California Assembly Member Mark Stone (D, 29th Assembly District – Monterrey, Santa Cruz and Santa Clara Counties) introduced Assembly Bill 319, which would prohibit retailers, by 2020, from selling beverages in bottles with a cap that is not tethered to … 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
Now that 2016 is firmly in the rearview mirror, we are looking back at some of the great work that we did in our Waste to Wealth initiative during the year. We’ve broken down some of our top content into … Read More
The idea of reaching for zero waste is contagious and improves with each new effort to reach 90% or more diversion from landfill and incinerators. The city of Parma, Italy, population 190,000 jumped from 45% recycling in 2012 to just … Read More
The city of Niagara Falls, population 50,000, increased recycling efforts through education, public awareness and new enforcement procedures. In nearby Buffalo, NY progress is slower. Niagara Falls had the lowest curbside recycling rate in the region at 4 percent, a … Read More
Technology has a role in moving toward a goal of zero waste, but so does the “soft” infrastructure of citizen activism and effective policies. No matter how smart a city is, however, getting to zero waste isn’t going to be … Read More
The Save the Albatross Coalition was initiated by recycling activists through the Grass Roots Recycling Network, founded in 1995. ILSR’s Brenda Platt and Neil Seldman were two of the five co-founders of GRRN. The Coalition aims to address the earth’s … Read More
Composting and compost use have numerous benefits in addition to green job creation and reducing the amount of waste destined for landfills and incinerators. At the same time we throw away tons of food scraps and yard trimmings, our soils … Read More
International Zero Waste Activist Paul Connett hand delivers a copy of his book, “The Zero Waste Solution: One Community at a Time” (Chelsea Publishing, White City Junction, VT), to Pope Francis at the Vatican. The Pope’s message in his encyclical … Read More
