A Waste Audit for Plastic Free July®

I spend a lot of time thinking about what I discard. Everything I consume ends up somewhere, and somewhere is often the landfill (including plastics and paper, as they can only be recycled a handful of times before reaching a point of being unable to be further recycled).

As in years past, Plastic Free July® has served as the impetus for and perfect opportunity to examine my contributions to the waste system. So, inspired by Rob Greenfield, I collected (almost) everything I would have thrown away or recycled at home through the end of the month, at which point I sorted it to view the collective impact. While this process uses extra water to rinse some items, it is a great exercise to do every so often.

I was, in fact, grossed out by this project—by the amount of waste I generated, not the waste itself. Viewing what I accumulated in 31 days, and knowing that the average American generates 4-5 pounds of waste per day, and there are more than 300 million people in our country, and there are 8 billion people in the world, and having visited the Franklin County Sanitary Landfill where there is a whole lot of trash, but it is only one of 37 registered landfills in the state, I just don’t know what to make of it.

I was not plastic free this month, and I produced more waste than I'm comfortable with. But during this time I was reminded that waste plays a small part in a massive system of sustainability and despite being tangible, isn't the only indication of how green I am. The things I was thinking about this month ranged from "tofu has about 1/25th of the CO2 emissions of beef so it's probably better for the environment even if I have to purchase more plastic packages of it to keep me satiated" to "we're in a global sand shortage and glass has its own environmental impact meaning I don't have to feel horrible if I purchase olive oil in a plastic bottle" and even, "there's probably something to say about the efficiency of purchasing mass produced, bagged items like chips than me keeping my oven on low and slow." I wrestled with driving to the grocery store farther away so I could opt out of a receipt, whether or not it would be "okay" to purchase the avocados in a bag that might have otherwise gone to waste, and if I should leave my leftovers at the restaurant to be thrown out or use a styrofoam carton to take them home to finish. These are things we should be thinking about, but not in ways that stress us. 

As almost all of my waste is related to food, this experience was a reminder to look for the most sustainable option of whatever it is I'd like to eat, while factoring in packaging as a portion of the overall footprint. Until it becomes easier to do a comprehensive life cycle assessment on everything I consume—consisting of the methods used in growing and production, how it arrived to my home, what it is packaged in, how much energy I will expend to cook it, how I'll discard it, and more—I'm recommitting to looking at my waste and lifestyle holistically in relation to environmental sustainability as a whole, to the best of my ability. These small nudges outside of my comfort zone help me take care of everyone else who lives on this planet with me, an do so in a way that I feel I can sustain.

I think the most sustainable thing we can do is continue learning, growing, and being inspired, and this experience helped me do just that. 

Here’s my waste for the month, excluding that was placed in my food waste recycling bucket:

Items not pictured: 

• anything picked up by my vacuum

• dryer lint

• 8 receipts that I left at restaurants 

• one straw

• a to-go container that my friend used to take home my food

This blog post was written by Elizabeth Ellman, the City of Bexley’s Sustainability Program’s Coordinator.

Let's Save More than Food!

Nearly 1 million pounds of food is brought to the county landfill every day in central Ohio, making it the largest single material type brought to the landfill. Saving food saves the time, money, and the resources that went into distributing it, allows us to help those in need, and frees up room in the landfill. Furthermore, recycled food allows nutrients to be reintegrated in our soils, instead of being locked up in the landfill where it doesn’t decompose and produces potent greenhouse gases.

How do we reduce food waste? Food waste reduction is about more than just recycling food scraps. Reducing food waste includes preventing food waste from the start, rescuing food before it becomes waste to feed our community, and improving soil and animal health by composting food scraps or using it to feed livestock. By working toward food waste solutions that are higher on the hierarchy, we can conserve more money, environmental resources, and meals.

Why is recycling food scraps important? We sometimes refer to uneaten food as “food waste,” but food scraps are a resource. The process of food scrap recycling breaks down food scraps so the nutrients in them can be returned to the soil to grow more nutritious food. When food is sent to the landfill, nutrients are permanently removed from the soil. Our ability to produce nutritious food becomes highly dependent on chemical fertilizers and heavy industry rather than on naturally occurring nutrients.

Food in the landfill decomposes but in a very different way than it does in nature. In the landfill, organic material decomposes in an anaerobic (without oxygen) environment and creates methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide. The process of recycling food waste releases carbon as material breaks down naturally. However, when reincorporated into soil, compost actually increases the carbon in the soil by improving the soil structure and nutrient availability for plants and microorganisms that can thrive in it. Everything that grows contains carbon, therefore the more life in the soil, the greater carbon is being taken out of the atmosphere and being stored in the ground.

Participating in Bexley’s curbside program does not preclude you from composting in your own backyard. In fact, backyard composting is a great way to have compost for your garden for the cost of a little bit of time, labor and minimal material cost. Franklin Soil and Water District even offers a compost bin or tumbler rebate. Compost is a gardener’s best friend. It’s the absolute best thing you can use to fertilize your flowers, vegetables, garden beds, trees and shrubs. Compost provides slow-release nutrients that become available to your plants gradually throughout the growing season. Compost also increases soils’ ability to hold water, meaning less pooling in low spots, and a landscape that needs less frequent and heavy watering. Heavy clay soils like those in Ohio are improved by the addition by compost, making them lighter and more crumbly.

Over the next few weeks, Green Bexley will be highlighting information from Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio - SWACO's Save More Than Food campaign – an initiative that provides access to information and resources to help each of us reduce the amount of waste being created at home, at school and at work – and the City of Bexley, Ohio’s Food Waste Recycling Program. Please follow along to join us in committing to reducing food waste in 2023 and beyond!

#SaveMoreThanFood | #LifeinBex

savemorethanfood.org | greenbexley.org/food | greenbexley.org/blog

Musings on America Recycles Day

In light of America Recycles Day, I want to share my opinion of recycling's place in environmental sustainability -- as an afterthought R, subsequent to refusing, reducing, and reusing.

Recycling is a good place to start but it cannot be the place that we stop. Recycling is not enough; we need to actively reduce the amount of material we “recycle”.

I think the moral of the story should be: reduce before recycle; with what’s left, recycle right.

I don't believe we’re going to recycle our way out of this mess, but I do think there is an off ramp.

***

I'd like to make a few acknowledgements before beginning:

1) Bexley has a Zero Waste Plan to reduce the amount of material sent to the landfill by 90% by 2040. The plan is linked at bexley.org/masterplans.
2) Recycling creates about 5,000 jobs in Central Ohio and supports 370 businesses.
3) An item with packaging – recyclable or not – can be more environmentally friendly than an item without packaging or with recyclable packaging. However, it is hard to definitively know which one is more sustainable.
4) America Recycles Day is an initiative of Keep America Beautiful, which has been criticized for greenwashing.

When we recycle, I think we should recycle right:

Recycling right is the process by which one places their items in their toters so they actually can be recycled. This involves only putting in items that Rumpke accepts, and ensuring the items are clean and not trapped in a bag. The only items accepted in our curbside program are clean:

• plastic bottles, jugs, tubs, and select cups;

• glass bottles and jars;

• paper, cardboard, and paperboard;

• metal cans; and

• cartons

Unaccepted items in the toter end up in the landfill, and might cause the entire load of materials to also be dumped. When in doubt as to whether or not something is accepted for recycling, feel free to ask me, Rumpke, or throw it out.
Please refrain from ‘wishcycling’ -- putting something in the toter hoping it gets recycled, as this does more harm than good. You’ve worked hard to recycle, don’t undo your hard work by contaminating the bin.

Recycling is a great place to start:

Recycling right is a great first step, a “dip your toe in sustainability” experience. But we’ve been recycling in Bexley for 30 years now, and it’s time to move beyond recycling to the actions that make more of a positive impact than recycling: first refuse, reduce, reuse, repair, recover, repurpose, and rehome.
One of the best things individuals can do to mitigate the climate crisis is reduce consumption of resources. If you need to consume, try used or sustainable items if possible. Once used, try to rehome or repurpose. If recycling is the last option before the landfill, recycle right.

Downcycling is real:
The thing about recycling is that it isn’t the magical panacea we make it out to be. To begin with, recycling uses gas and energy. But also, items may not go from the toter to the factory to be remade into the same product, and then back on our shelves. This cycle is the case for glass and metal, but paper and plastic aren’t recycled -- they’re actually downcycled, meaning each time they’re made into something new, it is a product with slightly less integrity than it had before. Eventually, the material fibers are so weak that nothing new can come out of it, and it ends up in a landfill or as litter.
Our mindset of recycling an item to justify its use (“It’s okay that I’m using this, I’m going to recycle it when I’m done) really isn’t the case, it’s often just a delay in sending something to the landfill.

It goes above and beyond recycling:

We’re not going to recycle our way out of this mess – the issues are too large to be remedied by recycling only. Recycling does play a role in mitigating the problems, but we should first refuse, reduce, reuse, repair, recover, repurpose, and rehome; these are all more impactful than recycling. When we prioritize reducing and reusing (when necessary), we're taking BIG steps to protect humanity's ability to thrive on the planet.

There are many places to go from here:

There are many places to go from here, and we hope you go onward and upward. I hope you'll consider making this America Recycles Day the impetus for your learning, changing, and teaching. Learn about recycling markets, the National Sword, plastic recycling, recycling emissions, the chasing arrow symbols, and niche recycling, to start (you can find information about many of these topics at greenbexley.org/refuse-and-reduce). Make changes to reduce the amount you need to recycle, and when you have to recycle, recycle right. Teach others how to recycle better, and how to reduce consumption to recycle less. Let them know that recycling shouldn't be justification for using a product. Tell them that party cups aren't accepted. Remind them that wishcycling does more harm than good, and can ruin their neighbor's otherwise good recycling. Teach others how to reduce the amount they need to recycle, and how to correctly recycle what they need to.

The Things You See at Rumpke...

We had a great time at Rumpke today and hope you’ll join us next time to see, smell, and learn! Sign up to be informed of our next our at bit.ly/GBWasteTours.

It's Earth Day, Bexley!

A billion people from across the globe are coming together today to take action, learn and educate, show support for environmental protection, and Invest in our Planet.

An investment in our planet is also an investment in health, justice, and the future. An investment in our planet is taking action today and every day in the future. It is picking up litter, reducing consumption of coal and fuel, planting beneficial plants, protecting animals, and — perhaps most importantly — talking to friends about the crises and letting corporations and government know that you desire a healthier and just future.

An investment in our planet is ongoing and constantly evolving to be more impactful. Today's actions mean little if they're not also tomorrow's actions. Let today be the pivotal moment where change starts. Learn to recycle right and then how to recycle less. Reduce your consumption of animal products and source repetitively grown foods. Plant plants that fix nitrogen, attract pollinators, and retain water in the soil. Turn off your faucet and turn on our bidet. Find something that you can sustain, do it to the best of your ability, teach it to others, and then do it better.

"This is the moment to change it all — the business climate, the political climate, and how we take action on climate. Now is the time for the unstoppable courage to preserve and protect our health, our families, and our livelihoods.

For Earth Day 2022, we need to act (boldly), innovate (broadly), and implement (equitably). It’s going to take all of us. All in. Businesses, governments, and citizens — everyone accounted for, and everyone accountable. A partnership for the planet" (earthday.org).

Learn more about ways you can help the planet at The Green Bexley Fair tomorrow; we'll see you at Schneider Park from 11 a - 2 p!

Earth Month 2022

Sea levels are rising, and I hope this month, Bexley residents will too. Earth Day was celebrated for the first time on April 22 in 1970 by 20 million people who cycled, demonstrated, picked up litter, and participated in teach-ins against the impacts of industrial development and the toll it was taking – and continues to take – on human health. The movement quickly gained momentum, and went global two decades later, shifting focus to global warming and clean energy in 2000, and today a worldwide call to action to limit emissions and the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees C.

This year, Green Bexley -- the joint outreach branch of the City of Bexley’s Environmental Sustainability Advisory Committee (ESAC) and Sustainability Department -- is celebrating and promoting awareness with a variety of events throughout the month. We hope you’ll join us in caring for our home this month and beyond! Details and registration information can be found at greenbexley.org/earthmonth.

Throughout the month, we'll be featuring blog posts from Bexley residents to hear what Earth month, sustainability, and/or environmentalism mean to them.

If you're interested in participating, please email a draft blog post to info@greenbexley.org.

— Elizabeth Ellman

Giving Thanks

Gratitude is for every day, and today is an opportune time to say thank you to those making Bexley and our world more sustainable. Thank you for extending grace even if we miss people as part of this list. Without further adieu, we are thankful to our entire community, especially those who:  

• Rethink their lives to incorporate sustainable practices.

• Continually learn about ways to save our planet from the climate crisis (we think TGGBISC and our website are good places to start.).

• Appreciate our waste haulers (especially whomever left this note on their toter last week) and take care to make their job easier by leaving toters as close to the curb as possible and facing outwards.

• Are conscientious of their waste, take steps to reduce it, help others do the same, and/or are aware of the City’s Zero Waste goal.

• Implement reusable items instead of single-use, or renting borrowing or renting items to use instead of buying them to be used only a handful of times.

• Handle our waste; from hauling to sorting, to bundling and land filling and selling and processing. We’re indebted to you, Rumpke, Innovative Organics, and the Bexley service departments!

• Lead sustainability efforts in Central Ohio: SWACO, MORPC, and the green teams in other local communities.

• Advocate for a greener city, state, or national governments through testifying and voting for sustainable legislation. City Council, Mayor, and residents who engage in politics – we’re speaking to you!

• Buy or sell secondhand instead of new.

• Refuse single-use bags when shopping and/or opt for unpackaged items (is there really a need for produce bags?).

• #SkiptheStuff when getting take out.

• Keep storm drains clear, protect waterways and/or conserve water by turning off faucets when not in use, using a dish washer instead of hand washing, reusing pasta water, using a rain barrel, displacing water in a toilet, etc.

• Participate in our pilot restaurant composting program (Harvest and Brassica).

• Support our programs (Bexley Rec., Bexley Public Library, and Picadilly).

• Reduce food waste starting at the source and/or feeding people and animals (shout out to Food Rescue CBus).

• Fight against fast and new fashion, wash clothes and linens with cold water or less often, refuse dryer sheets, line dry, and/or use a product to ensure microplastics don’t enter into the water stream.

• Refuse single-use plastics and the amount of plastic used generally.

• Pick up litter.

• Recycle right by recycling only clean, accepted items, breaking down cardboard, and placing toters at the curb and facing the street (a list of accepted items is available at greenbexley.org/recycleright.).

• Does their best to ensure all edible food gets eaten, and tries to compost only pits, peels, shells, seeds, stems, skin, stems, stalks, and bones (sign up for curbside composting at Bexley.org/food-waste).

• Say “no thank you” to things you don’t really need.

• Decrease their fuel and/or energy usage.

• Plant trees and cover crops reduce the amount of carbon in the air.

• Support pollinators by planting native plants, using alternatives to herbicides and insecticides, and leaving the leaves.

• Recycle electronics and purchase open box, refurbished, or used, when necessary.

• Compost tissues, paper towels, and BPI certified compostables instead of sending them to the landfill.

• Decrease their consumption of conventional animal products, palm oil, cocoa, and/or coffee.

• Eat seasonally, locally, and/or support farmers, food processors, or restaurants who create sustainable and regenerative agri-systems.

• Bundle up before turning on the heat or opening windows before turning on the AC.

• Moves towards regeneration instead of stopping at sustainability

• Unplug electronics and appliances when they’re not in use, or use a power strip.

• Protect wildlife.

• All us to purchase in bulk or package free (we love you, Bexley Natural Market!).

• Learn about environmental justice.

• Reduce light, air, water, sound, and/or ground pollution.

• Make green investments and/or refrain from investing in companies that support fossil fuels.

• Reuse, repurpose, and upcycle furniture, toys, and clothes.

• Make efforts to improve their carbon shadow.

• Read our monthly ThisWeek column.

• Support community choice aggregation and/or green energy.

• Teach others about being more environmentally sustainable.

• Bike/walk/scoot/skate/carpool.

• Bring sustainable to their schools or workplaces (BHS Environmental Club and Capital University are doing great things! We’ve also gotten word that CSG will be beginning a compost program, BCS has programs in the works for water fountains and gardens, and St. Charles consistently has a faculty member at ESAC meetings.)

• Use a sustainable search engine.

• Take the time and effort to recycle niche items, like stretchy plastic to grocery stores, etc.

• Use bamboo items instead of wood.

• Opt out of physical receipts, but trash the ones they get on accident (receipts aren’t only paper, and can’t be recycled!).

• Recognize the indigenous inhibitors of our land and their ancestral knowledge (Bexley is on Kaskaskia land).

• Make Bexley’s buildings and landscapes more sustainable (thank you, ARB and Tree and Public Gardens Commission!).

• Participate in our community, via through social media, emailing or messaging, or at events and programs.

• Hold space for those suffering from eco-despair or eco-anxiety.

• Vote of sustainability, and vote with their dollar for sustainability.

• Are committed to small or big changes.

• Use reef-safe sunscreen or other measures of sun protection instead of conventional products.

• Follow the signage on our event waste receptacles (and thanks for having us, Bexley Recreation and Parks, the Main Event, and Jazz in the Park.).

• Understand the difference between sell by, best, buy, and use by, and/or use the smell test.

• Bring their own cups, mugs, cutlery, napkins, etc. out so they don’t need single use.

• Use sustainable period products.

• Work towards carbon neutral, and eventually carbon negative.

• Purchase thoughtfully and attempt to reduce returns.

• Enjoyed Earth month, Loved their alley, and plastic freed their July.

• Make sure everything they flush are really flushable (these types of products often aren’t as flushable as we are lead to believe and lead to clogs.).

• Joined us at the Bexley Farmers’ Market and/or assisted with our reusable bag giveaway.

• Supported us during the Fourth of July parade.

• Compost their DORA cups.

• Bag their trash, but kept their recyclables loose.

• Financially support us (Bexley Community Foundation).

• Use reusable instead of single-use masks.

• Educate their students about environmental sustainability.

• Wrote a blog for our website as part of our Earth month series.

• Took our Pledge and/or Survey.

• Uses compost from Innovative Organics.

• Brakes down cardboard boxes (even those that fit inside the toter) and removed packaging materials.

• Volunteered for the Green Bexley Clean Up Day.

• Try to be part of the solution (not part of the pollution).

An Earth Overshoot Day Thank You!

Sending gratitude to everyone who is moving the date!

Thank you to resident who makes changes at home.

Thank you to the hobbyist who shares their love of the planet.

Thank you to teachers and academics who educate us on the why and how.

Thank you to business owners who provide customers with sustainable experiences.

Thank you to scientists who discover the truth.

Thank you to advocates who inspire us to take action.

Thank you to policy makers who do what is best for their communities and the world.

Thank you to everyone who works to #movethedate.

Today, July 29, 2021 can be remembered as Earth Overshoot Day, “the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year.” It can also be remembered as the day we get inspired, learn, pledge to take action, talk to others, and recognize those who are making the world a more sustainable place.

We prefer the latter.

Thank you for everything, big and small, that you’re doing to live more sustainably and creating a more habitable planet for us all. You are appreciated!

Click here for steps to #movethedate. Don’t forget to see our favorite resources, and please, get in touch! We’d love to hear from you!