliance continues an electronic waste collection and recycling program and this year approximately 13.12 tons of computer systems, printers, televisions and VCRS were collected.  This is an on going program at the Moretown Landfill, Inc.  The Alliance is a member of the Northeast Resource Recovery Association which helps us market some recyclable commodities such as tires, propane cylinders and other materials.  The Alliance is also a member of the Product Stewardship Institute (PSI).  As a stakeholder in the PSI we work with other entities to reduce the environmental and health impacts of a variety of consumer products.  This is accomplished by looking at the life cycle impacts of products and their packaging.  Things like energy and materials consumption, emissions during manufacturing, toxicity, worker safety and waste disposal are among the issues reviewed.  The objective of product stewardship is to rethink the way things are created in order to have more sustainable products in the future.  We are also a member of the Vermont Product Stewardship Council which provides a local focus to stewardship issues.

Backyard burning of trash is illegal and causes air pollution problems.  Be a good neighbor and don't burn trash.  If you know of any illegal dumping sites within your town that would benefit from an Adopt a Site Program give John Malter, Alliance Administrator a call at 244-7373 and let's see what we can do to help eliminate these types of problems together.

The FY 10 assessment for the administrative and program costs remains at $2.00 per capita.  The Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission provides accounting support to the Alliance.  We thank them for this assistance.

The representatives of the Alliance include: Duxbury; Diane Lynch; Fayston, Bob Vasseur; Moretown, Jonathan Siegel; Waitsfield, Valerie Capels, Warren, Ken Blair; Waterbury, Ed Steele and John Malter from Waterbury is the Administrator for the Alliance.