Bottles and Cans Sorting
Program
The following document describes the bottles and cans sorting duty. This
document is intended for Troop Committee members, all Scouts, and
their parents.
There are three
basic goals for the Scouts in performing Bottles and Cans Sorting
Program:
-
They perform a useful community
service.
-
They raise funds for the troop (by
far the primary funding source of our Troop) to pay for equipment,
events and campouts (food, fees).
-
They practice Scout spirit,
responsibility, and teamwork.
It is very important that the process work smoothly for all involved.
It is a group effort which involves both Scouts and parents, both for
sorting and delivery. For this to work smoothly, there needs to be a
clear procedure that everyone follows, and that allows everyone to do
their respective jobs quickly and thoroughly.
How the Bottles and
Cans Sorting Program Operates:
1.
Bottles and Cans sorting is performed at
the Troop 1 Scout Shed at the Bolton Landfill Transfer Station. The
Bolton Transfer Station is open Wednesdays 1-7 p.m., Fridays 1-4 p.m.
and Saturdays 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
2.
Two Scouts are assigned to sorting the
Bottles and Cans each Saturday. There is always an attempt to have an
older Scout paired with a younger Scout.
3.
A third Scout and his family take the
sorted cans and bottles to a redemption center.
4.
Scout parents are to assist with sorting,
especially for the younger scouts
5.
The sorting partners call each other
during the week to coordinate when they will work. This call should be
done by Wednesday, but at the latest Friday.
6.
Ideally the Scouts should plan to be at
the Troop 1 Shed at the Transfer Station from 10AM to Noon on
Saturday. If one Scout plans to perform his sorting duty the Friday
before, or the Wednesday after the weekend, then he arranges this with
his partner to share the work "50/50". This is discussed when the
Scouts called each other the week prior to the duty.
7.
If a Scout cannot make his assigned duty
date at any time during his duty week, he must arrange with another
Scout to take his place. Again, calls should be made early in the week
of the duty, not Friday night! It is the Scout's responsibility to
find a substitute, not anyone else's!
8.
Each Scout telephones their Patrol
Leader when sorting is completed, to confirm the time that he arrived
and finished. He should report any problems, and recommends more
supplies if needed (bags, boxes, brooms, etc.). If the sorting partner
did not show up to assist, that should be mentioned to the Patrol Leader as well. It is sufficient to
just leave a message with this information.
9.
If there are questions, they should be
asked in advance of the duty weekend. Please call your Patrol Leader.
Timing - Preferred:
·
Bottles/Cans sorting: Saturday morning 10
a.m., completed before 2:00 p.m.
·
Bottles/Cans pickup/delivery: after 2:00
p.m. Saturday
Corrective Actions:
Scouts that do not perform Bottles and Cans sorting during the assigned
timeframe and do not have an approved excuse will be subject to
Corrective Actions:
·
Failing to perform one's duty is taken
seriously, because it hurts the Troop morale, it unfairly burdens
other Scouts and parents, and it violates the Scout Oath
·
“Double Duty” is to be performed and
approved by the Scoutmaster as a make-up
·
Scouts who do not perform their sorting
duty:
o
Will not pass boards of review to advance
in Scout rank
o
Will not be allowed to attend special
activities such as:
- Nantucket campout in the Fall
- Philmont Expeditions
- Campouts such as canoe trips
How to Sort the
Bottles and Cans
(a guide for parents and scouts unfamiliar with this duty)
The goal
is to sort all the returnable glass bottles into barrels and boxes
(which are supplied in the shed) and all the returnable soda and beer
cans into large clear plastic bags (which are supplied in the shed).
When the job is finished, all the beer bottle boxes should be neatly
stacked no more than 4 boxes high for safety reasons, towards the rear
or right inside of the shed. Bags of cans should be twisted or tied
closed and piled towards the rear or right inside of the shed. Bottle
barrels should be filled to within 4 inches of the top; they should
not be filled any higher than that! Any recycled (and thus
inappropriate) bottles or cans are taken over to the recycling area of
the landfill, and trash is bagged and put into the compactor (no
sticker is necessary). The shed should be swept out and be free of
trash.
Before you leave
home to go to the Bolton
landfill:
1.
Call your sorting partner one last time if
you have not been able to talk with each other, to coordinate doing
the duty together.
2.
Dress appropriately in old clothes; it's
inevitable that you are going to get some old soda or beer spilled on
you as you sort.
3.
Bring a pair of gloves if you want to keep
you hands clean; it is also a good idea because sometimes glass
bottles get broken and need to be cleaned up.
4.
Bring a milk or cider jug with a quart of
water in it, just to rinse your hands off when done.
5.
If you have some spare twist ties from
garbage bags, bring them along; they may be easier to use than
twisting the plastic sacks to tie them shut.
How do you begin
when you arrive?
When you arrive, you typically find the door to the shed blocked with a
large pile of beer boxes and various shopping bags with a mix of
bottles and cans and trash! Looking inside, you will see that there
are 6 sorting bins on the left side, where large plastic bags are
inserted. The sorting bins are arranged in the following order,
starting at the door:
1.
Soda and beer cans
2.
Soda and beer cans
3.
Individual serving plastic bottles (12 to
20 oz)
4.
Quart and liter sized plastic bottles
5.
1.5 and larger plastic soda bottles
6.
1.5 and larger plastic soda bottles
When a sorting box fills to capacity, it is ready to be pulled out, and
twist-tied shut. Before you close
the bag, look carefully inside and remove any improper types of
plastic bottles or cans. The bag should be taken outside
temporarily if the shed is very full, or placed in the rear of the
shed if there is room. On the right side of the shed, you should see a
shelf of flattened cardboard boxes for sorting glass bottles, a broom,
some trash cans accumulate trash during sorting, and plastic bags.
We have at least 3 barrels: one for clear glass, one for green glass,
and one or more for brown glass. Certain brands must be boxed, they
are Budweiser, Busch, Michelob, Killarney's, O'Doul, Coors, Killian’s,
Zima, Rolling Rock, and Mike's Hard Cider. Because
Corona has a painted label, it is not considered clear, but "green." A
list of bottle types follows at the end of this document.
Your first
objective is to create some space in which to work!!!
The sorting is impossible until you have cleared the area in front of
the six sorting bins (on the left side of the shed), and you also need
to clear some space in the rear of the shed where you can begin to
stack the boxes of bottles. The bottle barrels should also be placed
towards the rear of the shed. Therefore, move the pile of cans and
bottles over to the right and
towards the front of the shed to create some room to sort
and box the bottles. On a nice day without too much wind, consider
moving some of the unsorted bags and boxes outside if that helps free
up some space inside.
Your second
objective is to plan how to work:
You might want to create a glass bottles sorting team, and a cans and
plastic bottles sorting team. The "glass bottle" team might have one
person sorting loose glass bottles into a box or paper bag, and then
giving them to the "bottle packer" who carefully packs a box full of
glass bottles, or puts them in the barrels. The box packer then stacks
full boxes in the rear of the shed.
NOTE: cardboard boxes for bottles are provided, but they have to be
assembled. Fold each bottom flap over the next until the last flap
gets tucked under the first, which locks the flaps together.
The "cans and plastic bottles" team might have a "picker" who fills a
paper bag with plastic bottles and then gives that to the sorter, who
puts each type in the correct bin. The sorter is responsible to remove
full plastic bags from the bins, and then close the bags. After a
while, only cans should be left, and then they can all be put into the
2 cans containers.
Alternatively, one person could fill a bag with cans, and the other
fills the bag with plastic bottles. Try different methods to see how
everyone does in their role. Using teamwork and having assigned jobs
(which can always be switched every 30 to 60 minutes) makes the
process flow smoothly.
There are some
special reminders:
1.
Only
fill a bottle box with 24 bottles, no matter what the size.
We lose money by overfilling!
2.
Cans and bottles purchased in
New Hampshire are not
returnable, and have no 5 cent deposit indicator. Give the cans a
quick look to see if they have engraved writing on the top: any
writing indicates an acceptable returnable can, whereas no writing is
indicative of a NH-purchased can.
3.
NON-RETURNABLE WATER AND JUICE BOTTLES are our most serious problem!
Poland Spring, "power water," Aquafina, VeryFine, and similar
spring water
individual-portion (8 to 16
oz.) bottles are usually not returnable but they are recyclable;
however, the carbonated water
beverages are returnable, so that any water bottle marked
"Sparkling" is returnable. But, I would much rather you eliminate
plastic water bottles from the bags and take them to be recycled, than
to put the wrong type in the bags.
4.
DON'T
INCLUDE GLASS JUICE BOTTLES! Snapple, SOBE, Nantucket
Nectar, Fresh Samantha, and similar juice (glass) bottles are not
returnable but they are recyclable.
5.
Wine bottles are not returnable, but are
recyclable.
6.
PLEASE!!! BEFORE YOU CLOSE UP A BAG:
inspect it carefully to make sure there are no cans, no glass, no
water bottles, and no incorrect sizes in it!!
Glass Bottle Sorting List
