BYOR - Bring Your Own Reusables Zero Waste Effort by Green Team / Greenbelt ACES

On the Path to Zero Waste – Bring Your Own Reusables! Water, the theme driving this year’s Greenbelt Green Man Festival, is a resource that is all too often taken for granted, especially since we need it to survive. Oceans, lakes and streams provide us leisure and recreation. It is no wonder why the streams and waterways of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed are the lifeblood of our region. Plus, water is basically free, depending on how it is sourced.

Yet the question remains, why, in the midst of today’s great need for sustainable answers, the market continues for single serve plastic water bottles. Bottled water has scammed too many dollars, exposed too many people to BPA, and played too much of a key role in damaging our environment. In fact, the most commonly collected trash item by far was plastic water bottles at this year’s Earth Day Cleanup of the Indian Creek Watershed right here in Greenbelt, MD. With the depleted health of the Chesapeake Bay, it is of utmost importance that we act now to protect our watershed and eliminate this unnecessary, damaging, resource depleting, costly item from our day to day lives.

These are a few of the many reasons why the Green Team / Greenbelt Advisory Committee on Environmental Sustainability (ACES) is advocating for zero waste at the 2015 Green Man Festival on May 9 - 10. The goal of this effort is to return to a whole-systems waste management with the ideal of no waste. We aim to reduce the loss of resources to the landfill. We hope to begin the process by encouraging citizens to REFUSE unnecessary waste – such as single use water bottles. Further we hope to raise awareness of how used materials can become resources for others to use, through REPAIRING, REFURBISHING, REFINISHING, RESELLING, RECYCLING, OR ROTTING (COMPOSTING). And finally we encourage the RE-USE of material wherever possible.

It is very easy to be a part of the zero waste effort if you can simply remember to BYOR, or

Bring

Your

Own

REUSABLE water bottle, dishware, forks and knives. Please come to the water stations to REFILL your water bottle or cup. Let the Zero Waste booth know that you brought your own bottle or dinnerware so you can be included in the tally of BYOR participants.

Among the many perks of BYOR is that you can pick up a free REUSABLE shopping bag at the Green Team / Greenbelt ACES booth (while supplies last). That is not the only reason you should visit the booth. You can also sign up to receive a discounted compost bin and rain barrel. Experts in the fields of waste management and sustainability will be at the booth to answer your questions. Learn about zero waste efforts in different parts of the country and which materials should be RESTRICTED, REDESIGNED or REMOVED from production.

The layout of the Roosevelt Center will look slightly different from past Green Man Festivals. Volunteers will be present at the trash receptacles to advocate for zero waste by teaching festival guests how to discard materials into the appropriate recyclable, compostable, or landfill waste containers. Also, temporary compost buckets will be placed near food vendors and throughout the Roosevelt Center to collect leftover food scraps, which will be composted locally by Greenbelt Compost Coop members. Volunteers will also monitor and record the weight of compostable materials in order to measure food waste diverted from the landfill. Then, the compostable plates, cups and utensils will be transferred to MOM’s of College Park and turned into compost for the local economy.

The effort has sparked change in one local merchant, the New Deal Café where the Board of Directors and Chef Karim Kamaiha have teamed up to purchase compostable plates and carryout containers. Please be sure to let New Deal Café know how their sustainable efforts are appreciated.

The path is clear, zero waste is the route we must take in order to reach a sustainable society -- a resilient economy, safe environment, and social well-being. By implementing zero waste efforts at this year’s Green Man Festival, the Green Team / Greenbelt ACES hopes to eliminate as much waste as possible to our land, water, and air to reduce the threats to planetary and human health. Be sure to stay posted on updates after the festival to learn how many participants brought their own reusables, and how much waste was diverted from the landfill!

If you’d like to learn more about participating in zero waste efforts, please contact Erin Josephitis, Volunteer Maryland Coordinator, at Erin@CHEARS.org. Susan Barnett contributed to this article.