Results in Massachusetts are a clear signal that focusing on composting can be a major jobs and wealth producer for the entire country. Total growth includes: Jobs 910 Labor income $46.8 million Value added $76.8 million Industry activity $174.6 million State and Local taxes $5.4 million For full details see “Calculating Economic Impact of Commercial Organics … Read More
ILSR co-director and Waste to Wealth initiative director was interviewed on WEAA 88.9 FM’s March Steiner Show on March 2nd, 2017 to discuss food waste recovery.… Read More
On Wednesday, March 1st, the Maryland House of Delegates’ Committee on Environment and Transportation will conduct a hearing on House Bill 1349: “Compostable, Degradable, and Biodegradable Plastic Products – Labeling.” The legislation, introduced by Maryland Delegate Shane Robinson (District 39), is a result of close work between Delegate Robinson and the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR). ILSR, and a number of allies, will be testifying on the merits of the bill in front of the House Committee.… Read More
Legislation is making its way through the Maryland legislature that will encourage a distributed infrastructure to divert yard waste and food waste from the waste stream. The paired legislation, called; Yard Waste and Food Residuals Diversion and Infrastructure Act,” include Senate Bill 0099 and House Bill 0171. The Institute for Local Self-Reliance has been instrumental in work on this legislation and ILSR experts submitted testimony to both hearings.… Read More
As part of ILSR’s collaboration with the Chesapeake Youth Development Center to launch a bike-powered food scrap collection service in Curtis Bay, a neighborhood of Baltimore, ILSR interviewed 17 owners and founders of bike-powered collection services in 11 states. Read our article, Bike Powered Food Scraps Collection in the January 2017 issue of BioCycle Magazine. … Read More
On February 15th, 2017, the Maryland House of Delegates’ Committee on Environment and Transportation conducted a hearing on House Bill 229: “Polystyrene Food Service Products and Polystyrene Loose Fill Packaging – Prohibition on Sale.” The legislation, which was introduced by Maryland Delegate Brooke Lierman (District 46), seeks to ban polystyrene (otherwise known as styrofoam) food service products due to its adverse impacts on disposal, the waste stream generally, and the environment.… Read More
The Fourth National Cultivating Community Composting Forum, January 2017, made clear that community composters serve an integral and unique role in both the broader composting industry and the sustainable food movement. … Read More
In this episode, Christopher Mitchell, the director of ILSR’s Community Broadband Networks initiative, interviews Brenda Platt, ILSR co-director and director of our Waste to Wealth initiative. The two discuss the history of ILSR’s Zero Waste work and how the conversation around composting and waste has changed in her 30 years at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.… Read More
The Cultivating Community Composting Forum 2017 was the fourth national forum sponsored by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and BioCycle. See the presentations that the speakers brought with them to the events.… Read More
