I've been really impressed by what Cleveland, Ohio, is doing to promote waste reduction. Cleveland is being very public about its vision to become a "Green City on Blue Lake" by 2019. In a recent conversation with Beau Daane, the business recycling specialist for the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District, and Emily Drew, the communications manager at the Fowler Center for Sustainable Value, I learned about Trash Oscars, a.k.a. Oscar the Grouch Awards.
The district's success is measured in the amount of materials recycled: 1.4 million tons in 2008, which is nearly half of Cuyahoga County's waste stream. Some of the keys to this success are replicable, inter-related, and scalable, and can be used to enhance other city or county solid waste management programs. Cuyahoga County has a six-point program:
1. employing a Business Recycling Specialist;
2. sponsoring collections of special wastes;
3. helping to start RET3.Job Corp., a local electronics recycler;
4. engaging with high-visibility businesses;
5. promoting automated collection of residential trash and recycling; and
6. awarding "Trash Oscars" to successful communities, individuals, and businesses.
The point of the last item is to draw attention to actions of excellence, just like the Hollywood Oscars. Each year Cleveland's Oscar the Grouch awards are given for the following:
Lead Community in a Recycling Role
Best Supporting Community in a Recycling Role
Lead Producers in a Curbside Recycling Program
Lead Performance in Commercial Recycling
Best Director in a Leading Role
Best Supporting Woman in a Recycling Role
Best Supporting Man in a Recycling Role
Best Adaptation of a Recycling Program
Most Improved Recycling Producers
Best Student Director
Best New Feature Program.
I think it would be a lot of fun to see this happening in all cities in America.
For more information on the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District, visit their website.
Roger Saillant
Here is an edited version:
Listen to the whole story: Here.
Listen to my interview with Bill Baue on Sea Change Radio:
Visit the Sea Change website: Here.
My article: Learning to Design Waste Out -- Beginning at the End can also be found on Greenopolis.com: Here.
Last night I attended an awards meeting convened by Entrepreneurs for Sustainability (E4S) in Cleveland, Ohio. E4S is an organization that has been formed to bring together community leaders for the expressed purpose of sharing ideas on how to build a sustainable economy in Northeast Ohio. Holly Harlan, one of the co-founders, has been working since 2000 to bring together on a monthly basis people who are deeply committed to making sustainability a cornerstone of their enterprises.
The event last night was a recognition gathering for eight honorees who were selected from over 50 nominees. Each person had demonstrated exceptional performance in the application of sustainability principles primarily focused on reducing waste streams. For example, one company owner was recognized for his efforts to eliminate waste by first removing the dumpster in the back of his plant. This action forced everyone in the operation to focus on fixing the process that caused the waste in the first place. In another instance, a graduate student was honored for eight years of work at Case Western Reserve University where she was able to reduce energy consumption by over 25 percent.
Although at this time in our society we are looking at waste streams (outputs) and working to eliminate them, we must look to changing our designs in such a way that waste outputs are eliminated. I feel certain that if we apply the Nine Laws of Nature as defined by Janine Benyus to our design principles that waste will indeed become food and the idea of offal will soon become an outdated term.
- Roger Saillant
