Sustainable Moraga

By Katherine Tam
August 25, 2006

You don’t have to toss them in the trash anymore or go hunting for a better place to dispose of them.

More drop-off sites are on the way for those used batteries, thanks to 11 Moraga residents who took it upon themselves to help keep old batteries out of landfills.

Now the Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority is following their lead and plans to open 18 sites in seven cities where batteries can be dropped off for recycling this fall, said Lois Courchaine, program manager. The agency set aside $167,000 to launch the program.

Dumping batteries, fluorescent light bulb and cell phones in the trash became illegal in February, punishable by thousands of dollars in fines, because they release corrosive chemicals and toxic metals.

In Moraga, members of the volunteer environmental group Sustainable Moraga waited for collection bins to surface around town. None did.

So the group grabbed some five-gallon paint buckets, attached homemade signs that read “Recycle All Household Batteries Here” and asked Longs Drugs, Safeway, Moraga Hardware and Orchard Supply Hardware for permission to post them by the door. They distributed flyers and posted notices on local marquees to spread the word.

The response was enormous. Buckets overflowed. Rather than toss them, people began placing batteries on the ground next to the buckets when the containers were full. Batteries ranged from square ones the size of a fist to tiny button batteries, commonly used in hearing aids.

Volunteers thought they’d empty the buckets once or twice a month, said Marie Kahn, a member of Sustainable Moraga. Instead, they found themselves emptying them every day at some sites, or every two to three days at others.

“We have been collecting on average 1,000 pounds a month from this little community,” Kahn said. “We’ve discovered that people will recycle if recycling is easy for them.”

It was no simple task for the volunteers, who were heaving 70-pound buckets of batteries and unloading them into trucks several times a week. They would then drive them to the household hazardous waste center in Martinez.

By spring with no signs of an agency launching battery drop-off, Kahn and her colleagues took turns calling and speaking to various officials. Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority, which gave the group a $530 grant to start their program, agreed to take over the program.

The waste authority will partner with retailers to have recycling containers at their stores in the fall, Courchaine said. The agency is calling various retailers and does not have the stores finalized yet.

Battery recycling has increased since the state law went into effect in February. Central Contra Costa Sanitary District has been fielding 4,000 to 5,000 pounds of batteries a month since February, more than double what they handled before, said Harriette Heibel, spokeswoman.

The Moraga volunteers will collect batteries until the solid waste authority takes over. Then they’ll move onto their next venture: biodegradable cloth shopping bags. Volunteers want to sell these locally to promote reuse of resources.

“We hope it’ll get more people to reduce and reuse other things because they become more acutely aware of it,” Kahn said.

Reach Katherine Tam at ktam@cctimes.com.

Drop Off Sites

The following cities will get additional battery drop-off sites this fall under a Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority program. The exact sites are under negotiation. Alamo: one site Blackhawk: one site Lafayette: two sites Moraga: two sites Orinda: two sites Danville: four sites Walnut Creek: six sitesMeanwhile in Moraga, local volunteers will continue to collect batteries at Longs Drugs, Moraga Hardware and Orchard Supply Hardware. Safeway has removed the collection bucket because the program has not been reviewed by the corporate office for safety, said Jennifer Webber, Safeway spokeswoman. Webber said she has asked Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority to provide information on how the new program will function and what kind of containers will be used when the agency takes over.Outside of Moraga, residents can drop off household batteries for recycling at some retailers, including Radio Shack, and at the household hazardous waste center in Martinez.

Recycling group reports volunteers are swamped with used electronics; curbside pickup suggested

By Brooke Bryant
April 7, 2006

It seemed so simple.

When the state law forbidding people from tossing batteries in the trash went into effect Feb. 9, volunteers with the environmental group Sustainable Moraga set up collection buckets at local stores.

They figured they would empty them once a month or so, and do their bit to keep heavy metals like cadmium from leaching into landfills.

Two months later, they’ve collected 1,700 pounds of batteries, requiring several trips a week to the hazardous waste facility in Martinez, the closest drop-off point.

“We just really never expected that there would be so many,” said volunteer Marie Kahn.

This year, batteries, fluorescent light bulbs and cell phones joined other electronics on the state’s list of items banned from the trash can. Some have questioned the effectiveness of the new rules given that collection sites are few and far between — but the Martinez center is already reporting a marked increase in recycling of universal waste this year.

The facility received 2,276 pounds of household batteries in the first quarter last year, and 6,964 pounds in the same period this year, said Central Contra Costa Sanitary District spokeswoman Harriette Heibel. It also got 3,292 feet of fluorescent lights in the first quarter last year, and 22,771 feet this year.

The popularity of the Moraga project points to a need for professional pickup, volunteers say. That could be curbside pickup once a month or collection bins throughout the town that are emptied by professionals.

“This is not a job for amateurs, because there’s all manner of related issues,” Kahn said. Volunteers have found the buckets of batteries are heavy and difficult to lift if they get too full, meaning more frequent trips to empty them. Then there’s the law that prohibits people from driving with more than 125 pounds of hazardous waste in their cars.

Moraga isn’t the only community struggling to come up with solutions for battery recycling. Some groups sponsor e-waste recycling events, like the one held at Acalanes High School two weeks ago, Palo Alto recently agreed to start curbside recycling for batteries, and in late March the Orinda City Council agreed to ask the Central San to authorize the establishment of centralized drop off sites for batteries.

In Moraga, the group has set up buckets at stores like Orchard Supply Hardware, Ace Hardware and Longs, but by far the most popular drop-off site is Safeway. Members are looking for anyone who is willing to help collect the batteries and deliver them to the Martinez site.

“We definitely would love to have more people pitch in,” Kahn said. “We desperately need help doing this.”

The group is in the process of setting up a Web site, but in the meantime, Sustainable Moraga meets on the third Wednesday of the month at 7:30 p.m. in the meeting room at the Moraga Library, 1500 St. Marys Road.