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Our Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Committee

Sep 162021

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Serving Up Delicious Eco-Products News

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IT’S TIME TO FEED
THE PLANT

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Vanguard Molded Fiber

Cutlerease Dispensing System

20oz Paper Hot Cup

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Diversion Immersion 2017

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Jul 192017

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This week's contributor is David Fridland

We’re doing something new for 2017 – tracking our recyclable and compostable materials at headquarters all year. Typically, we have done only one waste sort per year, but to better understand what we are throwing away, this year we will be doing four. In May, we did our first one of the year, and what follows is a quick snapshot of how we did and how we can do even better. Our next sort will be on Tuesday, August 1st; I hope you will join us! How did we do? Good news, we are nearing our 90% goal! During our May audit we hit a diversion rate (Recycling + Composting) of 87%. As you can see below, the majority of the material was compostable (56%.)

May 2017 Waste Audit Current Diversion Rate

But according to our potential, we could be all the way up above 90% if we were more careful to put the right stuff in the right bins. Check it out:

May 2017 Waste Audit Potential Diversion Rate

Throughout the years, we have been steadily increasing our diversion rate – 75% in 2015, 80% in 2016 – so let’s keep it up and get over our goal of 90% this year! When compared to Colorado’s diversion rate of around 19%, we are doing great. That’s why we are leaders! Contamination is always the struggle with recycling and composting, but we did a pretty good job. We saw very few wrong items. There was one aluminum can in the trash, as well as some plastic film. Make sure that we get that aluminum in the recycling always, and put any plastic bags or film (clean and dry #2 and #4) in the extra bin next to our kitchen Zero Waste station.

Come participate in the next materials audit on Tuesday, August 1st at 12:30pm on the West Side of the building. My hope is to have everyone join me for one of these, so come on out! If you want to know more you can email me at sustainabilitymaven@ecoproducts.com.[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

I Know Where There’s a Shark That Talks Trash

Uncategorized No Responses »

Jan 312017

Large scale environmental issues are a nightmare to communicate. They’re hard to describe let alone visualize. There are plenty of great infographics and CGI YouTube clips, but what about real life visualizations? Can they be accurate and even more – fun and engaging? That’s where serious creativity comes in to play.

For Angela Haseltine Pozzi this all came together while picking up beach trash in her community of Bandon, Oregon. Her regular walks on a beach turned into clean-up events as the ocean pushed more and more plastic pieces ashore.

Instead of disposing of them “properly” (in a landfill as most of the material wouldn’t be easily recycled) she opted to build monumental sculptures out of the colorful plastic. These brightly colored works were a perfect visual aid to discuss ocean pollution. Looking closely, you can easily identify a variety of household items that certainly do not belong in the ocean.

Pozzi’s team has built more than 75 larger-than-life sculptures of sea creatures ranging from seals to turtles to starfish. How much trash has Pozzi “processed” into her art? Current estimates are around 40,000 pounds of plastic. Much more has been collected but not incorporated (and hopefully it will remain in a landfill and not back in the ocean). Together with Bandon community they now have regular clean-up events as well as an arts center to provide education and outreach classes for the community and visitors.

Her works are heading on the road as well. They have been installed in museums and zoos across the country. Perhaps the biggest victory is bringing awareness to an issue that doesn’t resonate to land-locked states such as Colorado (they were installed in the Denver Zoo this last winter). Now they’re heading to the Smithsonian for another temporary exhibition. Here is a list of exhibition locations.

This artwork is an impactful reminder of the challenges our planet faces with the current plastics paradigm. In past blog posts here & here, we’ve referred to a report by the New Plastics Economy which predicts if we don’t change the way we produce and reprocess plastics, by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. Their recommended solutions include decoupling plastics from virgin petroleum feedstock, as well as using compostable products in foodservice settings. Through our GreenStripe and BlueStripe product lines and our commitment to advocacy, Eco-Products is working to make this new plastics vision a reality.

To see more of the works go to WashedAshore.org.
They are also looking for volunteers.

For more on the New Plastics Economy go here.

Think Outside the Box for Wrapping Gifts

Uncategorized No Responses »

Dec 122016

I know, I know. It’s hard to stop yourself. You’re out shopping and see an entire array of beautifully designed wrapping paper. For only a few bucks your holiday gifts could look more delightful than ever before. I for one am a sucker for a contemporary new take on tired old holiday iconography but I also know that most wrapping paper is not recyclable, especially the cheap stuff.

Wrapping paper may contain dyes, plastic glitter and laminates, and even gold or silver, which cannot be recycled. Most wrapping paper is also made from very short fibers, which are difficult to recycle.

Here’s an article from Apartment Therapy with good ideas on things you probably have around the house that you could use as alternatives. Newsprint, paper grocery bags or other natural-fiber paper are a great alternative, as are gift bags that can be used several times. Maybe you have some extra reusable shopping bags or totes around the place.

And don’t forget about the ribbon. I recently learned while tying ribbon on gingerbread men for my little hall project here at Eco-Products (don’t judge me), that Mary’s paper ribbon I borrowed is not only sustainable but much easier to tie using my stubby fat fingers. Why did I start with the plastic stuff? Old habits. Why not string or paper ribbon?

Our HR Manager Rachael Smith, recently had a few additional ideas in her employee newsletter to all of us. Use Ball jars, a Newell brand, as an attractive package for food items, and recycle last year’s holiday cards as this year’s gift tags.

Start some new traditions this holiday season by using sustainable and recycled material for your gift wrapping. All it takes is some thinking outside the box, or maybe ditch the box all together.

Planning a Summer Event? Think Zero Waste

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Jul 062016

It’s that time of year for summer picnics, get togethers and general outdoor enjoyment. Food and drink are inevitably a part of the festivities, which means many of us will default to disposables for serving because who wants to face collecting reusables to be washed later when you could be, I don’t know. . . playing volleyball or sipping margs (or both) instead?

This seems like a good time to offer Eco Patriots (and anyone else who is interested) some tips on zero waste summer fun. At the end of this article is a link to another article with some good info for minimizing waste at your outdoor extravaganza.

Please note in the article they offer up biodegradable disposables as a good alternate to reusable serving ware. Of course they mean compostable. This is just a hint of the confusion and misunderstanding in our industry in general. For more info on the distinction, check out this FAQ, and read under the compostable heading.

I happen to know a place where you can pick up some compostable foodservice items for your event. Mary Hubbard can help you place your order, if you ask nicely and give her plenty of notice before you actually need them. And no, they’re not free.

As every Eco-Products sales person knows well, striving for a zero waste event means ending up with a bag of recyclables, a bag of compostables, and maybe a very tiny bag of trash. It requires some extra set up and planning, but if you have access to commercial composting and a recycling program, it’s entirely possible. Here in Boulder, we are fortunate to have both. Here are some pointers:

If you use any compostable servingware, use ALL compostable servingware. It really simplifies things to be able to say “if it touched food or drink, put it in the bin marked COMPOSTABLE.” Since bottles and cans are commonly recycled, a good goal is to recycle these, then compost everything else (although you’ll have to account for the random candy bar wrapper some teenager brought in).
Three bin system. You’ll want well-marked bins (boxes, trash bins) for Recycle, Compost, & Landfill. It helps to tape samples of the actual compostable items to the compost bin, and a bottle and can on the recycle bin for easy reference. Or, make some posters if you’re feeling artsy fartsy. A visibly smaller landfill bin can help send the message this is the least desirable option. Note that Eco-Cycle rents bins for reasonable rates.
Find a home for all three streams. Landfill and recycling are typically easy. If you need help finding a composter, contact Eco-Cycle if you’re in the Boulder area. They coordinate zero waste events all the time. Beyond the Front Range, check out www.findacomposter.com.
If your event is large enough to have staff or volunteers, have a kick-off meeting explaining the zero waste thing and the 3 bin system. Yes, you’ll have to suffer the embarrassment of talking about it and may suffer a few “to near the Boulder bubble” jokes in the process. If there are no staff or volunteers, just spread the word to your pals.
Expect to spend some time being a Trash Goalie to help folks figure out what goes in what bin. It isn’t rocket science, but people really benefit from a little guidance. Recruit some of your poor friends and family who have already suffered through your endless eco-jargon filled rants to help out.
Don’t be a smarty pants or make people feel guilty for not knowing what to do at the bins. This will be a great learning experience for what our sales folks are ultimately up against. Plastic and foam have reigned for a long time, a plastic looking cup, even with the green swoop, still looks like trash to most people.

Really it’s not as hard as I’m making it sound. And if I can manage it with a bunch of right-wing eastern Colorado beet farmer progeny. Anyone can do it.

Read this article with more tips applicable to summer entertaining.

Agreement Among World Leaders – Yea, It Really Happened

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Jan 192016

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
-Mark Twain

Did you know the United Nations convened a meeting last month that most are calling the most important conference on climate change in history?

It is true. At the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21) in Paris, the first ever universal climate agreement was adopted on December 12th 2015. For 21 years, leaders from science, policy, business, NGO, and faith communities have met annually to come up with a response to the scientific consensus that the earth is growing warmer due to greenhouse gas emissions generated by human activity.

One of the main goals in the response was to keep the rise in temperature below 2° Celsius. 2° C increase in temperature is considered the tipping point beyond which life on earth would look drastically different due to factors such as shifting climate regions impacting agriculture and habitable land, increases in extreme weather events, and rising sea levels.

An additional call to action is required. Even though 186 countries published their action plan to reduce carbon emissions prior to December 12, 2015, a recent study has shown that even with these action plans in place the temperatures will still increase to between 2.7° C and 3° C. The Paris agreement has asked these countries to review their plan every 5 years; they will not be able to lower their targets and are encouraged to raise them instead.

Money will also be needed to deal with the results of climate change as well as the cost of lowering greenhouse gas emissions. The agreement has acknowledged that $100 billion will need to be raised each year starting in 2020.

Since we are all in this together and we will all pay the consequences of doing nothing, the agreement makes all nations responsible for contributing to the solution. Industrialized countries will have to fund climate finance for poor countries, while developing countries will voluntarily work to growing their economies without relying solely on dirty fuels, like today’s industrialized economies. There will be a transparent system to track progress and keep everyone accountable. While the agreement isn’t perfect, it’s a fantastic start. The fact we have a global agreement to address climate change is a huge accomplishment to be celebrated.

Much More Information

Zero Waste is a Journey

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Oct 292015

“Do as I say, not as I do.” That’s not only a poor approach to parenting, but to zero waste as well.
At Eco-Products^®, we have the privilege of helping organizations keep food scraps out of landfills by using compostable foodservice packaging. Sure, we could help organizations like the Minnesota Twins, Larkburger, and others strive for zero waste without doing it ourselves, but then we wouldn’t be very credible, would we? Walking the talk is simply what we do, so we set a goal in our sustainability report to achieve 90% landfill diversion by 2017.

We monitor our progress by doing annual waste audits (i.e., we dumpster dive) with Eco-Cycle. And what has this taught us? That getting an office to zero waste is not easy. In 2014, we diverted 81% of our materials to recycling or composting; in 2015, that dropped to 75%. Granted, our audit is just a one week snapshot, but we were bummed to move in the wrong direction.

To educate ourselves on how we can get better, we displayed bags of stuff that ended up in the wrong bin – frozen food boxes and paper towels in the recycling, soiled paper in the trash. Having a visual display was powerful. Whose head doesn’t turn when you walk past a bag of weird stuff in the hallway?

This has been a humbling experience. We preach zero waste. It is the mission of our organization, and we haven’t yet gotten there ourselves. However, we recognize sustainability is a journey for everyone, including us. We see an opportunity to learn from this experience and become better able to understand the challenges our customers face.

We have a lot of work to do, but we are committed to getting better. Through increased employee training, more frequent audits, and continuing to stress the importance of our goal and leading by example, we are optimistic about where we are heading. Be sure to check our 2016 Sustainability Report for an update on our progress – coming out around Earth Day!

Green Gets Approved: Boulder Takes Action to Reduce Carbon Footprint

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Jul 132015

Boulder, Colorado: A city famous for grandiose mountains, amazing culture, and being an epicenter of “green mindedness”. But wait, not so fast! While Boulder may be perceived as a “green” city there are some facts that might surprise you. For example in 2013 single-family homes diverted 48 percent of their waste; in comparison businesses only managed to divert 28 percent¹. To raise awareness on this waste diversion issue and to enact change, local waste haulers, inspired residents, and companies like Eco-Products^® rallied to pass a universal Zero Waste ordinance.

The ordinance, set to go into effect within a year, will require all property owners of businesses and multi-family units to provide recycling and composting services. This is a huge step for a city that has advocated green but not always practiced the philosophy. It also reflects a major shift in the attitude of residents towards waste and waste diversion.

Boulder is a shining example of community in action with a burgeoning desire for greater environmental consciousness. Though the process to pass the ordinance took several years, the results were well worth the hard work.

For more information go to this Daily Camera article.

¹Moorman, R. & Fridland, D. (2015), Boulder Zero Waste Project: Multi-Family Unit Outreach, 2

Supporters rallied, donning green t-shirts, to show their support for the Zero Waste campaign. Boulder City Council unanimously passed the ordinance on June 2nd.

IT’S TIME TO FEEDTHE PLANT

IT’S TIME TO FEED
THE PLANT