Category: Pollution prevention

Celebrate Pollution Prevention Week (September 17-23, 2017)

In 1990, Congress passed the Pollution Prevention Act. Pollution Prevention (P2) Week, celebrated during the third week of September each year (September 17-23, 2017),  highlights the efforts of EPA, its state partners, industry, and the public in preventing pollution right from the start.

Beginning Monday, the Great Lakes Pollution Prevention Roundtable (GLRPPR) will be publishing a P2 related blog post each day and will also be spreading the P2 message on Twitter using the hashtag #P2Week.

The  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have information about events occurring throughout the country. The National Pollution Prevention Roundtable also has a handy P2 Week Toolkit from 2014 for organizations looking for ways to participate.

Within the region, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management will hold its 20th Annual Pollution Prevention Conference and Trade Show on September 19-20 in Plainfield, IN. The theme is “Celebrating 20 Years of Pollution Prevention in Indiana.” The conference will also include presentations of the Governor’s Awards for Environmental Excellence.

Managing Risk Through Pollution Prevention, a full-day workshop held on the day before the IDEM conference, will lead companies to a better understanding of environmental risk management and how to reduce those risks with pollution prevention techniques. The day will combine lecture with hands on exercises to lead the group towards identification of specific practices they can undertake at their facilities to reduce risk.

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has compiled a P2 Week Planner, which includes a sample resolution and press release.

‘Zero-Waste’ Efforts May Lead Sports Stadiums Astray, Study Suggests

Read the full story from Environmental Leader. Read the full study here.

Sporting venues interested in reducing GHG emissions, energy use, and trips to the landfill may actually be shortchanging themselves by focusing too closely on the concept of reaching “zero waste,” according to researchers at the University of Missouri (Mizzou). Rather, two specific aspects of waste reduction seem to far outweigh the rest in terms of reducing emissions or energy use: eliminating edible food waste, and recycling.

Webinar: Heartland Businesses Achieve Savings with Pollution Prevention Interns

Thu, Sep 21, 2017 1:30-2:30 PM CDT
Register at https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/1352764724773046530

Heartland businesses provide stories of the successes and savings achieved by using Pollution Prevention Interns for summer projects. These trained students bring expertise to increase efficiency, save water, energy, and materials, and save money. This webinar features several projects accomplished within the last few years by pollution prevention interns and the impact of the projects.

City Ordinances and Policies of Successful Zero Waste Communities

Read the full post from SWEEP.

As the number of communities embracing Zero Waste grows to more than two hundred within the United States, a pattern can be observed from the programs that have achieved success. As new communities consider the bold step forward toward enhancing their diversion programs and declaring Zero Waste goals, planning for the future becomes essential. Watching other communities expand their programs, and engage in the learning processes of collection, processing, marketing of hard to recycle materials, as well as deploying new public education and outreach motivation programs is important for those ready to move forward and explore the new frontiers of Zero Waste.

Tattooed avocados and shampoo bars: the businesses curbing plastics waste

Read the full story in The Guardian.

Excess or unnecessary packaging is being shunned by forward-thinking firms. Here are some examples of progress.

How the factory of the future saves energy

Read the full story in GreenBiz.

When it comes to factories, manufacturing floors and industrial facilities, the interests of plant managers and corporate sustainability professionals are intimately intertwined.

Reducing energy consumption, minimizing freshwater withdrawals from local aquifers and reusing materials that otherwise might be scrapped makes sense from financial, environmental and social standpoints. Indeed, the production floor appears to be one place where efficiency-motivated capital expenditures advocated by the sustainability team actually might stand a chance of becoming reality in board rooms without too much of a fight.

That’s even more true as companies of all shapes and sizes begin to mull the impact of the circular economy — one that prioritizes a radical shift in thinking about how resources are used and spins off new revenue streams in the process.

Hennepin County continues its Zero Waste Challenge to reduce household trash

Read the full story in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Ali DeCamillis and her young St. Louis Park family were already thoughtful about how they reduced household trash. The plan included recycling and backyard composting.

But a hands-on, nearly yearlong “Zero Waste Challenge” initiative in Hennepin County — modeled after a successful program by a city in France — became a real eye opener for how much they could do.

“We are such a consumer-based society,” said DeCamillis. “It’s easy to bring things into your home and not think about how it gets disposed. We couldn’t have tackled this without the county’s help.”

Her family was one of 35 households picked from among 200 applicants for the program. The commitment included attending several workshops and weighing their waste every week. A county staffer frequently met with the households, assessing waste patterns to develop a reduction plan.