Volunteers gathered in June to clean up an illegal dumpsite along Lime Bank Road in Union Furnace, OH.  Parents and their kids met up at Union Furnace Elementary School sporting bright colors and showed their excitement by taking no time going to work.

Cynthia Bauers and her family, who live in the area, organized the cleanup after her kids insisted on cleaning up the site, located near their school, following a lesson on Earth Day about the importance of taking care of our environment.

"A couple weeks after a lesson I gave at Union Furnace Elementary School on Earth Day, my kids kept insisting we do something about the dumpsite, which we could see every time we drove past," said Bauers, "it was a good lesson for the kids that if you speak up you can make a difference."

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Marilyn Ortt was an activist and environmentalist that sought to educate and improve conditions in Southeast Ohio. Ortt passed away May 25, 2014 at age 78, but her work and legacy continue on in organizations, charities and projects such as Rural Action's Sustainable Forestry Programs, Marietta Area Recycling Center, Friends of the Lower Muskingum River, Marietta Tree Commission, and Marietta Natural History Society, just to name a few.

"She came out of chemotherapy a few days before she died and the first thing she was concerned about was getting over to the recycling drop off to do her volunteer work helping to unload cars and manage the site," said longtime friend and coworker Tom O'Grady, astronomy professor at Ohio University. "Over the years I've seen so many people that get involved in environmental causes for a while and then move on, but not Marilyn." 

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The zero waste pledge is a commitment made by local businesses and organizations to move towards zero waste by taking steps like recycling, composting, and reducing waste. Participants take part in a waste assessment in order to learn about simple changes that will improve their resource use. In exchange businesses receive recognition on our website, support implementing improvements, and a pledge decal to display in their window.  So far these businesses have pledged to accomplish three waste reduction goals in the next three months and three other goals within a year: 

• Athens County Commissioners
• Kiser's Barbeque Express
• Crane Hollow State Nature Preserve

To take your Pledge or see what these organizations have committed to do, click here !  

Through a partnership with Rural Action, the Nelsonville Music Festival recycled and composted 96.5%, or over 2.5 tons, of all the waste discarded by patrons and vendors inside the festival gates. 

Over the course of the four day music fest, there were 7,000 people eating, drinking and grooving. Despite record attendance rates, less than one dumpster of trash--187.8 lbs.--was sent to the landfill. That's about the same weight as one average American man. 

"We're here having fun; we're being entertained. But you folks [festival attendees] are conscious and aware, and we're not consuming more than we need to. And, we're diverting all that waste away from the landfill, and we're actually setting examples nationally on how music festivals can be run," said Stuart's Opera House Executive Director and Nelsonville Music Festival Organizer Tim Peacock.

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Alessa Rosa is a junior at Ohio University studying journalism at the E.W. Scripps School with aspirations to go into public relations. Her work here includes media management, writing for our newsletter, research, and some administrative work. Although, she's only been working here for about a month she feels connected to our vision.

"It has really opened up my eyes on waste and resource management, and it feels great to be a part of it," she shared.

Emily Deeds is a senior at Ohio University studying communication at the E.W. Scripps School.
After graduation, she hopes to go into non-profit public relations. Her work here includes maintaining our website, writing for our website and newsletter, as well as administrative work.

"This internship is teaching me how to be a better communications professional and is helping me learn about what it means to be zero waste and how important this work is," she said.

And a big thanks to our past intern, Neal Patten. Neal kick started several projects such as our online timeline and our newsletter slideshow. He also completed our Zero Waste Program Booklet, which details who we are and what we do.