Castro Valley Sanitary District (CVSan) offices will be closed Monday, January 16, 2012 in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday.  Please call (510) 537-0757 with questions or for sewer emergencies.  For information regarding CVSan services and programs, visit www.cvsan.org.

Waste Management of Alameda County, Inc. (WMAC) will not be observing January 16^th as a Holiday.  Therefore, recycling, organics, and garbage collection services will take place on their normal collection day and WMAC offices will be open on January 16^th.  Please call WMAC at (510) 537-5500 (residential) or (510) 613-8700 (commercial/business) with solid waste services questions.  WMAC 98^th Avenue Cashier, Hayward Pay Station, and Oak Harbor Call Center will be open Monday, January 16^th.

On Monday December 5, 2011, Marshall Elementary School and Castro Valley Sanitary District (CVSan) commenced an expanded food scrap recycling program, with liquid bucket, recycling bin, organics bin and garbage.  With the addition of Marshall and several other schools over the last year or so, now all 9 elementary schools in the Castro Valley Unified School District have food scrap recycling programs.  The programs required a combined effort and have a big impact on waste reduction at school.

In addition to starting food scrap recycling at lunch, Marshall will be putting organics bins in their restrooms for paper towel composting.  Organics (food and food-soiled paper) are about 1/4 of what a school throws away so the addition of organics is a big boost to diversion from the landfill.  Marshall will also be the first school in Castro Valley to go with a smaller garbage bin at lunch to show students how little actually goes in the garbage.

Thanks to all of these outstanding efforts and the leadership of Principal, Walt Lewis and Teacher Meghan Mar, Marshall will be significantly reducing their waste at school.  By doing so, they will also be teaching students how much garbage we can redirect from the landfill to recycling or composting.  Great job Marshall Elementary!

As a part of CVSan’s Green Ribbon Schools Program, on Friday, November 18^th, Palomares Elementary School completed the first waste audit of the school year.  CVSan Staff and the Palomares team of 10 students and 1 parent volunteer had a great time sorting through 1 day’s worth of garbage from the school to see what could actually have been placed in the recycling or organics carts. 

In this great learning experience, students found that out of 33 gallons of garbage from the day before, only 36% was actually garbage and therefore a total of 64% could have gone in the recycling or organics cart.  This represented a significant improvement from last year’s audit done by Palomares students which found that 83% could have gone in the recycling or organics cart.  Nice job Palomares Elementary for continuing to reduce your waste at school and keep up the good work!

Castro Valley Sanitary District will not be observing Columbus Day, October 10, 2011 as a Holiday.  District offices will be open.

Waste Management of Alameda County (WMAC) will not be observing October 10^th as a Holiday.  Therefore, recycling, organics, and garbage collection services will take place on their normal collection day and WMAC offices will be open on October 10^th.  Please call WMAC at (510) 537-5500 (residential) or (510) 613-8700 (commercial/business) with solid waste services questions.

Should you have any questions, please call CVSan at 510-537-0757.

WMAC sponsored CVSan’s 10^thfree CVSan Recycles Day event on August 13^that Canyon Middle School.  Within the course of seven and one-half (7-1/2) hours, 1,100 CVSan residents and business-owners recycled 17,791 pounds of e-waste, 993 pounds of fluorescent bulbs (6,012 linear feet of tubular bulbs and 292 compact fluorescent bulbs), 480 pounds of household batteries, 6,740 pounds of latex paint including paint cans, 208 residents brought 281 pounds of non-controlled substances, and 13 pounds of controlled substances.

Three thousand six hundred (3,600) 1-cubic foot bags of compost (made from curbside organics) were distributed to event attendees (three per household or business).

Castro Valley Sanitary District thanks all its volunteers, residents, and sponsors for helping to keep Castro Valley beautiful!

For an electronic copy of this photo, please contact Pat at pat@cvsan.orgor (510) 537-0757.

Come to CVSan’s booth at the Fall Festival to receive a $10 voucher

In recognition of your dedication to keep Castro Valley clean and beautiful, if you worked April 30^th at one of CVSan’s 17 Earth Day Clean-Up sites, show your Earth Day T-Shirt at CVSan’s Booth at the Castro Valley Fall Festival on Saturday or Sunday, September 10 or 11, 2011 to receive a FREE $10.00 voucher to one of several establishments in Castro Valley.  These are available to the first 500 volunteers.

On April 30, 2011 approximately 750 volunteers at 12 Castro Valley schools and 5 public sites participated in the 9^th annual Earth Day Clean-Up.  Volunteers cleared 40 cu. yards of plant debris that was composted and abated 10 cu. yards of litter from Castro Valley streets, parks, schools and creeks. 

Castro Valley Sanitary District (CVSan) encourages District residents and businesses to Save the Date of Saturday, August 13, 2011 for CVSan’s Recycle & Compost Give-Away Day.

Recycle & Compost Give-Away Day:  Held in the lower parking lot of Canyon Middle School from 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., by Castro Valley Sanitary District (CVSan) and Waste Management of Alameda County, Inc. (WMAC) for CVSan customers only.  The following materials will be accepted:

• Pharmaceuticals – Prescription and over the counter (Residents only)
• Household Paint – Latex (water-based) paint only – up to 10 gallons.
• Universal Waste – Electronics (TV, cell phone, computer), household (dry cell) batteries & fluorescent light bulbs.

The following will be distributed:

• Bagged Compost- Three 1-cubic foot bags per household or business.  Supplies are limited and will be distributed 1^st come 1^st served.  Vehicle loading assistance is available.

For complete details and instructions, visit www.cvsan.org.

Castro Valley Sanitary District (CVSan) hosted a Waste Management of Alameda County (WMAC) Driver Appreciation Breakfast and Awards Ceremony today at WMAC offices in Oakland. 

WMAC driver Jovito Domingo was recognized for Fewest Missed Pick-Ups for Route #943 for the past six months. 

WMAC driver Geno Crusto was recognized for Outstanding Customer Service for Route #842 the past six months.

CVSan would like to thank all WMAC drivers and staff for their service in the collection of recycling, organics and garbage.

Castro Valley Sanitary District (CVSan) is pleased to announce the continuance of the Lateral Replacement Grant Program (LRGP), scheduled to start July 5, 2011 at 7:30 a.m.  $50,000 has been allocated to the program.  CVSan is offering financial assistance to qualified applicants to replace your entire defective lateral at 50% of the approved cost, up to a maximum reimbursement of $2,000 per building lateral.

For program information, please contact the Castro Valley Sanitary District, 20211 Patio Drive, Suite 200, Castro Valley, (510) 606-1300; or visit our website at www.cvsan.org.

On June 7, 2011, twelve schools located in the Castro Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) and/or Castro Valley Sanitary District (CVSan) boundaries will be certified as Green Ribbon Schools for the 2010/11 school year. Certifications will be presented by the CVSan Board of Directors at the 6:30 p.m. regular meeting of the Board. 

In October 2007, CVSan launched the Green Ribbon Schools Program to guide schools towards sustainable implementation of waste reduction and recycling programs. Then, in March 2010, CVSan asked school Principals and members of its Community Advisory Committee for feedback on the program which began in 2007. The recommendations were incorporated into the 2010/11 application and include:

• Award Structure- Awards are now based on a $1,500 flat rate plus add-ons for school size and “extra credit” for additional activities completed and excellence in diversion. Awards range from $1,600 - $2,425 (flat rate of $2,000 in past years).
• Activities- Schools must complete a minimum of 30 activities in the categories of the 4Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot), Environmental Education, and Administration and Promotion.
• Diversion- Schools must achieve a minimum diversion rate of 45%.
• Garbage Reductions- Schools must generate no more than a specified amount of garbage based on the total student enrollment at that school, or reduce garbage by at least 10%.

The following twelve schools applied and will be certified and rewarded for their efforts with the corresponding award amounts:

*Funded by Measure D

In addition to receiving a cash award for their efforts to “go green,” all Green Ribbon schools will receive:

• An award certificate
• A banner made from recycled plastic (and it’s recyclable too!)for first-year schools and those that requested a new banner, or a current year patch for the remaining schools.

All seventeen public and private schools located within the CVSan and/or CVUSD boundaries were eligible to participate. For more information and to view the application, please visit www.cvsan.org.

Additionally, the following schools received donations this school year from CVSan to promote recycling in their schools. Donations are funded by various grants.

• A Shepherd’s Heart Christian School received $349 worth of indoor recycling containers and signs.
• Castro Valley Adult School received $210 worth of indoor recycling containers and signs.
• Castro Valley Unified School District received $120 worth of recycling signs.
• Creekside Middle School received $96 worth of recycling signs.
• Our Lady of Grace School received $8 worth of indoor recycling containers and signs.
• Palomares Elementary School received $103.75 worth of indoor recycling containers, signs, and compostable serveware.
• Proctor Elementary School received $873 worth of indoor and outdoor recycling containers and signs.
• Stanton Elementary received $31 worth of recycling signs.
• Vannoy Elementary received $1,416 worth of indoor recycling containers and signs.
• Participating Earth Day event schools received a total of 102 cubic yards of compost and 98.5 cubic yards of mulch.

As a result of our collective work, Castro Valley schools now recycle & compost (divert) 55% of what used to be thrown away as garbage!  Together, we are making significant strides towards our goal of 75% diversion and beyond.

Alameda County residents are some of the best recyclers in the country, currently recycling and composting 69% of their trash, and now they have the opportunity to prove it – and win prizes to boot. StopWaste.Org recently launched the Ready Set Recycle Contest, which gives residents a chance to win prizes for keeping their trash free of recyclables and compostables. 

During regular garbage collection days through June 2011, the Ready Set Recycle Prize Crew will select random garbage bins and separate the contents into three categories: recyclables, compostables and garbage. Households with the least amount of recyclables and compostables in their garbage relative to the whole bin will be declared the winners.

Multiple winners will be announced each week and will receive cash or prizes. The best of all the winners – the households with the least amount of recyclables and compostables in their garbage overall – will receive prizes of up to $500.

You may have already seen the Prize Crew notifying residents that they are eligible by leaving a hang tags on their garbage bin with information about how to participate in the contest or decline participation if desired. A hangtag signals that the route has been randomly selected; only a percentage of bins on that route will be sorted and have the opportunity to win.

Alameda County residents can also participate in the contest and win prizes by taking the “I Recycle” Pledge online at www.ReadySetRecycleContest.Org.The website also offers helpful recycling tips, resources and a quiz to test residents’ recycling IQ.

On the website, residents will also be given the option to volunteer their home for a garbage sort. This does not guarantee their garbage will be sorted but it will be entered into the random selection process as if they had received a hangtag.

“Alameda County has already reduced the amount of materials it sends to the landfill by about one third since 2000,” said Jeff Becerra, Senior Communications Manager at StopWaste.Org, “and 93 percent of our residents report that they recycle regularly.

“But we won’t stop here. Alameda County residents set their own voter-mandated goal of diverting 75 percent of all waste from county landfills, and the Ready Set Recycle Contest aims to inspire residents to realize – and ultimately surpass – this goal. We hope participants will share recycling tips and encourage friends and neighbors to properly sort their waste – not just putting recyclables and compostables in their respective bins, but also keeping these bins free of trash contamination.”

Castro Valley Sanitary District’s (CVSan) General Manager Roland Williams stated, “CVSan is happy to see this contest come to our community.  We are a small public agency and it’s our job to make sure trash is handled in a sanitary manner and that as much material as possible is recycled and composted.  The Ready Set Recycle Contest is getting residents excited about waste reduction, not to mention rewarding them for doing the right thing.  We look forward to recognizing the winners from Castro Valley at our July 5^th Board Meeting!”

For more information about CVSan and how to recycle in Castro Valley, please click here.

To learn more about the contest and to make an online pledge to do your part to reduce waste by recycling and composting, visit www.ReadySetRecycleContest.Org.

About StopWaste.Org

StopWaste.Org is the Alameda County Waste Management Authority and the Alameda County Source Reduction and Recycling Board operating as one public agency. StopWaste.Org’s mission is to achieve the most environmentally sound solid waste management and resource conservation program for the people of Alameda County. Within this context, the agency is committed to achieving a 75% and beyond diversion goal and promoting sustainable consumption and disposal patterns. 

(3/04/11)

Castro Valley Sanitary District (CVSan) encourages District residents and businesses to Save the Date of Saturday, April 30, 2011 for CVSan’s Earth Day: Clean-Up and Recycle & Compost Give-Away Day.

CVSan Earth Day Clean-Up: Castro Valley Sanitary District (CVSan) is pleased to present “Go Green. CV Clean!” in honor of Earth Day 2011. Following a free breakfast sponsored by CVSan and local businesses, a clean-up and beautification will be held on Saturday, April 30th from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Volunteers are needed to Beautify and Clean-Up Castro Valley!
Register by April 20th at www.cvsan.org to beautify one of the following “Go Green. CV Clean!” 2011 clean-up sites:

a. Kenneth Aitken Sr. Center
b. Earl Warren Park
c. Lake Chabot Park
d. C.V. Creek
e. BART Parking Lot
f. Various Schools (contact your school to sign-up for their clean-up)

Recycle & Compost Give-Away Day: Held in the lower parking lot of Canyon Middle School from 8:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m., by Castro Valley Sanitary District (CVSan) and Waste Management of Alameda County, Inc. (WMAC) for CVSan customers only. The following materials will be accepted:
• Pharmaceuticals – Prescription and over the counter (Residents only)
• Mattresses – Limit 2 mattress and box spring sets
• Sensitive Documents – Limit 10 banker boxes or equivalent of paper documents for shredding

The following will be distributed:
• Bagged Compost - Three 1-cubic foot bags per vehicle. Supplies are limited and will be distributed 1st come 1st served. Vehicle loading assistance is available.