Sustainable Saturday Returns with Focus on Zero Waste Living

For the next and (final in 2022) Sustainable Saturday, Zero Waste Melrose will focus on zero waste living. Zero waste living is a journey that happens one step at a time. This family-friendlly event will focus on doable steps to take in everyday life to create less waste.

Packaging will be a big focus, because it makes up a huge part of the typical person's trash.

• Buying products with little or no packaging is one clear way to reduce waste. Check out examples of zero-waste products from local Medford store Trove Green Provisions. Their information and pop-up shop are designed to inspire people to think differently about products they buy and consider zero-waste alternatives that still get the job done. Trove Green Provisions offers a refillery, where people can bring their own containers to buy a range of household and personal care products like lotion, soap, laundry detergent and more. The store also sells a range of products with zero or minimal packaging, including locally sourced items.
• And to answer the age-old question “Is this recyclable?”, we’ll also be joined by Scrapp, a new app that simplifies waste sorting. Use the Scrapp app to scan packaging barcodes and get product-specific recycling guidance based on accurate, local recycling rules. When residents recycle right, it ensures the recycled material is higher quality and able to be reused. It also helps to keep municipal recycling programs running more cost-effectively.

This event is a continuation of Zero Waste Melrose's long history of addressing packaging waste. The volunteer group led the City to pass a plastic bag ban in 2017 and a polystyrene ban in 2019. The City also has a law to make plastic straws available on request. Zero Waste Melrose also supports statewide legislation to modernize the Bottle Bill to include water bottles, sports drinks and many other beverage types that didn't exist when the Bottle Bill was first implemented 40 years ago. The group also supports Extended Producer Responsibility laws to shift the burden of wasteful packaging disposal from taxpayers to manufacturers.