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On the final weekend of May, Stuart's Opera House hosted its 11th year of Nelsonville Music Festival, an event that creates an inspiring atmosphere to listen to great music, eat and drink local food and brews, and enjoy the rolling hills of Ohio. Nelsonville Fest worked to keep these hills handsome and limit its ecological footprint by teaming up with Rural Action to achieve zero waste event status for the second year in a row!
In order for an event to be zero waste, 90% or more of waste produced is diverted from the landfill. Stuart's believes in this zero waste approach, and with the help of 60+ zero waste volunteers and Rural Action staff, Nelsonville Fest 2015 was a zero waste event with a diversion rate of 94.20% and nearly 6,500 pounds of waste that avoided landfills.
"The Nelsonville Music Festival is thrilled to partner with Rural Action and their Zero Waste Program, being able to divert at least 94% of the waste created at NMF the past two years is an incredible feat. It's a point of pride for NMF and another thing that attendees love about our festival," said Marketing Director of Stuart's Opera House, Brian Koscho.
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Tons Collected at Move Out
As students left their temporary homes on the greens of Ohio University and the off-campus streets, they also left behind the things that made these places home: furniture, rugs, food, and books. Although these things no longer mean home to the students, their past possessions were able to be repurposed thanks to the efforts of the city, community, and university partners.
After all was said and done, nearly 150 volunteers and employees worked together for over 1,000 hours, to collect 100+ truckloads of reusable goods and 330 boxes of food items that were reused and repurposed during Ohio University's Move Out These items would have otherwise gone to the landfill.
"I really appreciate the work of everyone involved. Because of the overall cooperation and organization, move out was a great success and the city looked great!" said Athens City Code Director John Paszke.
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Jim of Jubilee Promotes Bokashi Compost
Environmentalism has been a part of Jim Couts life from a very early age. He grew up on an organic farm and his father subscribed to an organic farming magazine in the early 1940s. This impacted how Jim saw the environment for the rest of his life and influenced his decision to start Jubilee Organic Gardens in Marietta, Ohio.
Jubilee Organic Gardens specialize in diverting organic waste from the landfill and converting it into compost and soil additives.
Jim acquires waste from area hospital, schools, and Marietta College. Instead of composting this waste through traditional means, Jim uses a technique known as bokashi. This is an acidic anaerobic fermentation process that only takes two weeks. The compost created from the bokashi can then be mixed with soil and acts as an organic fertilizer.
Jim sells the bokashi product as well as bokashi ki
ts,
worm casings and
coconut coir, an alternative to peat moss. Additionally, they
sell a variety of organic composting products and look to spread awareness of the benefits of organic composting.
Contact
Jim at 740-535-0278 or [email protected].
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Ohio Recycling Partners Conference June 29-30
The Ohio Recycling Partners Conference will be held June 29th and 30th in Dayton, Ohio, bringing together experts in the fields of waste management, recycling and sustainability to share and discuss ideas on the best practices in sustainable materials management.
Keynote speakers at the conference include Bob Gedert for the City of Austin, Texas Resource Recovery Department. Gedert will speak Tuesday afternoon about "Sustainable Materials Management in Action" and his work implementing an Austin Zero Waste Plan. Also speaking is Cody Marshall, Technical Assistance Coordinator for The Recycling Partnership who will explain improvements in program performance and participation with management practices.
Those who attend the conference will also have the opportunity to meet and hear Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) Executive Director and CEO, David Biderman, who plans to communicate new SWANA initiatives about sustainability and well-being.
The conference will be hosted at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in the heart of downtown Dayton. Register for the conference here.
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Slideshow Of Partners' Work
We want to share your story, too!
Email us photos of the good work you are doing to lead Southeast Ohio towards zero waste!
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Alexa Smith, communications intern, is in her third year at Ohio University studying Strategic Communications, with a minor in Spanish and a certificate in Environmental Studies. More than anything, she enjoys grass and dirt between her toes, the autumn air, a nice, bright moon and the experience of live music. "I am delighted to have this opportunity. The Rural Action squad is such an incredible group of people with a purpose that I'm proud to be a part of. The knowledge and friendships I gain, I'm sure, will change my life."
Kristen Vandervaart, cross-facilitation intern, is a senior at OU who majors in Environmental Biology and is minoring in German. When she's not studying, she's drawing, writing or reading. She also enjoys listening to music, ice-skating, roller-skating, fencing, biking, especially cooking and playing games (board, card and video) with friends. Kristen is happy to be interning with Rural Action's Zero Waste Program because she is passionate about protecting the environment and one way to do that is to reduce the amount of waste created.
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Upcoming Partner Events & Recycling Opportunities:
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June 20th
Boogie on the Bricks
Court Street
Noon-11pm
Volunteers Needed
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July 7th
Plastic Bag Meeting
Athens Public Library
1-2:30pm
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July 13th
AHSWD Board Meeting
SEORJ, Nelsonville
8:30am
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August 9th
Bounty on the Bricks
Court Street
Volunteers Needed
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Rural Action Zero Waste Program Staff:
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Rural Action Zero Waste Program Sponsors:
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Learn more about how we support
National Service.
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Learn about volunteering
with us.
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Want to get in touch? Contact us.
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