Green Newton

The City of Newton is continuing an educational cart-top sticker campaign in 2022. Large stickers (see below) will be applied on all recycling carts in our ongoing effort to reduce recycling contamination. The stickers, which were designed by the MassDEP Recycle Smart campaign, are intended to inform residents of what materials are acceptable in the green carts.

We’ll also be gathering some data on trash and recycling in the carts to best understand how these services are functioning and can be improved in the future, with an emphasis on advancing waste reduction efforts. Waste reduction is important for the environment, but also because disposal costs are expected to increase significantly within the next 10 years.

We are seeking volunteers to assist with this effort. Volunteers will need to demonstrate an interest in recycling education and waste reduction and must pass a background check.

Details about the project:

• Volunteers will walk neighborhood routes, adhere stickers to recycling carts, lift cart lids and leave messaging about contamination, if needed. This is not an enforcement project.
• The project will start July 11 and will run through at mid-October. We are still in need of volunteers from 7am – 9:30am Monday through Friday. We are looking for volunteers who can commit to walking a minimum of one route per week. We’re looking for as many volunteers as we can get, with the ultimate goal of stickering every recycling cart in Newton.
• This is a fair-weather project. If it is raining, the routes that day will be cancelled.

The benefits of volunteering for this project include:

• assisting in spreading recycling education to reduce recycling contamination
• getting exercise and spend time outside by walking neighborhood routes
• engage with your community in a safe, physically distanced way

If you are interested in volunteering, please complete this survey. Thanks so much to the folks who have already reached out to us with interest in volunteering. For more details on the project, please email recycling@newtonma.gov.