Christopher St. Lawrence

Thank you, Rockland County! Recycling begins at home, and with your help the Solid Waste Management Authority has increased revenues to your municipal budgets and sent less material to landfills. I know that recycling takes thought, planning and commitment, but the payoff is great. It's a pleasure to work together, to take pride in ourselves, to earn money for our community and to lower our taxes. Most importantly, we are improving our environment and our quality of life.

Our educational and outreach programs have broadened. More than 3,000 people have toured the Herb Reisman Educational Center to learn more about our environmental initiatives and to visit our inter-active museum. Our EcoTeams set the pace for the Nation, becoming the fastest growing EcoTeam Program in the United States. And we are maturing as an agency, deepening our responsibilities and enhancing our organizational Policy. To that end, we initiated a Procurement Policy, an Investment Policy, a Hiring Policy and a Records Management Policy and Program.

Electronics are now accepted at every HHW event, in addition to the usual materials. Free distribution of two new recycling bins to Rockland residents has made curbside recycling easier. Not only are these bins are bigger and better, but also the containers are color-coordinated across the County - an important first-step toward sidewalk recycling containers and onsite events recycling. Wheel kits will be provided to Seniors and the Disabled. Nearly all of our municipalities are participating in our program. We will now encourage greater recycling initiatives from businesses, schools and commercial entities. With this effort and continued residential recycling, we expect your municipal revenues to increase. Our composting facility processes biosolids from the five wastewater treatment plants for use as an ingredient in the valuable compost produced at our Cocomposting Facility. Our compost sells out quickly, and helps to beautify roadsides and public landscapes by enriching the soil. And now for composting at home: Thanks to a NYSDEC Grant, the RCSWMA will be offering Rockland households free backyard composting bins and instruction for their home composting. Watch for publicity, here on the web site and in your local paper!

Our community programs continue to broaden. A new Conference Center and Greenhouse are completed. The Conference Center offers great opportunities for education and community programs, as does the Greenhouse, where we will demonstrate the health-oriented, earth-friendly values of organic gardening. And please visit "the environment" section of the navigation bar above for more about our environmental initiatives as well as links to other web sites. Additionally, the monthly meetings of the SWMA Authority are open to the public, and we invite you to attend in order to learn, to listen and to comment. We are here to serve you -- the People of Rockland -- and we welcome your participation in our environmental mission.

Sincerely,

Christopher P. St. Lawrence
Chairman

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