Zero Waste Zones

BPI Certified Compostable Program Evolves

2012-01-28T20:27:00.000-08:00

In early January, Biodegradable Products Institute announced NSF International will administer the BPI compostable packaging certification process. Since the first product certification in 2002, more than 230 products from over 130 global companies earned the BPI Certified Compostable distinction.

With the foodservice industry embracing source-separated organics for composting collection, the number and type of compostable products seeking certification is certain to escalate in upcoming years. BPI's partnership with well-respected NSF International builds a foundation capable of handling the increased certification applicants with ease and adherence to the strict standards set during program formation.

As documented in the ZWZ Blog, Atlanta Airport Makes Bold Sustainable Statement, the recently awarded concessionaire contracts at the busiest airport in the world require food vendors use compostable serviceware and consumer-facing packaging in their operations. The Atlanta Airport is a Sustainable Food Court Initiative Pilot and the SFCI Team is supporting concessionaires meet the coompostable product contract provision. As a general rule, BPI certification is required for a product to meet the compostable packaging definition.

The BPI developed the Certified Compostable program for plastics to apply science-based test methods developed by the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) to verify a material will compost in a municipal or commercial facility, leaving no toxic or lingering plastic. Product testing mimics what takes place in a typical municipal or commercial composting system. To pass these ASTM tests, a product must:

Disintegrate quickly leaving no visible residue that has to be screened out

Biodegrade fully or convert rapidly to carbon dioxide, water and biomass

Result in compost that can support plant growth

Not introduce high levels of regulated metals into the soil

Certified compostable items range from compostable bags and foodservice items to packaging materials, widely distributed consumer products and even wax and shellac coatings. The BPI Compostable Logo identifies products that have been independently tested and verified to biodegrade and compost quickly, safely and completely in municipal and commercial composting operations. Note the BPI certified compostable program pertains to commercial operations, NOT home or smaller scale composting practices.

Steve Mojo

“The BPI Compostable Logo is widely recognized by consumers, composters and municipal officials throughout North America as the preferred trademark to assure compostability in commercial facilities,” said Steven A. Mojo, BPI executive director. “As more consumer goods companies recognize the importance and value of composting, and the importance of responsible marketing claims about biodegradability and compostability, we anticipate even more growth in the years ahead. This new partnership with NSF will create a strong foundation to support this anticipated growth.”

NSF International is an independent organization that writes standards and certifies products for food, water and consumer goods to minimize adverse health effects and protect the environment. Founded in 1944, NSF is committed to protecting public health and safety worldwide. NSF is a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Food and Water Safety and Indoor Environment.

According to Tom Bruursema, NSF International Sustainability General Manager. “NSF Sustainability’s participation will help to expand the Certified Compostable program and provide consumers, institutional, commercial and government purchasers even more access to compostable plastic products.”

Yahoo News ran an excellent article NSF Selected to Administer BPI Compostable Program via PR Web, which was used for factual content in this post. The BPI News Library post, NSF International to Administer BPI Certification Program, gives the BPI perspective of the new partnership.

Kudos to Steve Mojo for evolving a successful program into its next generation with ease and grace. Foresight is a valuable trait and our industry is fortunate Steve Mojo serves as one of its leaders.

USCC | KAB Partnership Ignites Industry Collaboration

2012-01-28T17:55:00.000-08:00

On January 17 the U.S. Composting Council and Keep America Beautiful announced their national partnership dedicated to diverting food "waste" from landfills and into composting operations. Under the agreement, KAB and USCC will share educational resources and seek to identify collaborative opportunities that benefit their constituencies and the general public by promoting awareness of the important role composting plays in waste reduction, improved soil structure, improved water quality and reduced soil erosion.

KAB has excellent consumer reach through their certified affiliate network of 587 local organizations where 60% are housed in some form of local government. Recycling plays an integral role with KAB affiliates as 30% of the directors are also the locale's recycling coordinator. KAB also forges partnerships with State Recycling Organizations and other community-based organizations to host collection events, and deliver resources and programming such as America Recycles Day that raise awareness and increase participation in recycling.

In Charlotte, the Sustainable Food Court Initiative Team works closely with Jake Wilson, Keep Mecklenburg Beautiful executive director, who is also a county recycling department employee. With his extensive local connections, Jake is invaluable to building a strong Charlotte foundation for Zero Waste Zones and SFCI program implementation. The ZWZ Blog posts, Fertile Charlotte Grounds and 2011 Planning = 2012 ACTION, give an overview of work begun in Charlotte and feature Jake's instrumental role.

Finished compost after final screening

The USCC is the trade association representing landfill alternative destination sites for organics, whether biosolids, yard trimmings, pre-consumer food residual generated in food production and post-consumer food residuals generated in the commercial and private sectors. Until recently there were limited food composting permitted sites in the nation. With the climate shift, a common awareness is coming forth recognizing food residuals as a valuable material, whether for compost, energy or both, that is wasted in landfills.

In September, Michael Virga joined the USCC as executive director and is leading the organization into a new era. The ZWZ Blog post, USCC Prepares for New Era, gives the details of the leadership change. A renewed educational focus is strengthened with the KAB partnership along with public outreach programs. In the past the USCC influence was primarily in the commercial sector along with the corresponding governmental bodies regulating the industry.

The KAB | USCC partnership has the potential to take corporate and consumer awareness of composting, it's importance and availability, to new dimensions. For more details on the partnership, read the KAB and USCC Announce Partnership press release.

Past & Current USCC Presidents
getting ready for annual conference

Since inception, Elemental Impact and the ZWZ worked closely with the USCC on developing organics collection programs within the foodservice industry. The ZWZ Blog post series on the 2012 USCC Conference exemplifies the close relationship - USCC 20th Annual Conference - STELLAR!, The Nitty Gritty on Composting Operations, and POWER Meeting @ USCC Conference. In the past Holly Elmore, Ei founder & ZWZ director, served on the Keep Atlanta Beautiful Board of Directors.

Collaboration is key to creating a renewed paradigm of disposal and recycling systems in our corporate and private communities. It is thrilling to witness two powerful national organizations announce a formal partnership focused on education and programs designed for action.

End of NRA-USCC Intro Mtg

The USCC is in the courting stages of a formal relationship with the National Restaurant Association. In December Ei orchestrated an introductory meeting of NRA and USCC leadership in Washington D.C. The ZWZ Blog post, NRA Leads Industry Collaboration, gives a meeting recap. As a validation of the relationship importance, the NRA stepped forward as an USCC conference sponsor and Chris Moyer, NRA ConServe Program Director, was an active conference participant and speaker.

Ei | ZWZ is thrilled to see industry collaboration become a backbone within the sustainability community. Stay tuned - the PHENOMENAL SHIFT is in process!

EcoManor - Perfect Venue for WSNF Luncheon

2012-01-27T19:40:00.000-08:00

Zero Waste Zones Chair Laura Turner Seydel hosted the Women's Network for a Sustainable Future - Atlanta Chapter luncheon meeting at her Gold LEED certified home, the EcoManor. Prior to the program, the at-capacity crowd enjoyed social time and a wonderful lunch catered by ZWZ Participant Radial Cafe.

A wide range of impressive female leaders in sustainability made the WSNF luncheon a schedule priority. From top corporate executives including Susan Bell, Ernst & Young's Atlanta Office Managing Partner, and Letty Ashworth, Delta's General Manager of Global Diversity, to impressive graduate students to entrepreneurial pioneers building amazing businesses including Doria Roberts and Calavino Donali, owners of Urban Cannibals Bodega & Bites. In the post program open dialogues, the group diversity magnified the power of women taking leadership roles in sustainability.

Lisa Spiro

Lisa Spiro, WNSF President & Oxygen Capital President, traveled from Manhattan to give opening remarks for the inspiring program. After Lisa's remarks and introductions, Karen Flanders, WNSF Board Member, facilitated a relaxed program by asking Laura a series of pertinent questions. For those out of generation sync with Captain Planet, it was wonderful to learn about Captain Planet's creation and evolution into the tremendous impact made by the Captain Planet Foundation. With Karen's guiding questions, Laura shared the weave of her sustainability commitment, influence and action rooted in the culture of her upbringing.

As a committed program chair, Laura asked Holly Elmore, ZWZ Director & Elemental Impact founder, to give a snapshot of the impressive recent activity at the Atlanta Airport, the first Sustainable Food Court Initiative Pilot. Thank you Laura!

Susan, Leesa Carter, Laura & Karen

The final portion of the program was opened up for sharing by the group. With the relaxed, yet professional meeting tone, the crowd was eager to ask questions and tell their experiences. At Laura's urging, Letty told the story of how one of Delta's recycling programs provided funding for projects based in social responsibility teamed with Habitat for Humanity. It was inspiring to witness young women speaking, possibly their first time to a crowd, about action instigated by following their heart's passion.

Meeting success was evidence of the vital role WNSF plays in recognizing and nurturing the powerful role woman play in our sustainable future. The diversity of accomplished leaders along with those beginning their professional explorations exemplifies the WNSF strength and importance.

USCC 20th Annual Conference - STELLAR!

2012-01-24T17:43:00.000-08:00

The U.S. Composting Council celebrated their 20th anniversary with a stellar conference in Austin, TX January 17 -20, 2012. With a change in command last fall, the conference was an excellent opportunity for the USCC to embark on a new era. Incoming USCC executive director Mike Virga, along with his staff, orchestrated a fantastic four-day event, including pre and post- conference activities. See the September ZWZ Blog post, USCC Prepares for New Era, for the announcement of Mike Virga joining the USCC.

End Product @ Hornsby
Bend Biosolid Plant

Pre-conference activities included a wide range of well-attended training, workshops and tours. The ZWZ Blog post, The Nitty Gritty on Composting Operations, gives an overview of the three Austin-based compost facilities tour and the Ei FB album, 01-17-12 USCC Compost Facilities Tour, provides a pictorial recap of the impressive operations.

Robin Sweere @ Quest booth

In addition to strong educational sessions, the conference was a great way to learn about new technology, products and services available from industry vendors in the exhibit hall. Sessions were scheduled with ample time to walk the trade show floor and mingle with long-time and new friends.

Doug Kunnemann
of NatureWorks @ POWER

Elemental Impact hosted a POWER - Perishable Organics Waste to Energy Recycling - session to an enthusiastic crowd. The ZWZ Blog post, POWER Meeting @ USCC Conference, gives an overview of the program and the Ei FB album, 01-18-12 POWER @ USCC Conference, provides a pictorial recap.

The composting industry is a tight knit group and the conference was a time for colleagues from around the country (and world!) to catch-up. Productive dinners filled with laughter were abundant during the conference.

A fun, productive dinner

On Tuesday evening the conference provided an exhibitors reception with entertainment by Vocal Trash. The Biodegradable Products Institute hosted a popular zero waste reception on the final evening.

For a pictorial recap of the conference, visit the Ei FB album, 2012 USCC Conference - Austin, TX. From the pictures, it is evident composting industry professionals understand fun and laughter are effective vehicles for accomplishing our important work.

It was great to see everyone and Ei looks forward to the 2013 USCC conference in Orlando.

POWER Meeting @ USCC Conference

2012-01-22T20:16:00.000-08:00

The POWER presenting team

For the second consecutive year, a POWER - Perishable Organics Waste to Energy Recycling - session was included in the 2012 U.S. Composting Council Conference program. In 2011 the POWER meeting was part of the pre-conference activities and in 2012 was a formal conference program session.

Deviating from the usual organics technology presentations, the January 18 POWER session focused on the National Restaurant Association's participation in educating the foodservice industry on diverting post-consumer organics from the landfill. The NRA intends to provide educational support necessary to minimize contamination and ensure organics go to the highest good use, based on the community's economic parameters and available options.

Chris Moyer @ the podium

Chris Moyer, NRA ConServe Program Director, lead two segments of the POWER meeting with excellent skill in communicating the important message. Note the NRA was an USCC Conference sponsor, validating their support of developing a strong organics destination network throughout the nation.

Brenda Platt with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance presented on the integral role foodservice packaging plays in creating viable organics collection programs in the foodservice industry. As the Sustainable Food Court Initiative Co-Chair, Doug Kunnemann of NatureWorks gave a SFCI overview and Holly Elmore, Elemental Impact founder, gave an update on SFCI Pilots at the Atlanta Airport and soon-to-announced pilot in Charlotte, NC.

Brenda Platt presenting

Grounding the POWER session with the WHY our work is imperative, Wayne King - Past USCC President & ERTH Products owner - presented on the soil and water connection. Our prominent leader, Scott Seydel - Ei chair & Global Green chair - began the POWER meeting with a synoposis of the NRA | Ei | Zero Waste Zones relationships and wrapped up the session with closing comments.

2012 holds promise of embarking on a new era in the disposition of post-consumer organics generated in the foodservice industry. The potential is monumental to our air quality with the elimination of new methane generators in landfills and to our soil | water. Nature created a miraculous microbial system that builds healthy, well-structured, aerated soil that retains and filters water by feeding the microbes nutrients within compost. Food residuals are a key nitrogen ingredient to the compost recipe.

Wayne Kin g

The Ei FB album, 01-18-12 POWER Meeting @ USCC Conference, includes pictures from the POWER meeting. For an overview of the USCC Composting Facilities Tour of local Austin operations, see the ZWZ Blog, The Nitty Gritty on Composting Operations. and the Ei FB album, 01-17-12 USCC Composting Facilities Tour, for the pictorial recap. Session PPT presentations may be downloaded on the 2012 POWER Meetings page.

These are exciting and paramount times to participate in the shifting paradigms. Thank you for joining us on the journey.

The Nitty Gritty on Composting Operations

2012-01-22T18:06:00.000-08:00

Back view of in-vessel system

One of the offered pre-conference activities at the U.S. Composting Council's 20th annual conference held in Austin, TX was a tour of three composting facilities. The tour bus was full with conference attendees eager to learn about the impressive Austin composting operations.

The first stop was at Lanier High School where an in-vessel composting unit is installed with a vermiculture system set to finish the in-vessel end product into valuable worm castings. Although not in operation yet, Willis Poder, ACR Engineering, and Glenn McConkey, X-Act Systems, gave an excellent system overview.

Entrance to Hornsby Bend Facility

Next on the tour was the Hornsby Bend Biosolids Management Plant located on a 1200 acre site. Jody Slagle, Compost & Biosolid Reuse Manager, gave a thorough overview of the facility operations and accompanied the group on a detailed tour. The facility wetlands are home to a wide array of birds and the public trails are a favorite destination for birdwatchers. It was a pleasure to visit a well-run biosolids composting facility where the smell is of rich compost, rather than of its product's origin.

Windrows @ TDS

The final tour destination was Texas Disposal Systems - WOW is an appropriate description of their operations. On the way to their on-site event facility for lunch along with a TDS presentation, the bus traveled through the exotic animal ranch. Originally, the ranch was a creative way to develop the required buffer zone for their landfill. TDS offers the gorgeous event facility free to non-profits to use for fund-raising events, one of the many ways TDS says "Thank You" to the community that supports their business.

TDS uses traditional aerobic, turned windrows for pre-consumer organic composting. For their post-consumer organics, TDS builds covered static piles to create higher temperature to break-down the longer decomposing items inherent within the stream.

Baled material awaiting sale

In addition to impressive composting operations, TDS operates extensive recycling programs. With plenty of space and the required permits, TDS is able to store recovered material during market lows to sell in market highs. Committed to integrity, the family-run business founded in 1977 is a valuable Austin asset.

For a detailed pictorial recap of the tour see the Ei FB album, 01-17-12 USCC Composting Facilities Tour. It was a gorgeous day to be outside learning about how important the microbial community is to our human existence.

The tour was the perfect educational prelude to the next two days of USCC Conference sessions. Kudos to Mike Virga, USCC executive director, for orchestrating an excellent conference with just over four months in his industry leadership role.

2011 Planning = 2012 ACTION

2012-01-15T15:59:00.000-08:00

With coffee in-hand,
Louis & Matt ready to travel

In early January, Louis Herrera, Hilex Poly National Sales Director, Matt Hupp, Simon Property Group Director of Waste & Recycling and Holly Elmore, Elemental Impact Founder, headed to Charlotte for a two-day road trip. With Simon the nation's largest mall operator and Hilex Poly the world's largest plastic bag manufacturer, the trip was an opportunity to take the many 2011 conversations and meetings into action steps.

Initial seeds for the January Charlotte trip were planted in June when Matt visited Atlanta for a day filled with meetings, including one with Louis. See the ZWZ Blog post, Simon Property Group Embarks on Zero Waste Initiatives, for details of the June meetings. A few weeks later Louis and Holly traveled to Simon's hometown, Indianapolis, for mall tours along with a day trip to Hilex Poly's plastic film-only dedicated recycling plant in N. Vernon, IN See the ZWZ Blog post, Getting a Handle on Plastic Film Recycling, for an overview of the plant tour and the Ei FB album, 07-01-11 Hilex Poly Tour in Mt. Vernon, IN, for the pictorial recount of the educational day.

Daniel Rickenmann, Jake, Josh &
Doug during the Oct Charlotte visit

An active Sustainable Food Court Initiative Team Member, Simon is interested in one of their The Mills properties serving as a SFCI Mall Pilot. Concord Mills, located in the Charlotte metro area, is a prime property as the food court concessions are operated by fellow SFCI Team Member HMSHost.

In October, Holly, Doug Kunnemann, NatureWorks Business Segment Director & SFCI Co-Chair, and Joshua Barone, HMSHost Sr. Manager, Business Analysis, visited Charlotte to tour Concord Mills and learn about local recycling infrastructure and support. The ZWZ Blog post, Fertile Charlotte Grounds, details the trip highlights and the Ei FB album, 10-19-11 Charlotte Visit, gives the pictorial recap.

Jake Wilson, Keep Mecklenburg Beautiful Executive Director, was integral to the relationships forged during the October visit and Jake joined the group for dinner and some of the meetings during the January visit.

Action points for the January trip included starting a plastic film recycling pilot at Simon's two Charlotte malls and back-of-the-house prep food scrap collection for composting at Concord Mills. With the foundation laid in 2011, the trip was a big success with many follow-up points already in motion.

plastic film drop-off area for tenants

Simon's SouthPark Mall was the first stop on the trip. The visiting group was thrilled to learn mall tenants have the option to separate plastic film for recycling, a big step already in-process for the pilot!

At both malls the loading docks, waste collection areas and tunnels | hallways supporting the retail operations were neat, well-organized and designed for efficiency, evidence of Simon's leadership role in the mall industry. HMSHost is a leader in the contracted foodservice industry with a strong sustainability commitment. The ZWZ Blog, Sustainability = SHARING, gives an overview of HMSHost's track record and future plans. One of Ei's fortes is teaming industry leaders on projects to maximize impact and minimize start-up time.

The Ei FB albums, DAY 1 Charlotte Trip and DAY 2 Charlotte Trip, give the pictorial recap of the trip and shows how much fun the group has working together.

the group finishing a great dinner

The enthusiasm of HMSHost food court and Simon mall management for the pilots was inspiring. With "Can Do" attitudes by the ones responsible for execution, the pilots are staged for success. Challenges encountered are viewed as opportunities to get creative and figure out the logistics necessary to sell former "trash" as valuable material.

Stay tuned for more tales from the exciting journey.

Atlanta Airport SFCI Pilot ACTION

2012-01-12T11:01:00.000-08:00

How incredible to witness a project nurtured over the past year move into ACTION mode! The Sustainable Food Court Initiative's first Pilot at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the busiest in the world, is completing initial action steps.

A first task was an organics collection program test-run on Concourse T where SFCI Team Member HMSHost has the concessionaire's contract. The main test-run purpose was to understand logistical challenges inherent within airport operations and regulations prior to implementing a larger-scale collection program. With the two-month test-run complete in mid January, the SFCI Team will meet with airport management to summarize the lessons learned and collection stats.

baled milk jugs @ ATL Airport

Indicative of their sustainability commitment, HMSHost created a recycling program for the spent milk jugs generated at the Airport Starbuck's locations. The average 2,600 milk jugs used per week are aggregated to one location where an Orwak compactor|baler resides. By selling the compacted, baled milk jugs along with the plastic syrup bottles, to a local MRF (materials recovery facility), revenue offsets the program cost.

According HMSHost manager Rick Moore, there are minimal landfill-destined items remaining in the airport Starbuck's operations, especially at those stores where the coffee grinds are sent to compost.

The first week of January, Atlanta City Council approved the contracts awarded under the Atlanta Airport Concessionaire Request for Proposal process begun in the spring, 2011. See the ZWZ Blog post, Atlanta Airport Makes Bold Sustainable Statement, for the contract provision requiring food vendors to use compostable serviceware and consumer-facing packaging and source-separate organics for composting collection.

SFCI ATL Pilot Action Team meeting in Jan 2012

With the concessionaire contracts approved, the SFCI Pilot can move from test-runs into providing a strong support network assisting the concessionaires meeting the contract provisions and the airport determining an organics destination site that makes solid business and environmental sense.

On January 11 the NRA Daily featured the NRA News Hub post, Sustainability takes off at Atlanta Airport, as the lead article in the publication circulated to a mega subscriber list of owners, managers and other industry stakeholders.

The article is an excellent recap of the Atlanta's Airport's concessionaire contracts tremendous impact on foodservice packaging and operating practices. Inherent in the copy is the strong support the National Restaurant Association provides operators as the industry evolves and sustainable best practices become standard operating practices . Chris Moyer, NRA ConServe Program Mnager, serves as the SFCI Co-Chair and gives insightful quotes about the pilot along with the NRA's important role.

With the ACTION in its early stages, stay tuned for many exciting tales from the journey.

A POWERFUL Cyberspace Network

2012-01-12T07:30:00.000-08:00

ZWZ Blog topped 30,000 page views!!!

On January 10, a mere 49 days after reaching 25,000 views, the ZWZ Blog hit the major 30,000 milestone. The journey from 20,000 to 25,000 views took 65 days - an impressive readership escalation over the last months.

A 2012 Elemental Impact focus is building a powerful cyberspace network for communicating the important work in progress by those committed to sustainable corporate, community and personal environments. The ZWZ Blog shares zero waste success stories and emerging programs devoted to diverting material from landfills. The IMPACT Blog communicates the programs and tales in the remaining sustainability sectors with an emphasis on social responsibility and health impact|economics.

With the ZWZ Blog over 30,000 page views and the IMPACT Blog closing in on 15,000 page views, a solid foundation is established for the cyberspace network. Your support will assist in taking the network to amazing dimensions where ALL benefit.

Here are a few action points you can take NOW:

Follow the blogs, which may done from the sidebar - note post alerts go to Google Reader
"Like" the Ei FB Page
"Follow" the Ei LinkedIn Page
"Follow" Ei on Twitter
Share ZWZ | IMPACT Blog posts on your networks
Participate in the network by creating dialogue via comments on the blog, FB and LinkedIn posts.
Share your success stories with Holly Elmore, Ei founder, for potential future posts

The Earth is in the midst of paradigm shifts and it is an incredible time to be alive. Be a part of the creating the new paradigm; take ACTION however works for you.

Thank you for your support and participation - we are on a phenomenal collective journey where collaboration is key.

Panthers Winning Recycling Season

2012-01-02T19:14:00.000-08:00

The Carolina Panthers hit a winning streak in their third season of game day tailgating recycling. During the 2011 season, Panther fans separated 31.31 tons (62,620 pounds) of bottles, cans and cardboard into yellow plastic recycling bags before entering the stadium.

City of Charlotte staff collects the bags placed by fans on the parking lot curbs and delivers them to Mecklenburg County's Material Recovery Facility (MRF) where the contents are processed for recycling. In addition, the Panthers separated 50.66 tons of plastic cans and bottles inside the stadium for delivery to the MRF.

Jake handing out recycling bags

How does a successful program like the Panther Tailgating Recycling get started? Collaboration among government, non-profit and for-profit organizations is the program backbone. A visionary, who also serves as a facilitator, provides the driving force to create the program. Jake Wilson, Keep Mecklenburg Beautiful Executive Director, is the visionary who pulled together an impressive team committed to a common goal.

To learn more about Jake, read the IMPACT Blog post, A Man of Controversy, A Man of Action, where Jake is honored as the February, 2011 IMPACTOR. The Panther's tailgate recycling program is only one of the many amazing accomplishments KMB has achieved under Jake's reign.

Les Epperson and his City of Charlotte Solid Waste Team provide the collection services for delivery to the county owned MRF. It is impressive to witness city and county government leaders teaming together for a common goal where all benefit, especially the community.

Darlene Heater, Charlotte CENTER CITY
with Les Epperson, City of Charlotte

Charlotte CENTER CITY Partners served in a strong supporting role by creating the necessary synergy among various organizations for success. Forming a parking lot consortium of the six main parking lot owners in the four blocks surrounding the stadium was a key CCCP contribution. Hands on Charlotte agreed to recruit and coordinate the 8 - 15 volunteers for each game. Kerry McCray, HOC Project Leader & Volunteer, recruited, educated and inspired volunteers each game day.

As the program's main sponsor Bojangles provides the yellow recycling bags along with $50 in gift certificates per game. A $25 certificate goes to the "Best Tailgater" and another to the "Best Parking Lot Attendant." A little competition goes a long way in increasing recycling rates. At the end of the season, Bojangles caters a "Thank You Luncheon" at the stadium for those who contributed to the program success.

A team player, the Panthers promote the recycling program in season ticket holder communication, game promotion flyers and in their media outlets. Educated fans now ask for their yellow recycling bags if not given one upon paying their parking fee.

According to Jake, the recycling program has minimal contamination, 3 -4 % at the most. Food waste in the bags is nominal and there are occasional napkins. Red polystyrene tailgating cups are the biggest contaminant. Hmmmm.... maybe a cup manufacturer would sponsor a recyclable cup for the program's fourth season!

The yellow bags are baled at the MRF along with other plastic film for recycling.

Bank of America Stadium where the Panthers
play and fans tailgate

To maximize recycling outside the stadium, the City places 75 recycling bins close to the stadium entrance. Fans are not permitted to bring beverages into the stadium and the bins fill with containers from the last sip before entering the facility.

One of the surprising program snafus are what Jake calls "Aluminum Pirates" who steal the bags filled mainly with cans. Although the stolen material most likely ends up in the recycling stream, the lost material hurts the program metrics. Also, the aluminum is a valuable revenue source for the county-run MRF.

The Panther Tailgate Recycling Program is indicative of the synergies alive within Charlotte's corporate, non-profit and government sectors who are ready to bring sustainable practices to the community.

In early 2012 the Sustainable Food Court Initiative intends to announce a mall pilot in Charlotte. See the ZWZ Blog post, Fertile Charlotte Grounds, for a recap of the SFCI Team October Charlotte visit. Jake was instrumental to a successful visit and Elemental Impact is excited to know our work with Jake is just beginning.

Stay tuned as seeds are germinating in fertile Charlotte grounds for thrilling sustainable tales!

Sustainable Foodservice Packaging Meeting

2011-12-26T13:43:00.000-08:00

Building the Path

Exploring the Value Chain of Food | Beverage Packaging

December 14 was an important day in the sustainable food service packaging industry: different environmentally-minded packaging and composting organizations orchestrated a collaborative day together to improve the sustainability of foodservice packaging. Hosted by the National Restaurant Association in their Washington, DC offices, the successful meeting mapped out different synergies, challenges, and points for collaborative action to take in the near future.

The following nine organizations actively participated in this meeting:

Chris Moyer, NRA, speaking
During the morning session each organization outlined their current and planned project status, discussing any industry concerns or points of focus. In the afternoon, the group strategized ways to efficiently collaborate to overcome market barriers, improve the purity of the different foodservice waste streams and roll out of pilot programs.

One of the themes emerging from the lively discussions during the afternoon strategy session was the importance of consistency and a common voice from the sustainable packaging industry. Consumers, both Corporate and individual, are often confused by conflicting messages, local terminology, recycling bins, product labeling, certifications to name a few topics. It would also be helpful to map the inventory of the various types of resources and services available.

Scott filming in action

Scott Seydel, Ei Chair; Global Green Chair, videotaped the entire meeting and a future blog post will announce when and where the videos are uploaded. The Ei FB album, 12-13-11 Sustainable Pkging Mtg @ NRA Offices, gives a pictorial recap of the day.

The nine organizations listed above will continue a dialogue via scheduled calls and in-person meetings. In addition, a number of individuals participate in the SFCI Pilot Sustainable Packaging Committee conference calls, and the end of each committee call will include allocated time for any updates and related information to share with the group.

The Meeting ended with Cheers
A big THANK YOU to the NRA for hosting the important meeting. Jeffrey Clark, NRA Contractor, did an excellent job with the meeting logistics and facilitating the strategy session.

Stay tuned for future blog posts documenting the action items launched at the monumental meeting.

SCHA Voices ZWZ Commitment

2011-12-21T20:45:00.000-08:00

Elissa among the compost windrows

This fall the SC Hospitality Association orchestrated a second Atlanta Zero Waste Zones visit to explore the practicalities of bringing the program to their state. The National Restaurant Association showed true ZWZ partnership colors with Chris Moyer, NRA ConServe Program Director, and Elissa Elan, Sr Editor, Sustainability, joining the tour.

Elissa published the NRA News Blog post, S.C. explores zero waste program, with a fantastic overview of the trip. By joining the tour, Elissa got a hands-on understanding of the SC commitment to embarking on the zero waste path.

In Elissa's post, Douglas OFlaherty, SCHA Director of Operations, gives the following quote after visiting the Greenco composting site:

A food residual dump at the
the composting site

"The composting facility was most impressive. The [concept] is so simple it's stupid it's not being done [in other areas]. Though there is a science to the mixture and the composting, it's really about putting the right thing in the right places. The earth takes care of the rest. The amazing thing was seeing the product come in raw, mixed and then witnessing the final product."

The ZWZ Blog post, An Encore ZWZ Performance, details the second SC ZWZ tour and the Ei FB albums, DAY 1 - SC Hospitality Group 2nd ATL ZWZ Tour and Day 2- SC Hospitality Group 2nd ATL ZWZ Tour, give a detailed pictorial recap of the tour.

Thank you Elissa for making the Atlanta excursion. It is important to document the ZWZ program expansion from many perception lenses. Thank you Elissa for documenting the path from your perspective - your post is valuable to preserving HOW the zero waste infrastructure is built.

ATL Caterer Hits Major Zero Waste Milestone

2011-12-21T19:05:00.000-08:00

Atlanta's first Zero Waste Zones caterer Affairs to Remember Caterers topped 200 tons of material diverted from landfills and into recycling programs, including food residuals going to a composting facility. ATR's achievable goal is to reach the 500 ton recycling benchmark by mid 2015. Kudos to ATR for surpassing a major zero waste milestone!

As a Charter ZWZ Participant, ATR GM, Patrick Cuccaro, and Director of Sustainability, Sandy Rothstein, worked through the challenges of making back-of-the-house organics separation for composting collection work with ease into their daily operations. With a phased-in process, ATR developed organics-separation practices for off-premise events.

See the ZWZ Blog post, Common ZWZ Refrain: It's EASY, for quotes from Patrick and other ZWZ Champions on the ease of introducing zero waste initiatives into operations. Arriving at the point of ease was the result of diligent efforts by pioneers like ATR.

The ATR press release, Affairs to Remember Caterers Diverts 200 Tons from Landfills; Legacy Green Program Sets Bar for Atlanta Caterers, includes impressive details of ATR's achievement. Several videos accompany the press release to give the visual impact of their standard operating practices.

Chef Ahmad nurturing garden

Extending beyond their commitment to meet ZWZ Criteria, the ATR Legacy Green program takes a leadership role in supporting local and sustainable agriculture. In addition to forging alliances with local farmers, Executive Chef Ahmad Nourzad nurtures the on-premise chef's garden and uses its bounty in his excellent cuisine. The ZWZ Blog post, Chef Gardens ~ A Tasty Way to Close the Loop, highlights ATR's garden and Chef Ahmad.

In Patrick's words:

"The Zero Waste Zone mega-movement was a catalyst, as well as an avenue, for Affairs to Remember to become greener than we'd ever been. We'd already been sourcing local organic foods whenever possible - even before 'farm-to-party' sourcing became wildly popular.

Adding companywide composting initiatives and beefing up our recycling efforts has also created a strong sense of pride throughout our organization. It's gratifying to see our staff enthusiastically enforce our composting standards. They know that they're making a difference in our local environment and setting the bar for others to follow."

With their Legacy Program, ATR expands their sustainability commitment into the social responsibility realm. Legacy Giving was founded in 2007 as an avenue for ATR to nurture a community that supported ATR's growth into one of Atlanta's prominent luxury caterers. Visit the site for an impressive list of organizations benefiting from ATR's generosity grounded in gratitude.

Patrick Cuccaro

Leadership is inherent in ATR culture. Last week Patrick was elected to Chair the Georgia Restaurant Association in 2012 after serving as Vice-Chair in 2011. With over 25 years in the hospitality industry, Patrick brings expertise, passion and talent to his leadership role. The ZWZ Blog post, ZWZ Champion Leads GA's Restaurant Industry, gives the details of the well-earned honor.

For additional perspectives on Patrick's talent to transfer personal convictions into solid business practices, see the ZWZ Blog post, ZWZ: A Powerful Marketing Tool. The post is a profile of Patrick's successes along with a link to a national feature on the National Restaurant Association News Blog, Aiming for zero waste brings increased sales to caterer.

Milestones are abundant at Affairs to Remember Caterers. ATR laid a phenomenal foundation and 2012 is destined for amazing achievements in the many shades of green.

HMSHost: A Leader in Sustainability

2011-12-18T13:06:00.000-08:00

logo in corporate office reception area

During the December Elemental Impact Washington D.C. trip, the Sustainable Food Court Initiative leadership spent a morning at team member HMSHost's corporate offices. Along with the general updates, the meeting was an excellent opportunity to strategize with Linda Dunn, VP Supply Chain & Analysis, and Joshua Barone, Sr Manager, Business Analysis, on future projects and directions. Anne Duffy, Media Director, joined the meeting to explore how Ei may be a strong partner in sharing HMSHost's leadership role in foodservice industry sustainability.

First on the agenda was a big THANK YOU to HMSHost for their amazing sustainability commitment. The SFCI made tremendous strides in 2011, mainly due to HMSHost's willingness to recreate operating practices with an environmental focus. It takes pioneers like HMSHost to work out the challenges|barriers so fellow operators may follow suit. The ZWZ Blog post, SFCI in ACTION Mode, gives a SFCI update. The Sustainability = Sharing & HMSHost presents @ NRA Board Meeting posts are an excellent recap of HMSHost's commitment.

Linda & Chris Moyer, NRA
ConServe Program Director

In early 2012 the intent is to announce a second SFCI Pilot at Concord Mills in Charlotte, NC. The mall is owned by SFCI team member Simon Property Group and HMSHost has the concessions contract. In October SFCI Co-Chair Doug Kunnemann and Holly Elmore, Ei Founder, traveled to Charlotte and met with the Concord Mills mall and concessions managers.

While in Charlotte, Doug & Holly also visited the Charlotte Airport, where HMSHost has the concessions contract, to learn about their current and planned recycling practices. The ZWZ Blog post, Fertile Charlotte Grounds, gives an overview of the trip. A January Charlotte trip is scheduled to launch the pilot with a plastic film recycling project along with the initial steps to start back-of-the-house organics collection for composting.

Chris, Anne, Linda & Joshua

In 2011 Holly visited the Tampa Airport, another airport with HMSHost-operated concessions, twice to understand how we may work together on evolving their already amazing sustainable practices. With one of the Atlanta ZWZ icons relocated in Tampa and HMSHost's support, there is strong potential for a ZWZ-Tampa. The ZWZ Blog post, An Atlanta Icon Resurfaces in Tampa, for an overview of the first Tampa visit.

For 2012 the SFCI | ZWZ HMSHost focus will be in the Atlanta, Charlotte and Tampa markets. With the strong on-the-ground relationships, the SFCI team looks forward to moving beyond zero waste initiative focus and into toxic-free environments.

It was a fantastic visit with Linda, Joshua and Anne - stay tuned for exciting 2012 updates as the fun is just beginning!

NRA Leads Industry Collaboration

2011-12-17T11:41:00.000-08:00

Collaboration is key to driving sustainability down successful paths - the National Restaurant Association takes a leadership role in creating common ground for organizations to work together. In December Elemental Impact orchestrated and the NRA hosted a series of meetings with complementary organizations, trade associations, non-profits and foodservice operators, to ground synergies into working relationships.

Wayne, Scott, Mike, Chris & Jeff

First on the agenda was an introductory meeting with the U.S.Composting Council. Wayne King, USCC Past President, and Michael Virga, USCC Executive Director, met at the NRA offices with Scott DeFife, NRA Sr EVP Govt & Public Affairs, Chris Moyer, NRA ConServe Program Director, and Jeff Clark, NRA Contractor. Holly Elmore, Ei Founder, served as the facilitator and photographer. The Ei FB photo album, 12-12-11 NRA-USCC-Ei Mtg in D.C., gives a short pictorial recap.

The meeting was an introductory session with baseline sharing of each organizations' history and new directions in the formation process.

Wayne explaining the current compost
manufacturing scenerio across the nation

As Ei's partner in the Zero Waste Zones, the NRA is focused on operational practicalities of diverting food residuals and other organics from landfills. Limited destination sites is a key challenge for separated organics collection to become a national standard operating practice.

The NRA is the trade association for the largest commercial generators of post-consumer food residuals; the EPA estimates 97.5% of the food residuals are landfill bound. The USCC is the trade association for composting and other permitted alternatives to landfills. Working in unison is natural and necessary for the infrastructure and support systems to develop so the foodservice industry may embrace zero waste practices.

At the USCC Annual Conference January 17 - 20 in Austin, TX, the POWER - Perishable Organics Waste to Energy - session will highlight the NRA's role in promoting post-consumer food residual recycling. The ZWZ Blog post, Get EmPOWERed at the USCC Conference, gives the session's full description.

Safety and education are another common ground for the NRA & USCC. The ZWZ Blog post, Safety & Education - A Necessary Marriage, showcases each organizations' primary safety and education focus. Joint platforms will naturally flow as the NRA & USCC work together.

Stay tuned for exciting developments in the budding USCC | NRA relationship. Exciting, important seeds were planted in already fertile ground!

ZWZ Champion to Lead GA's Restaurant Industry

2011-12-15T18:23:00.000-08:00

Patrick Cuccaro, General Manager at Affairs to Remember, was elected to Chair the Georgia Restaurant Association in 2012 after serving as Vice-Chair in 2011. With over 25 years in the hospitality industry, Patrick brings expertise, passion and talent to his leadership role.

Patrick Cuccaro

"The Georgia Restaurant Association,with more than 3,000 restaurant members representing nearly 100,000 employees,has elected a Chair who is both an independent operator and an off-premisecaterer. I'm humbled by the trust that these respected restaurateurs fromacross the state have placed in my leadership," Patrick said.

The trust is well-founded and deserved. When the Zero Waste Zones were ready to expand beyond the original Downtown Zone, Patrick stepped forward to serve as the ZWZ-Caterers Champion. As an early ZWZ Participant, Patrick was instrumental in developing zero waste best practices for foodservice operators.

By its nature off-premises catering includes the challenges of transportation and service in a separate location from food prep. With ATR owner support, Patrick and his team devoted the resources and time necessary to determine the most efficient|effective procedures to source-separate materials for recycling, both in the commissary kitchen and at off-site events. These materials are common recyclables (paper, metals, plastic & glass) and organics (food).

Rewards for the hard work are abundant. Under Patrick's zero waste leadership, ATR benefits from a stronger bottom line and a stellar reputation as a model environmental steward. Patrick receives national recognition as a powerful leader who has the talent to transfer personal convictions into solid business practices.

See the ZWZ Blog post, ZWZ: A Powerful Marketing Tool, for a profile of Patrick's successes along with a link to a national feature on the National Restaurant Association News Blog, Aiming for zero waste brings increased sales to caterer.

For more information on Patrick and his role as the GRA Chair, read the ATR Press Release.

Congratulations Patrick! The ZWZ Team looks forward to your continued leadership role and are here to support you as the incoming GRA Chair.

ReUse for Old, Spent Jeans

2011-12-11T08:06:00.001-08:00

Well-loved, spent jeans
no longer for public wear

A great pair of jeans becomes one of the family and a source of comfort, fun and fashion statement. After a certain number of years, there comes a time when the tears start and only a limited number of washer machine trips are left. Once the holes and tears go beyond a point, the jeans are no longer fit for public wear and considered "spent".

These jewels are not in condition for donation - so what is their destination? Too many times, a landfill was the option for the beloved friend. ElaBela Skirts comes to rescue! Elizabeth Dobbs takes the ragged jeans and makes sassy, one-of-a-kind skirts for yet another life.

Not interested in a skirt? No problem, donate your old jeans to ElaBela so someone else may benefit from your old jeans.

Sassy, ElaBela
Skirt

Oops, the jeans are in fine shape - they must have shrunk in the dryer as snug is too nice a word. Once again, ElaBela Skirts to the rescue. When the seams are torn and resown to make the skirt, the jeans are expanded back to a comfortable, sassy fit as a skirt. Ahhh, this is an important value!

Walk your talk with the reduce, reuse, recycle commitment - donate any still wearable cloths to shelters for those less fortunate and send those favorite jeans to ElaBela for their next life, with you or someone else.

Ei | ZWZ Film Crew Debuts

2011-12-09T16:06:00.001-08:00

Get Ready, Set, ACTION - the Elemental Impact | Zero Waste Zones film crew made its debut at the Atlanta Airport this week!

Scott Seydel getting the
camera ready

On December 05 & 06 Ei Chair Scott Seydel and Founder Holly Elmore joined forces for the first time as a film crew at the Sustainable Food Court Initiative Atlanta Airport Pilot. In between airport shoots, the Ei crew toured the Strategic Materials glass processing plant in College Park with cameras in hand.

Scott is the film talent and Holly uses her new camera for still shots - a powerful team for Ei communication and educational tools.

In town for a conference, Scott DeFife, National Restaurant Association Sr. EVP of Government & Public Affairs, joined Scott & Holly at the airport before departing Atlanta. Snippets on several topics were filmed for future videos. Scott D. was fun and patient as the new duo found their artistic rhythm.

Scott DeFife in the midst of a
stellar performance

When production is complete, the ZWZ & IMPACT Blogs will cover the films, supported by stills, along with copy on the important work accomplished by the ZWZ, SFCI and other Ei projects.

Earlier this fall, Scott (Seydel) posted one of his first video productions of Global Green's Coalition for Resource Recovery's tour of the Peninsula Composting Delaware facility. The ZWZ Blog post, Safety & Education - A Necessary Marriage, features the tour along with Scott's video, Aerobic Composting.

Scott Squared happy @
end of the shoot

Check out Holly's budding photography skills on the Ei FB Albums - most of the albums tell a story of a tour or other event. Yippee - Holly had her first photograph published in a national publication, Nation's Restaurant News. Darn it, they did not give photo credit. The ZWZ National Media page has a downloadable version of the October 24 Atlanta operators reduce waste.

The creative juices are flowing with ideas for future projects - stay tuned!

Sustainability's Reality Check

2011-11-26T11:24:00.001-08:00

The College of William & Mary took their 2008 D- grade by the Sustainable Endowments Institute as a reality check and catalyst for action. Understanding student involvement was critical to effective and innovative success, the college developed a paid sustainability internship program with five positions. Initially, the focus was on water|energy conservation and product purchases made of recycled content.

As they began exploring sustainable opportunities on campus, the interns realized the campus dining service operations were a perfect starting point. The first step was eliminating plastic trays in the dining halls. Reduction from decreased use of the commercial dish washing units saved 135,000 gallons of water along with time & energy.

organics collection in action @
William & Mary

While researching recycled paper content products, the interns learned compostable product use would change the entire disposal paradigm in the three campus cafeterias. The college contracted with a local composting operation for collection and trained kitchen staff to source-separate the compostable products and organics into designated bins, . On average, the dining operations divert 3 tons per week of organic material from prior landfill destination to McGill Environmental Systems for organics manufacturing into valuable compost.

Compost: the valuable end product

Among the many benefits of participating in an organics collection program, W&M found two immediate added-values:

Cost-savings - with approximately 40% of the campus dining service "waste" collected for compost or recycling, W&M realized a reduction in their waste hauling expenses.
On-campus garden - the campus purchases compost made from their food residuals and compostable foodservice packaging for their student maintained garden. The campus has the ultimate in locally grown food with their garden right on campus.

W&M hit an amazing sustainable stride in their dining operations and increased their SEI grade to a B+ in three years. MeadWestvaco, a manufacturer of compostable and recyclable food service packaging, honored W&M's accomplishments with an excellent video, College Aces Composting 101, and an article, How the College of William & Mary made its Dining Services GreenToGo.

Industry suppliers like MWV are valuable partners for campuses, whether college or corporate, as they explore incorporating zero waste practices into their daily operations. Along with product expertise, MWV shares their broad range of experience working with operators on implementing organics collection programs. MWV's GreenToGo site content serves as a resource for WHY sending organics to composting operations is important along with examples of successful programs.

With strong educational tools and industry support, zero waste practices are easy and many times result in cost-savings. See the ZWZ Blog post, A Common ZWZ Refrain: It's Easy, for Zero Waste Zones Participant testimonials on the ease of including organics collection in their operations.

It is inspiring to learn of tales from the zero waste journey - the College of William & Mary is a prominent example of how sustainable practices benefit the environment and the college's profit|loss statement bottom line.

Pilots Focus on National Recycling Solutions

2011-11-24T12:58:00.000-08:00

Global Green's Coalition for Resource Recovery announced a foodservice packaging pilot project in New York City to develop a cost-effective, national recycling solution for the Quick Service Restaurant industry. For the pilot, CoRR seeks 150 QSR stores with five brands represented. The packaging volume generated will be sufficient for mill, collection and sorting tests necessary to create solutions based on integrity within the entire supply chain.

4.1 mil tons of food packaging goes landfill

Every year, 4.1 million tons of paper, prepared food packaging is landfilled in the United States. The collection and recycling of this material would decrease greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 15 million metric tons of CO2, the equivalent of removing 3 million passenger vehicles from the road. CoRR's pilot goal is to create effective options to return the packaging to the manufacturing cycle, rather the current landfill destination.

Pret A Manger, a British QSR expanding in the U.S., committed 25 locations to Corr's pilot. The Restaurant Participant Guide gives the pilot parameters and benefits along with contact information for interested parties. CoRR produced an excellent video with an overview of the pilot and accomplishments in prior Pret A Mange projects.

Easy to use recycling bins with clear signage for consumer use are essential to a successful program. CleanRiver, a Canadian recycling bin manufacturer, agreed to donate 150 recycling containers for the project.

CleanRiver indoor
recycling center
“We’re delighted to be a part of this project and to learn through the pilot process how we can optimize messaging and multi-stream container design by assisting a diversity of quick service retail environments,” said Tom Lembo, CleanRiver’s™ Recycling Program Manager. “Each participating brand will be offered up to 30 containers as a means of facilitating Global Green reaching a diversity of retail environments for participation in the pilot”.

CleanRiver is committed to working with QSR and food court operations on effective systems that incorporate recycling as an industry standard practice. An Elemental Impact sponsor, CleanRiver serves on the Sustainable Food Court Initiative Team where Tom is the Recycling Container Committee Chair. The SFCI is an Ei Task Force in partnership with the National Restaurant Association dedicated to bringing zero waste practices to food courts.
See the ZWZ Blog post, SFCI in ACTION Mode, for a powerful update on recent accomplishments and awards.

With CoRR and SFCI working in tandem on pilots with similar goals there is certain to be effective solutions found to a challenging scenario. Stay tuned to the ZWZ Blog as we track tales from the journey.

Inner City Gets Recycling Drop-Off Center

2011-11-24T10:22:00.000-08:00

On 11-11-11 Truly Living Well Natural Urban Farm (TLW) expanded their sustainability commitment by opening Atlanta's first permanent household recycling drop-off center. Located in the Fourth Ward, inner city Atlanta, the new drop-off center gives a recycling option to those without curbside or mult-unit collection available.

Open seven days a week, the center accepts fiber (newsprint, cardboard, paper, magazines), plastics (#1 & 2) and glass. SP Recycling and ReMIX Recycling partnered with TLW to gift Atlanta with the inner city recycling center.

Rashid working @ the farm

Rashid Nuri, TLW founder, is an urban pioneer dedicated to bringing agriculture to cities. Atlanta is fortunate Rashid calls this fine city home. TLW urban farms make a tremendous impact by providing fresh, nutritious food and education to a population under-served in the inner city neighborhoods. The recycling center is a natural expansion to the Wheat Street farm.

“Recycling is an important step to creating sustainable life and support for our local economy,” says Rashid, “What we return to the earth, the earth returns us.” Recycling has been a fundamental part TLW’s operations. The organization works with local restaurants, tree services and landscapers to recycle natural products into compost.

The EPA, Region IV provided a grant to TLW Natural Urban Farm, Atlanta, Georgia, to support three areas:

spring @ Wheat Street urban farm
1) educating interns using hands-on experience at the farm 2) educating the community about composting food waste (the compost is used on farm in the vegetable beds) and 3) water conservation using collected water from rain barrels.

Supporting sustainable or organic community food systems is good for the environment for many reasons. The use of petroleum based fertilizer is reduced or eliminated, transportation costs to get the food to consumers are reduced, pesticide use is minimized and the level of environmentalism is increased among the producers and consumers.

Since opening metro Atlanta operations in 2006, TLW produces 10,000 pounds annually of fresh, organic fruits & vegetables grown in an urban environment. The organic crops are available to restaurants and residents through CSA (community supported agriculture) and farmers markets.

Rashid accepting Arthur
Blank Youth Foundation grant

The Arthur Blank Youth Foundation granted funds for TLW to support their imperative mission necessary for cities to regain health and vitality. A short video, Truly Living Well Wheat Street Garden, created by the foundation provides a snapshot of TLW's farm. The CNN story, A Look at Truly Living Well Urban Garden, communicates the impact of the Wheat Street farm by showing the surrounding inner city area, along with its historical significance.

Today is THANKSgiving Day - how appropriate to honor Rashid Nuri, a man dedicated to educating his fellow humans that urban agriculture and recycling are possible and a MUST. THANK YOU Rashid!

SFCI in ACTION Mode

2011-11-23T18:09:00.000-08:00

The Sustainable Food Court Initiative, an Elemental Impact Task Force in partnership with the National Restaurant Association, is in ACTION mode!

In June the first SFCI Pilot at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport was announced. On October 31 Michael Cheyne, Atlanta Airport Director of Asset Management and Sustainability, accepted a 2011 Going Green Airport Award for the SFCI Pilot. See the June ZWZ Blog post, Atlanta Airport - First SFCI Pilot, for the pilot announcement and the October post, Atlanta Airport SFCI Pilot Wins National Award, for details on the award.

Ei Chair Scott Seydel, Holly & Chris
with the Going Green Airport Award

A Pilot ACTION Committee is formed with three subcommittees: Baseline & Metrics Reporting, Sustainable Packaging and Front-of-the-House Recycling Bins. The baseline is determined for Concourse T, the first airport food court to participate in the pilot. An informational packet on compostable packaging is in process to give to airport concessionaires. Once complete the package will be available on-line for download on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and Ei websites.

In addition CleanRiver is spearheading an overall SFCI Communication committee with initial focus on building Ei website content for segue into a separate SFCI site. The urls, www.sustainablefoodcourtinitiative.org .com & .net are secured. Communicating SFCI progress and success through blog posts, social media networks and other mediums are on the committee agenda.

Additional pilots|projects are under exploration in Charlotte, Atlanta and the D.C. area with announcements anticipated in first quarter 2012. SFCI efforts go beyond pilots with projects planned for the Tampa and Charlotte Airports where HMSHost has the concessionaire contracts.

Hilex Poly Tour End

SFCI impact extends to the entire pilot facility. Simon Property Group, Hilex Poly and Ei are exploring a plastic film recycling pilot at Concord Mills in Charlotte. See the ZWZ Blog post, Simon Property Group Embarks on Zero Waste Initiatives, where malls are experiencing a tremendous increase in plastic film generated due to retail clothing packaged individually in clean, virgin plastic film. The ZWZ Blog post, Getting a Handle on Plastic Film Recycling, gives an overview of Simon's tour of the Hilex Poly recycling plant in N. Vernon, IN. The basic education is in place for movement into a pilot project.

A powerful SFCI Team is working together on the hows of bringing zero waste initiatives to food court operations. The Team includes:

Co-Chairs:

o Chris Moyer, NRA ConSERVE Program Director

o Doug Kunnemann, NatureWorks Business Segment Director

Adminstrator:

o Susan Montgomery, Elemental Impact

Trade Associations/Non-Profits:

Elemental Impact
Foodservice Packaging Institute
National Restaurant Association
Institute for Local Self Reliance

Industry Suppliers:

Foodservice Operators:

HMSHost

Property Owners|Managers:

Simon Property Group

Those interested in joining may contact Holly Elmore, Ei Founder. Note minimum Ei Gold Sponsor status is required to join the SFCI Team. Quarterly SFCI update calls are open to any interested parties. Please contact Holly to be included on the distribution list.

A common phrase during SFCI working sessions is "if it was easy, it would already be done". It takes optimism, innovation and perseverance to break through the boundaries of what at times seems impossible. Kudos to the phenomenal SFCI Team for taking on an extraordinary challenge.

Innovation Key to Zero Waste Packaging

2011-11-23T14:05:00.000-08:00

BPI Certified = Compostable

With zero waste initiatives becoming common place across the nation, the foodservice packaging industry is striving to develop packaging options that fit three requirements: 1> 100% recyclable or compostable 2> effective for their intended use 3> cost neutral. In the last five years the first two requirements are met by a wide array of products. Increased demand will bring prices in alignment with traditional packaging choices due to savings inherent within quantity of scale manufacturing.

The major strides in packaging choices are the result of industry leaders embracing product innovation and staying ahead of the demand curve. Along with the largest packaging companies, a new leadership is emerging from smaller companies filling the compostable packaging niche. Asean, the holding company for StalkMarket, Planet+ and Jaya products, is one of the smaller companies leading the innovation charge as a recognized industry leader.

Buzz accepting his award

In November, Buzz Chandler, Asean President, accepted a Sustainable Business Oregon Innovation Award as a finalist in the Product Category. Twice a year, SBO honors organizations that are innovating new ways to implement sustainable practices as part of a successful business strategy. These recipients are worthy of attention for their contributions to Oregon's sustainable economy, as well as their work to better integrate economic, environmental and social benefits. The SBO article, StalkMarket rising fast on sugar cane, has more details on the award.

In addition to product innovation, Buzz shares his expertise as a Sustainable Food Court Initiative Team Member and an active POWER - Perishable Organics Waste to Energy Recycling - participant. As a Biodegrable Products Institute Board Member, Buzz is a wealth of information on industry standards and certification.

marquee @ green game

The Portland Rose Garden stadium called on Buzz's expertise when ready to shift to compostable packaging for their foodservice operations throughout the facility. Along with Doug Kunnemann of NatureWorks, Buzz worked closely with stadium management to develop an effective program for their 2010 Green Game launch.

Prior to initiating zero waste efforts, the Portland stadium filled two 40 yard compactors every 1 to 1.5 event days for landfill destination. With strong recycling and organics collection systems in place, the stadium now fills ONE 40 yard compactor every 4.5 to 5 game days. The zero waste practices saved the stadium significant dollars by eliminating a good portion of their landfill hauling and tipping charges.

Industry leaders working closely with communities and operators is essential to develop the emerging sustainable paradigm. It is an honor to include Buzz as an active Ei Sponsor and SFCI Team Member.

ZWZ Blog Tops 25,000 Page Views

2011-11-22T09:38:00.000-08:00

It is amazing to witness the escalation in ZWZ Blog readership. Sometime just after midnight, the ZWZ Blog topped 25,000 page views!!!!!

On September 18, the ZWZ Blog hit the 20,000 page view milestone. Only 65 days later the 25,000 page view bench mark was surpassed.

At the Elemental Impact Annual Sponsor & Advisory Council Meeting (see the IMPACT Blog post, 2011: An Amazing Year, for meeting details) the importance of the ZWZ & IMPACT Blogs along with social media networks were discussed as powerful communication tools. Ei Sponsors are committed to using their networks to promote increased blog awareness and readership.

With the completion of our second year, Ei | ZWZ hit a sustainable stride for major ACTION! Stay tuned to the blogs for tales from the journey.

The Many Faces of Zero Waste

2011-11-19T18:07:00.000-08:00

Waste is not only defined as items hauled off to landfills - waste comes with many faces including delicious edible food left to rot on untended urban trees. Concrete Jungle comes to the rescue with their unique urban foraging mission.

The force underlying Concrete Jungle

Founded by Craig Durkin and Aubrey Daniels in 2009, Concrete Jungle explores Atlanta to find fruit bearing trees on public and private land and coordinates volunteers who harvest the fruit for donation to homeless shelters. To date, Concrete Jungle has cataloged over 1000 fruit bearing trees and donated 6,000+ pounds of local bounty to homeless shelters.

From over 800 world wide applicants, Concrete Jungle was awarded the November Awesome Food $1,000 micro-grant. Awesome Food, a chapter of the Awesome Foundation, made its first monthly micro-grant award in October.

“We picked Concrete Jungle because of what they’ve picked as their expertise — finding uses for fruit across Atlanta that otherwise would go to waste,” said Micki Maynard, creator of CulinaryWoman and an Awesome Food trustee. “At every step, this awesome project is helping someone or something. It aids the environment, by keeping the trees bountiful and healthy. It helps community groups with its donations of fruit, and allows them to do their work helping the hungry.”

Fruits are inspected and cleaned
before donation

The grant will be used for an eclectic set of tools to make fruit picking easier and more fun: bow and arrows to get ropes over high branches; sticks made by Nerf to hit fruit down from high places; inflatable pool rafts to cushion produce that falls from up high; a baby pool for people to sit in while they scrub apples; and hard hats to protect from falling fruit.

In addition, with leftover money, the group hopes to buy mini-apple grinders and juicers to make cider from apples that cannot be eaten whole.

Mercy Community Church is a fortunate recipient of Concrete Jungles's foraging program and received over 500 pounds of delicious fruit this year alone.

“What Concrete Jungle offers us is truly unique,” says Mercy Community Church Pastor Maggie Leonard. “They have figured out a simple, seemingly obvious, means of addressing the problem of hunger that plagues our city. While most of our donations come from the waste of others, Concrete Jungle offers us delicious, fresh fruit that is fit to be eaten by anyone.”

Map of a golf course in Helen, GA who requested
Concrete Jungle to harvest the apples from their trees

Inherent within Maggie's statement is the dignity that comes along with the Concrete Jungle's mission - community coming together to help their fellow beings by harvesting urban fruit and donating it with love and care to those in a current less fortunate state. How inspiring!

The Awesome Food blog post, Concrete Jungle, Atlanta urban fruit picking group, receives Awesome Food's November grant, gives details on the integrity of Concrete Jungle's harvesting, cleaning and donation program.

In the July, 2010 IMPACT Blog post, Urban Foraging: Taking Local & Sustainable to New Dimensions, honored Concrete Jungle as the July IMPACTOR for the same reasons Awesome Foods awarded the grant.

Organizations like Concrete Jungle are widening our perception of the local, healthy food in the midst of us everyday. It is also a reminder,food shortage is not the issue; equitable food distribution is the reason many go to sleep hungry and suffer from malnutrition.

Thank you Awesome Food for your vision and commitment to assist those who are making important and unique contributions to humanity.

Ei Partners with ILSR

2011-11-19T10:13:00.000-08:00

One of the keys to Elemental Impact's success is collaboration with government, trade associations, non-profits and private enterprise. The Institute for Local Self Reliance recently announced the Ei | ILSR partnership on their Waste to Wealth page.

For the past year, Ei worked closely with Neil Seldman, ILSR President, in conjunction with the City of Atlanta Office of Sustainability zero waste study project. In October Ei entered into its first joint consulting agreement with ILSR for zero waste work on a local project.

Neil & Brenda

Neil Seldman is an active Ei Advisory Council member where he shares his depth of industry experience. Brenda Platt, ILSR Co-Director, is an invaluable asset on the Sustainable Food Court Initiative ACTION Team with her amazing expertise in composting and compostable packaging. This summer Brenda turned around a Compostable Packaging FAQ in 24 hours when the request came from the Atlanta Airport.

It is an honor to formalize the working relationship with the ILSR. As a 30+ year organization, the ILSR brings strong national relationships and in-depth industry expertise to Ei's action-oriented programs. The synergies are fantastic and the stage is set to accomplish important work in the zero waste arena.

Thank you Neil & Brenda for your openness and commitment to making a difference.

A Common ZWZ Refrain: It's EASY

2011-11-17T19:17:00.000-08:00

Atlanta's Charter Zero Waste Zones Participants share a common message: zero waste practices are EASY, a no-brainer!

Atlanta ZWZ Experience Summary: Source-separating food residuals and recyclables is a matter of learning new work habits and purchasing (or re-purposing existing) bins. Overall, employees are eager to do their part in diverting valuable materials from landfills and back into the manufacturing process.

The Nation's Restaurant News Oct 24 Insight article Atlanta operators reduce waste written by National Restaurant Association Sr. Editor Elissa Elan gives an excellent synopsis of how easy the Atlanta pioneers found zero waste practices. For a downloadable version of the article, visit the ZWZ National Media page.

Here are a couple of quotes from the article:

Patrick Cuccaro & Steve Simon
chatting @ ZWZ Two-Yr Press Event

"We've got 30 -50 employees per store, and I'd say it took two weeks of active engagement. Then it was second nature." Steve Simon, Fifth Group Restaurants Partner

"The typical mentality is that waste goes into trash, but we started with very basic steps, like recycling. That took about a week, and then we moved onto composting. We thought the employees would think of this as an extra step that would make their jobs (tougher), but in fact, they knew more than we did." Paul Baldasaro, COO Buckhead Life Group

Ecco, fifth group restaurant - no more
trash dumpster, only collection bins!

The article includes copy on Affairs to Remember's ZWZ program. In addition to "easy", Patrick Cuccaro, ATR GM, mentions receiving heightened employee morale as an added-value - their 200+ employees were ready, willing and enthusiastic to embrace zero waste practices.

Keys to implementation ease are twofold: 1> take baby steps and 2> develop clear educational programs & signage. Choosing recycling vendors who are partners with employee training programs and communication tools is common ground at successful programs.

The NRA ConSERVE Solutions for Sustainability, Elemental Impact's ZWZ partner, is devoting resources for an educational platform on zero waste practices that will serve as a valuable industry tool. With the NRA's support, keeping the "It's EASY" refrain will remain a consistent experience as the ZWZ embark upon national expansion. Stay tuned!

An Encore ZWZ Performance

2011-11-12T21:33:00.000-08:00

The SC ZWZ Tour Group @ Greenco

In August the SC Hospitality Association came to Atlanta for an exploratory tour of Zero Waste Zones, an Elemental Impact program in partnership with the National Restaurant Association, to learn from the ZWZ Heroes on how organics & materials recycling are implemented into foodservice operations. SUCCESS - the SC operators were inspired by their Atlanta counterpart's consistent message: zero waste initiatives were easy AND employees were many times the drivers moving the program forward.

See the ZWZ Blog posts, ATL ZWZ Team Hosts SC Hospitality Tour and Sustainability = Sharing, for details of the August tour along with related NRA press coverage.

Chris & Elissa

With the SC operators on-board, the SCHA came to Atlanta in November for a second tour focused on the destination of the food scraps source-separated for composting by foodservice establishments. The November contingent consisted of trade association|non-profit executives, city & state officials along with two Columbia hotel associates. From Atlanta, EPA Region IV and GA Department of Natural Resources Sustainability Division staff joined the tour and meetings to share their experiences in the ZWZ program development.

Chris Moyer, NRA ConServe Program Director, and Elissa Elan, NRA Sr. Editor - Sustainability, joined the two-day tour showing the NRA's enthusiastic support of the ZWZ national expansion through the state restaurant association network. The NRA plans to work closely with the SCHA as the ZWZ expansion path is built. Sue Hensley, NRA Sr. VP Public Affairs Communications, attended the August tour.

food processing scraps ready
for composting

Day One of the tour started in Barnesville at Greenco Environmental's windrow composting operation. Tim Lesko, Greenco co-owner, was most gracious with his time as he explained the permitting process and the challenges Greenco overcame to open their composting facility. While Tim gave his overview two trucks filled with food residuals arrived to deposit the nitrogen-rich material. It was educational to witness the vast difference between the pre-consumer and post-consumer loads.

Latex gloves, a common contaminant

While walking the windrows, the group was well-educated on the contamination impact from foodservice operations. The two main contaminants: stainless steel and silver flatware and latex gloves used in kitchens. For pre-consumer and grocery loads, a pesky contaminant is the small identification sticker on produce. The labels often get small enough to flow through the sifting screens into the finished compost.

Steve sharing his ZWZ experiences

After the compost site tour, the group traveled to La Tavola, a Fifth Group restaurant located in the heart of Virginia-Highlands. GM Chris Dean greeted the group with a wonderful array of cured meats, cheeses and olives to enjoy as they listened to Steve Simon, Fifth Group partner, share his ZWZ experiences. Working with landlords in mulit-tenant locations with limited space was a focus of Steve's talk.

Once again the Sheraton Downtown Atlanta served as the tour host hotel. Thank you Niles Harris, Sheraton GM, for your generous spirit.

Leonard @ the Sheraton's
water recycling system

Day Two began with a thorough back-of-the-house tour of the Sheraton by Leonard McCoy, Director of Engineering, and Daniel Senden, Director of Sales & Marketing. Taking their zero waste commitment seriously, the Sheraton completely eliminated polystyrene use at the hotel, even in the employee cafeteria. Beyond zero waste, the SC group learned about the Sheraton's saline pool, electrical vehicle charging stations, impressive water recycling system for their laundry service, window glass replacement projects and the amazing number of trees on the hotel's property.

For additional details on the Sheraton's sustainability commitment read the IMPACT Blog post, Sheraton Atlanta POWERS New Energy & Identity, and the ZWZ Blog post, Charter ZWZ Participant Tours.

Tim Trefzer sharing with the group

Later in the morning Tim Trefzer, Georgia World Congress Center Authority Sustainability Manager, educated the group on the recycling strides taken at the GWCC & the GA Dome over the past several years. Tim was candid about challenges and the impact the respective convention customers have on the facility's ability to maximize landfill diversion. The trend is towards active partnership between convention decision makers and the GWCC. Read the ZWZ Blog post, GWCC Hits Recycling Stride, for impressive reuse and recycling stats when a convention works in unison with the GWCC.

The above referenced ZWZ Blog post on ZWZ Participant tours also includes an overview of a GWCC fall visit. For pictorial recaps of the Sheraton & GWCC tours, see the Ei FB album, Fall, 2011 ZWZ Participant Tours.

A full-house during for the morning
presentations

Jay Bassett with the U.S. EPA Region IV, along with team members Mary Beth Van Pelt & Thornell Cheeks, led an enthusiastic session on the the next steps necessary to bring zero waste initiatives to SC. Emphasizing the importance of collaborative effort, Jay noted the SCHA has most of the important players at the table.

Eric & Jessica

Lunch at Cafe Jonah was the last stop before the group returned to Columbia. Jessica Hanners and Eric Miller shared how they made zero waste practices work in older buildings with limited space. Souper Jenny, an affiliated restaurant around the corner, is one of the ZWZ-Buckhead Charter Participants.

For the tour pictorial recap, visit the Ei FB albums, DAY 1 - SC Hospitality 2nd ATL ZWZ Tour and DAY 2 - SC Hospitality 2nd ATL ZWZ Tour.

The happy ZWZ Tour Group ready
to head back to SC

Trip success was evident by Douglas OFlaherty's , SCHA Director of Operations, immediate follow-up e-mail scheduling the conference call to discuss an ACTION plan. Stay tuned for updates as the SCHA understands sustainable practices are important to solid business models.

Atlanta Airport SFCI Pilot Wins National Award

2011-10-30T18:11:00.000-07:00

On Monday, October 31 Michael Cheyne, Director of Asset Management & Sustainability for the Atlanta Airport, accepts the 2011 Going Green Airports Award at the 4th AnnualAirports Going Green Conference in Chicago for the Sustainable Food Court Initiative Pilot Project @ Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The prestigious award recognizes the value of the project, as well as outstanding leadership in pursuit of sustainability within the aviation industry.

The Sustainable Food Court Initiative, an Elemental Impact Task Force in partnership with the National Restaurant Association ConServe Program, mission is to bring zero waste initiatives to food courts and develop industry sustainable best practices for back-of-the-house and front-of-the-house operations. Food courts present tremendous challenges to implementing zero waste initiatives, including franchisee|franchisor agreements, landlord|tenant leases, foodservice operators who do not control their waste disposal and third-party items brought into the food court.

Airport food prepared for
in-flight consumption

Airports extend the challenges with third party custodial contracts, high business volume and security restrictions to front and back-of-the-house operating areas. Thanks to Michael;s commitment to sustainable practices, the Atlanta Airport serves as the first SFCI pilot program. Concourse T is the first food court in the staged-in pilot. See the ZWZ Blog post, Atlanta Airport - First SFCI Pilot Project!, for details on the pilot launch including national team members.

The SFCI Team is working with the City of Atlanta Office of Sustainability and the Department of Aviation to develop the current waste baselines so solid metrics may be used to document the pilot success. Industry experts from the leading packaging trade associations and companies are developing a sustainable foodservice packaging education packet to give to each airport concessionaire as the pilot expands to other concourses.

With perfect timing, the Atlanta Airport is in the midst of the concessionaire RFP for the entire airport. The City of Atlanta and Department of Aviation team, led by Michael Cheyne, made the bold, courageous and successful move to include the following provision in the RFP:

BPI certifies compostable
foodservice packaging

“Concessionaire shall use compostable serviceware along with consumer facing packaging and source separate all food service wastes for direct transport to off airport composting facilities.”

The compostable packaging provision in the Airport concessionaire RFP is the foundation for the Going Green Airport Award. See the ZWZ Blog post, Atlanta Airport Makes Bold Sustainable Statement, for details on the contract provision.

With journey just beginning, stay tuned for tales as the foodservice industry evolves operating and packaging practices.

Atlanta Airport Makes a Bold Sustainable Statement

2011-10-30T17:14:00.000-07:00

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Concourse T, serves as the Sustainable Food Court Initiative's first pilot project. See the ZWZ Blog post, Atlanta Airport - First SFCI Pilot!, for details on the pilot announcement, including the national team members.

In order for SFCI pilot success, concessionaires must be required to use sustainable packaging and source-separate compostable and recyclable materials for processing versus landfill destination. Changes in contracts with concessionaires and a team spirit with the airport waste hauler along with the contracted custodial companies are a necessity for success.

Michael Cheyne

With perfect timing, the Atlanta Airport is in the midst of the concessionaire RFP for the entire airport. The City of Atlanta Office of Sustainability and Department of Aviation team, led by Michael Cheyne, Director of Asset Management & Sustainability for the Airport, made the bold, courageous and successful move to include the following provision in the RFP:

“Concessionaire shall use compostable serviceware along with consumer facing packaging and source separate all food service wastes for direct transport to off airport composting facilities.”

As the world's busiest airport, the new concessionaires will run the entire gamut from local concepts to the nation's largest chains and quick service restaurants. This provision serves as a catalyst to evolve restaurant consumer packaging at every level.

BPI certifies compostable
foodservice packaging

With the support of the National Restaurant Association, the Foodservice Packaging Institute, Institute for Local Self Reliance, Elemental Impact and leading industry experts, the Atlanta Airport is the nation's leader in requiring zero waste initiatives implementation in foodservice operations at a major venue. Working together with collaborative spirit, the SFCI Team will develop new systems that may serve as a solid business model for other airports and facilities to template.

A subcommittee is developing an educational packet for airport concessionaires on the WHAT, WHY & HOW of compostable packaging. The packet will be available in hard copy with an on-line version on the Elemental Impact and Institute for Local Self-Reliance sites.

The bold Atlanta Airport statement is in perfect alignment with the City of Atlanta's sustainability commitment and support of the Zero Waste Zones program. "The city’s support of Zero Waste Zones illustrates our commitment to moving Atlanta toward becoming a top 10 city for sustainability. " says Mayor Kasim Reed.

The City of Atlanta and the Atlanta Airport are embarked on a phenomenal journey working in partnership with the SFCI Team to evolve the operating standards of concessionaire operations at airports, malls, event venues and other facilities with food courts. Stay tuned for tales from the journey!

Marlin Gottschalk - Remembered with Awards

2011-10-30T10:45:00.000-07:00

Marlin Gottschalk

On May 23, 2011 Georgia lost one of its strongest environmental advocates when Marlin Gottschalk left this realm after a valiant encounter with cancer. The ZWZ Blog post, Farewell to a Friend, Colleague & Mentor, is ZWZ Director Holly Elmore's personal tribute to Marlin.

As Director of the GA Department of Natural Resources Sustainability Division, Marlin was either at the forefront or the foundation of Georgia's green initiatives. This fall is filled with recognition of a Hero who now gives his unwavering support and guidance from a dimension we sense yet cannot see.

In September Marlin received the 2011 Emory University Alumni Sustainability Award honoring an alum who has made significant contributions to environmental protection and sustainability. Marlin earned his impressive academic achievements, from undergraduate through his doctorate degree, at Emory.

Rachel, Kathy & Russell
Gottschalk @ GreenLaw event
Photo credit: Paula Gould

GreenLaw, Honoring Citizens Who Use the Law to Improve the Environment, presented Marlin with the Distinguished Public Service Award at the October GreenLaw's 2011 Environmental Heroes Celebration. Marlin's wife Kathy and children, Russell & Rachel, accepted the newly created award on Marlin's behalf.

The program copy ends with this truthful statement:

Marlin brought a rare combination of intellect and passion, vision and pragmatism—as well as a delightful sense of humor—to his work. He was determined to make a compelling business case for sustainability while honoring the systems ecologist at his core. His many mentees will carry on his legacy for years to come.

Marlin @ 2010 Ei Meeting

In mid October the Georgia General Assembly issued a Senate Resolution honoring the life and memory of Dr. Marlin Ralph Gottschalk.

At the November Elemental Impact Annual Sponsor and Advisory Council meeting Marlin will be sorely missed. Along with valued insights, Marlin led the strategy session closing the 2010 meeting. The IMPACT Blog post, Ei Sponsor, Advisory Council & Board Meeting, gives a meeting overview and copy on Marlin's contributions.

It is important heroes like Marlin receive recognition for their invaluable impact. The ZWZ Blog will continue to honor Marlin and publish posts about his influence and future awards.