10 Draft Integrated Waste Management Plan - City Council - City of ...

2012 Davis Integrated Waste Management Plan
Program
Year
# of Apartment
Properties
Participating
TABLE 9-1 AMOWRP PARTICIPATION
# of Community
Volunteers
# of Non-Profit
Groups
Participating
Total # of
Donation
Stations
# of Apartment
Units Involved
2006 19 13 7 26 2,090
2007 35 15 7 47 4,067
2008 46 61 9 67 5,382
2009 48 97 15 70 5,438
2010 48 62 11 69 5,439
2011 43 89 11 65 4,989
2012 45 72 7 67 5,030
In Davis, most apartment leases begin September 1 and end August 31; City-wide, moving day for apartment
residents is at the end of August. Apartment managers usually request large 30-yard dumpsters from DWR, to
hold the extra ‘trash’ that is generated during August turnover. Most of what is thrown in these dumpsters is
perfectly good and usable. The residents are in a time crunch and they must vacate their apartments by their
deadline. In their hurry to move-out, a lot of good ‘stuff’ is thrown away. In some cases, nearly everything they
own is discarded: clothing (even brand-new clothes with the tags still on), linens canned food, furniture, home
décor, kitchen appliances, pots and pans, serving ware, dishes, etc.
The City Recycling Program invites the larger apartment properties to participate in the AMOWRP. The City
recruits volunteers to assist with the program, and engages the help of several local community groups,
including the Boy Scouts and Soroptimist International of Davis. Recycling Program staff also contact local
non-profit groups and compile a “wish list” of items that the non-profits are in need of. The wish lists are given
to the volunteers who will be working at the donation stations so that they can collect items for the non-profits.
Non-profit groups are also given a map of the donation stations so they can look for needed items themselves.
On the first day of the program, Recycling Program staff set up the donation stations at all the participating
apartment properties. Donation stations are usually set up next to the large 30-yard dumpsters. Blue caution
tape printed with “www.davisrecycling.org” is used with traffic cones to delineate the donation station area.
Clearstream Recyclers lined with clear plastic bags and marked with “Donate Clothes Here” signs are placed in
the donation stations. Signs are placed on the dumpsters, traffic cones and blue tape, instructing apartment
residents to leave good, reusable items in the donation area and use the dumpster only for broken furniture.
DRAFT
During the AMOWRP, apartment managers, Recycling Program staff and volunteers encourage residents to
bring all their unwanted, reusable items to the donation station. New residents moving in, current residents,
apartment staff, volunteers and local non-profit groups are invited to take whatever they want from the donation
station. The donation station essentially becomes a swapping station. Clothes, shoes, and linens are collected
by Recycling Program staff and dropped off at local non-profits.
Items left in the donation station do not stay there long. Although the City does not advertise the locations of the
donation stations (they are located on private property), many people know about the crazy move-out mess and
come to Davis to look for treasures amid the towering piles of discards. As a result, hundreds of people come to
the dumpsters and the donation stations at each apartment every day, searching for useable items. Much of what
is donated is taken for reuse.
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