The Journey to Zero Waste in Greenbelt, MD

On December 31, Greenbelt rang in 2015 with a New Year’s Eve party at Greenbelt Arts Center, which highlighted a Zero Waste effort led by the Butterfly Brigade. This event, which used reusable plates, cups, and napkins, recycling and compost, resulted in just one grocery-sized bag of trash sent to the landfill from over 100 party-goers. The idea of zero waste was more than just a short-lived resolution for 2015. In fact, the idea transformed into a greater reality when Susan Barnett, member of the Butterfly Brigade and Greenbelt’s Green Team first initiated a Zero Waste subcommittee of the City’s Green Team. Then, she volunteered to lead a much larger zero waste effort at the 11th Annual Greenbelt Green Man Festival. The Green Team in partnership with other groups and individuals championed the effort.

Zero Waste is defined as an “ethical, economical, efficient and visionary philosophy to guide people in changing their lifestyles and practices to emulate sustainable natural cycles, where all discarded materials … become resources for others to use”, Zero Waste International Alliance, 2004. In other words, it is a step toward sustainability. Zero waste is a process whereby resources are re-used, energy is conserved, pollution reduced and ultimately costs are reduced. Other cities have already adopted zero waste goals, including Austin, TX, San Francisco, CA, and New York, NY. Greenbelt, MD – are you ready?

The aim of Greenbelt’s most recent zero waste effort was to reduce, reuse, recycle or compost waste of the Green Man Festival instead of sending it to the landfill. In order to reach this goal, festival participants were encouraged to reduce waste by bringing reusables, including water bottles and eating ware. At least 74 people checked in with the Zero Waste crew to tell them they brought their own water bottles. Cold water stations were set up so everyone would be able to refill his or her own water bottle, whether it was reusable or not. Reusable serving ware was made available to those who forgot theirs. Vendors and merchants were encouraged to use compostable serving ware. In addition, the Green Team / Green ACES zero waste volunteers shared their intent with festival guests, demonstrated how to sort waste effectively, and, when necessary, sorted the compostable and recyclable materials into appropriate waste bins.

Zero waste stations were created – each included a recycling bin, a compost bin and a landfill/trash bin. At the end of each day, landfill trash bins at these stations were nearly empty compared to the composting and recycling bins that were overflowing. Where landfill bins were not paired with recycling and compost bins, the landfill bins were filled with not just landfill waste but recyclables and compostable materials. The results left us with a few important lessons. First, pairing landfill bins with recycling and composting options means less waste ends up in the landfill and more resources are reclaimed. Secondly, increased accessibility to water fountains throughout Greenbelt could allow citizens to refill their water bottles more often, and in turn keep plastic bottles from accumulating in the landfill. Most importantly, caring citizens, given the opportunity, make the sustainable choice and sort waste effectively.

The event was well supported by volunteers of a wide variety. Prior to the event, students from the Pathway School created signs that brought attention to the zero waste stations. Several Greenbelt citizens, including Lore Rosenthal and John Klinovsky, volunteered to help with sorting waste and assisting participants. Among the most outgoing zero waste volunteers at the festival were students from Eleanor Roosevelt High School National Honor Society (NHS). The NHS students brought attention to the effort by carrying zero waste signs, and eagerly went “dumpster diving” into the trash bins to sort waste into the appropriate bins.

Thanks to City of Greenbelt Public Works employee, Jay Jefferson, for volunteering to keep a tally of the bags full of recyclables during the festival. Throughout the two days, Jefferson counted a total of five bags full of recyclables, which was half the total number of 10 bags full of compostable materials. Another thanks to the New Deal Cafe, Sunrise Catering and Miquel’s Crepes for discarding 91 pounds of food scraps, which was collected locally by the Greenbelt Compost Co-op and distributed to gardens throughout Greenbelt. Another thanks to MOM’s of College Park for accepting 93 pounds of compostable materials to their BiobiN. The materials collected in the BiobiN would later be added to the Prince George’s County Compost Pilot Program at Western Branch. Finally, the compostable materials could not have made it to MOM’s of College Park without the City of Greenbelt Public Works and a generous citizen volunteer who lent their trucks to help transport compostables.

Most notably, the zero waste efforts did not stop as the Green Man Festival came to a close. During the week following the festival, Lore Rosenthal and Beth Leamond, both of part of Greenbelt Compost Co-op, collected an additional 51 pounds of food scraps from the New Deal Cafe. The following weekend they collected 85 pounds of compostable eating ware and 85 pounds of food scraps at the Crazy Quilt Festival wedding of Hillary Gottemoeller and Joe Harris!

From the beginning of the Green Man to the end of the Crazy Quilt a total of 201 pounds of food scraps were collected for Greenbelt gardens and 178 pounds of compostable materials were sent to MOM’s in College Park. That is 379 pounds diverted from the landfill!

Thanks to all of the local businesses and volunteers who made this effort possible from the start of this year to the Green Man Festival and beyond. With the efforts of dedicated volunteers, zero waste became more than just an idea; it is a reality here in Greenbelt. The logical next step …we need to do more!

As Zero Waste becomes more of our awareness, more and more events want to join in…. the latest, following on the success of Green Man and Crazy Quilt, is the Grand Re-opening of Greenbelt’ s Movie Theater. Executive Director of the movie theater, Caitlin McGrath, thoughtfully planned the grand re-opening on May 29 by ordering compostable cups, plates, popcorn bags and napkins to use and invited the Zero Waste Circle with the help of the Butterfly Brigade to help organize the Zero Waste of the festivities! All was a huge success and ended with 35 pounds of compostables being taken to MOMs - and not to the landfill! All this being good for the Earth and good for Greenbelt!