ZWZ Participants Work Together

One of the many Zero Waste Zones participation benefits is the camaraderie and sharing with fellow members.  Although the connection catalyst is generally fine tuning zero waste practices, relationships extend beyond landfill diversion to the entire spectrum of business sustainability.

In 2011 Atlanta's ZWZ Team welcomed the South Carolina Hospitality Association for two zero waste tours.  The willingness of Atlanta's pioneers to share with their northern neighbors was inspiring.  Visit the ZWA Blog posts, ATL ZWZ Team Hosts SC Hospitality Tour and An Encore ZWZ Performance, for overviews of the two tours.  The blog posts include Ei FB album links for the pictorial recaps.

More recently, ZWZ camaraderie was evident when Cindy Jackson, Georgia Institute of Technology - GA Tech - Mgr, Solid Waste Management & Recycling,  hosted Tim Trefzer, GA World Congress Center Authority - GWCCA - Sustainability Manager, and Holly Elmore, Elemental Impact founder, for an afternoon of fun and education at the GA Tech campus.  

 

The gathering catalyst was Tim's enthusiasm to create a successful Atlanta Falcon's tailgate recycling program for the 2012 season.  Years ago Cindy launched GA Tech tailgate recycling on game days with success and was happy to share her program logistics.  Conversation quickly moved beyond tailgate recycling to GA Tech's comprehensive program, culminating in an amazing campus tour.

How impressive to learn about GA Tech's national recycling awards: The American Forest & Paper Association 2008 University Recycling Award and the National Recycling Coalition 2008 Best Overall Recycling, Outstanding College or University Program Award. Note in 2008 the country was in a major recession and strong recycling programs were in their infancy - KUDOS to Cindy as the force behind GA Tech's leadership role! 

Clear signage = clean recycling
collection

The best part of the afternoon was to experience the reasons WHY GA Tech operates a successful and profitable campus recycling program.  Education and communication are key - GA Tech has an amazing signage system in place.  

For a pictorial recap of the GA Tech campus tour, visit the Ei FB album, 02-27-12 GA Tech Hosts GWCCA.  Check out the pictures of the CLEAN streams collected from student source-separated recycling centers.

Working together ZWZ Participants are developing sustainable operating practices where increased profitability is the end result.  Stay tuned for more tales from the journey!