Read the full story from the State Press.
For ASU’s Zero Waste program, reducing the University’s waste is less about recycle bins and compost and more about outreach.
According to Zero Waste program coordinator and ASU graduate Katie Schumacher, Zero Waste is a diversion program and department that oversees the University’s goal to reduce the total amount of waste sent to the landfill by at least 90 percent.
Read the full story in the Huffington Post.
Sarah Metz is working to open a zero-waste grocery store in Brooklyn, New York, where customers could bring their own reusable containers to measure out just the right amount of food items and other household products.
Read the full story in Waste360.
The pioneers of the zero waste movement were very clear in the mid-90s that “zero waste to landfill” was not the same thing as zero waste. We purposefully aimed high with our definition of zero waste being focused on making the best choices with our natural resources — from extraction to production to consumption to disposal. The zero waste journey involves a constant evaluation about our materials’ choices and a strong commitment to eliminating waste, not just treating it.
There are many communities and businesses making great strides toward zero waste, like General Motors with their 97 percent landfill diversion rates at over 90 manufacturing facilities. But there others that are pursuing “zero-waste-to-landfill”, which is a laudable goal, but then they incinerate large amounts of their waste in an attempt to avoid the landfill. In the opinion of the zero waste International Alliance (ZWIA), that constitutes greenwashing and a misuse of the term zero waste.
Read the full story at Waste360.
Supermarkets across the world are taking measures to gain the status of zero waste. From eliminating packaging to offering mostly locally sourced food items, these 10 supermarkets are paving the path for the future of sustainable grocery shopping.
Read the full story in Fast Company.
In the 10-block radius around Sarah Metz’s apartment in Brooklyn, there are around 50 bodegas and five or six grocery stores. None have bulk bins; like typical markets, pretty much everything you can buy comes wrapped in plastic or cardboard.
Metz is hoping to change that by opening a new packaging-free, zero-waste grocery store.
Read the full story in GreenBiz.
“Zero waste” sounds like a straightforward concept. MillerCoors is one example of the many companies trying to translate that ideal into practice.
The Environmental Research and Education Foundation is accepting pre-proposals for its Research in Sustainable Solid Waste Management grants program.
The program supports research projects related to sustainable solid waste management practices, including waste minimization; recycling; waste conversion to energy, biofuels, chemicals, or other useful products; strategies to promote diversion to higher and better uses (e.g., organics diversion, market analysis, optimized material management, logistics, etc.); and landfilling. Desirable aspects of the above topics, in addition to or as part of hypothesis driven applied research, also include economic or cost/benefit analyses; feasibility studies for untested technologies or management strategies; life-cycle analysis or inventory; and analyses of policies that relate to the above (e.g., extended producer responsibility, recycling goals, carbon legislation, bottle bills, etc).
Previously awarded grants have ranged from $15,000 to more than $500,000, with the average amount roughly $160,000.
EREF does not discriminate against any party, for any reason, that responds to this request for proposals. Proposals will be accepted from outside the U.S. and from non-academic institutions, provided the principal investigators are well-qualified to conduct the research. While postdoctoral personnel can be listed on a submitted proposal, they cannot be listed as a principal investigator.
Pre-proposals must be received no later than June 1, 2016. Upon review, selected applicants will be invited to submit full proposals.
See the EREF website for complete program guidelines, information about past grantees, and application procedures.
