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The philosophy behind Zero Waste
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 Introduction Organizing committees of two Earth Day celebrations in Reno and Lake Tahoe incorporated Zero Waste concepts at their April 2003 events. With the cooperation of event vendors, participants, and other involved parties, this first attempt at Zero Waste in Nevada and Lake Tahoe's  North Shore enjoyed some successes and faced significant challenges. The organizing committees of both events have expressed great enthusiasm for Zero Waste principles and will continue to incorporate these ideas into future events and encourage others to do the same.
What is Zero Waste? What does it mean? Zero Waste is a concept for the 21st Century to further reduce waste. It includes reducing consumption, minimizing waste, maximizing recycling, and ensuring products are made to be reused, repaired or recycled back into nature or the marketplace. How was Zero Waste implemented at the Earth Day events in Reno and Northstar-at-Tahoe? Early in the planning of the Earth Day events, Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) suggested the idea of bringing Zero Waste to the celebrations to heighten awareness of the demands we place on the ecosystem and our natural resources.  The recycling of beverage containers had been a part of both events in the past, but this year NDEP suggested going beyond that. The effort would be to separately collect paper, food wastes, and other biodegradable discards for composting; and to incorporate waste reduction and minimization considerations into other aspects of the event such as food service, vendor's products, and event activities. Planners agreed that this is an important Earth Day message and Zero Waste was identified as a worthy goal.
The North Lake Tahoe Earth Day was held at Northstar-at-Tahoe ski area. Northstar-at-Tahoe provided the venue, food and beverage services. The planning committee and resort approached Zero Waste by trying to minimize packaging, using serviceware made of recyclable materials, and by separately collecting food and compostable wastes. Through NDEP support, these compostable wastes were taken by Full Circle Compost of Minden, Nevada for composting.
Environmental Leadership (EL), a non-profit organization servicing western Nevada, organizes and presents the annual Reno Earth Day. EL focused Zero Waste efforts on the event's food court. The food court was an enclosed  area at the event providing attendees with food and drinks from several vendors. With support from NDEP, EL provided the food vendors with plates, cups, and other serviceware made of biodegradable materials. In the food court, event volunteers who had been trained on the proper separation of compostable and non-
compostable wastes monitored trashcans. Volunteers also provided attendees with valuable information and education on the Zero Waste efforts and principals. After the event, Full Circle Compost transported these compostables to their facility.
At both events, recyclable material was collected separately and recycled by the local garbage company. This diverted thousands of pounds of waste from local landfills. In addition, about 1,000 pounds of biodegradable materials were diverted from the landfill and composted for future use as a soil amendment. These exemplary efforts have been noticed by numerous other groups, helping to assure the continuation and growth of the Zero Waste concept in Nevada. What is the history of Zero Waste? The GrassRoots Recycling Network (GRRN) is the group spearheading the campaign for Zero Waste in North America. GRRN is a network of waste reduction activists and recycling professionals with pragmatic experience in implementing successful programs and operations. GRRN was founded in 1995, inspired by a challenge to develop clear, simple messages and take them to the American public. The initial effort was launched by leaders from the Sierra Club Solid Waste Committee, the California Resource Recovery Association, and the Washington DC-based Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Today, the group remains active on promotion of the Zero Waste concept as well as several other campaigns and programs.
GrassRoots Recycling Network Environmental Leadership - organizer for the Earth Day celebration in Reno California Integrated Waste Management Board - information on vendors of biodegradable products "Plastic" cups, lids and straws made from food starch Green Earth Office Supply (distributor) 59 N. Santa Cruz Avenue Los Gatos, CA 95030 Andrea Wilson, President Ph. 1-800-327-8449 Email Green Earth Spoons, knives, and forks made from wheat resin BioTechnology, Inc. P.O. Box 604 106 East Medina Cairo, NE 68824 Ph. 308-485-0107  Print this Document (including slide show -- 3.9 Megabytes)
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