City of Gonzales 2024 Summer Reuse, Recycle & Cleanup Day Report
July 5, 2024
Submitted to: Mayor & City Council of the City of Gonzales through the Office of the City Manager On June 29, 2024, the City of Gonzales held its summer community cleanup day event at Fairview Middle School. The event was advertised to residential customers through social media and direct mail. The flow of traffic by participants was steady. One hundred fifty-five (155) vehicle loads were serviced.
This event provides landfill disposal vouchers for refrigerators and freezers at the Johnson Canyon Landfill. Volunteers benefit from being able to direct participants to the nearby landfill to dispose of these and other bulky items, such as mattresses and appliances. Rather than unload them into dumpsters, residents can easily push them off into landfill collection piles. This protocol also makes residents aware of the free recycling services available at the Johnson Canyon Landfill.
The event focuses on preventing illegal dumping and helping residents “clear the clutter.” It facilitates source separation, recycling, and proper disposal of hazardous waste, trash, appliances, mattresses, scrap metal, rigid plastics, cardboard, and electronic waste.
Residents received free and safe disposal of ABOP (Antifreeze, Batteries, Oil, and Paint) materials and sharps containers through Salinas Valley Recycles. Monterey County Environmental Health coordinated a CalRecycle grant-funded oil filter exchange and provided free oil collection containers.
The newest feature of this event was a CalRecycle grant-funded compost giveaway. Tri-Cities brought 25 cubic yards of finished compost to give away to the community. Tri-Cities and Salinas Valley Recycles brought extra bags, buckets, and shovels for those who did not have them. About half of the compost was taken away to grow fruits, vegetables, and flowers in home gardens. Twenty-four (24) kitchen food scraps collection bins were given away. The leftover compost was sent to the Gonzales public works yard for city use. We will bring compost to the event in the fall.
Now that the word is out, we think more people will be excited about this program.
Extended participation in the event by Save the Whales (STW) continues to be a blessing. Once again, their team asked if they could join us in volunteering at the event after collecting their stormwater surveys. Without their help, the cross-country volunteers would have been completely overwhelmed by the volume of clothing donations (two minivan loads).
The free “Take it or Leave it” area continues to be a big hit with the community. As anyone who has participated in these events knows, the reuse area has many great finds. Most of our volunteers were surprised to find many useful items for themselves! From the Desk of: Maury Treleven
Special Projects Consultant,
Gonzales, Greenfield & Soledad
Tri-Cities Disposal & Recycling
831-262-2156 [email protected]
The event accepts donations for the clothing closet at the Gonzales Community Presbyterian Church. Blankets and towels are separated and delivered to South County Animal Rescue, where they are needed to care for rescued animals.
The Gonzales High School cross-country and track teams provided 70 volunteer hours. This group consistently meets its commitments with enthusiastic volunteers who exemplify the spirit of community service. Tri-Cities provided gloves, safety vests, lunch, and ice water. The cross-country and track team will receive a $500 donation from Tri-Cities Disposal & Recycling.
Thank you to our partners Gonzales Unified School District and Trini Zavala, Monterey County Environmental Health, Save the Whales, and Salinas Valley Recycles.
2024 Summer Event
Diversion/Recycling: 9.93 tons Trash: 11.09 tons Total Collected: 21.02 tons Diversion Rate: 47% Cars/Trucks: 155 Total CUYD 358
Oil filter exchange: 40 Vouchers Sharps containers: 22
Notes:
• VAN=Collection by Salinas Valley Recycles’ ABOP panel van • DEL=Resident delivered to the landfill with free disposal voucher (or item is free to dispose/recycle) • Clothing donations are estimated by approximate volume of carloads/truckloads • “Take it or Leave it” reuse area items are estimated
• Weights for items counted as units are calculated based on weight per unit established by DHEC and CalRecycle tables
• Freon appliances include refrigerators, freezers, ACs, and refrigerated water coolers Respectfully submitted,
Maury Treleven
Item Summer
2024 Tons CUYD Fall 2023 Tons
Summer
2023 Tons
Average Tons Per
Event Day 2013-2022
Trash 11.09 120 6.03 7.69 7.14
Metal 4.37 120 3.83 3.78 3.88
Mattresses 0.06
(2 PCS) DEL 0.06(2 PCS) 0
0.20 (7 PCS)
E-waste 1.53 20 0.94 1 1.1
Crdbd/Paper 0.08 40 0.25 0.63 0.21
Rigid Plastics 0.51 40 0.55 0.75 0.60
Haz. Mat. (ABOP) 0.89
(1,779 lbs.) VAN 0.51(1,025 lbs.)
0.83 (1,654 lbs.)
0.83 (1,648 lbs.)
Freon Appliances 0.89
(8 PCS) DEL 1.0(9 PCS)
1.41 (13 PCS)
0.80 (7.42 PCS)
Non-freon Appliances NONE DEL 0.48
(7 PCS)
0.53 (7 PCS)
0.42 (4.08 PCS)
Clothing Donations &
Reuse Area
1.60 (3,200 lbs.) 18 1.60(3,200 lbs.)
1.38 (2,750 lbs.)
1.31 (2,624 lbs.)