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 under 75% this year. Intensive curbside recycling, buttressed by a pay as you throw system and … 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 2014 Investigative Post analysis found. Investigative Post analyzed the 2012 garbage and recycling data from the … 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 easy. It will take the coordination of many factors, including not only technology but also citizen … 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 global plastic pollution problem through responsible behavior by companies that generate the plastic products that threaten … 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 are eroding and losing nutrients, while damaging receiving waters. Excess fertilizers from farms and suburban lawns, … 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 “Laudato si” also calls for responsible management of the earth’s natural resources. ILSR’s Brenda Platt and … Read More
I think the writers who periodically “trash” recycling as ‘broken’, ‘wasteful’, ‘outweigh the benefits’ are secretly in love with recycling. They write their pieces in order to give recyclers a chance to respond with proper answers on a broader platform. Bob Gedert’s article ‘National Recycling Coalition Sets the Record Straight’ (NRC News, January 7, 2016) is … Read More
Origins In the last 20 years, No Waste, a simple term expressing the aspirations of recycling activists, became Zero Waste and a social movement bearing that name quickly took root in the USA, Europe, Asia and the entire globe. In 1995, Dr. Daniel Knapp of Urban Ore, Berkeley, CA[1] traveled to and toured Australia for the … Read More
ILSR is working closely with the newly appointed Waste Diversion staff of the DC Department of Public Works (DPW). The Waste Diversion staff was hired under provisions of the new solid waste law which ILSR and the DC environmental community sponsored in 2015. Annie White has been appointed by DPW as Manager of the Office of … Read More
