Eliminating Waste at Special Events
We strive for Zero Trash at public special events downtown. We set up and staff Zero Trash Stations during such events at which food is served, including Memorial Day and especially Founders Weekend. We also separate food waste for composting during the UCC's community dinners. Other communities could minimize trash at their special events. We’re eager to share what we’ve learned and even to loan out our bins and signs. Anyone who’s interested should contact Peter Hofman ([email protected]) or Valerie Bluhm ([email protected]).
OUR ZERO-WASTE EFFORTS DURING FOUNDERS WEEKEND MAY BE OVER
Despite all the help we receive and our success, our Committee's efforts are not sustainable. Once again last year we had too few volunteers and too many no-shows. We've made the tough decision that we will end our zero-waste efforts during Founders Weekend without sufficient volunteers - we need as many as 50 people to help out. If the number of volunteers fall short, what then? Others will be responsible for dealing with waste and everything will likely be treated as trash. In one year, we'll go from 10% trash to 100%!
Founders Weekend 2024: our most successful effort yet
Founders Weekend 2024 was our most successful zero-waste effort to date: we diverted about 90% of the more than 216 cubic feet of waste to recycling and composting (about 500 pounds). Volunteers staffing our stations appreciated the many positive comments, several noting our efforts to minimize trash were unusual, if not unique, in Berkshire County, and their wish that other communities would do so.
Our committee has worked for years to minimize trash during Founders Weekend, expanding our efforts to keep downtown clean and trash bins from overflowing, and to capture as much as we could for recycling and composting. As in the past, we had incredible help. Individual volunteers from Lee and other communities, as well as staff from Big Y and Canna Provisions staffed our stations and kept sidewalk bins under control. We couldn’t dream of undertaking this effort without the support of Meadow Farm in Lee, which provided a roll-off and processed for free an estimated 500+ pounds of compostables we collected, and Casella Waste Management, which provided trash and recycling bins and processed at no cost all the recyclables and trash. We also appreciate the promotional support of the Lee Chamber of Commerce and the Tri-Town Health Department, and especially the cooperation of Lee restaurant owners who’ve largely made the transition to recyclable and compostable serving ware.