Warren County
Zero Waste News - local, state, & national
News about the Future of Composting in Warren County in The Lake George Mirror this week
Greetings, to our newsletter readers and welcome to Zero Waste Warren County (ZWWC). This May 2023 newsletter will bring you up-to-date on
Zero Waste activities in Warren County as well as our history and programs.
What is “Zero Waste”?
Zero Waste: The conservation of all resources by means of responsible production, consumption, reuse, and recovery of all products, packaging, and materials without burning them and with no discharges to land, water, or air that threaten the environment or human health.
How did ZWWC get started?
In September 2019, 75 people attended an inspiring talk about Zero Waste by Neil Seldman, a pioneer in the field who led the Waste to Wealth Initiative at the Institute for Local Self Reliance. The next day he offered a half-day workshop on organizing toward Zero Waste, and close to 40 people showed up! We followed up by forming Zero Waste Warren County. We decided to become a committee of the Clean Air Action Network (CAAN), a non-profit citizens organization working to clean up the air in the Glens Falls region. A number of ZWWC members took part in a several part training presented by Zero Waste USA in Albany. Our group met only a few times before Covid hit. Right after everything went virtual, we hosted an educational presentation on Ulster County’s food waste composting operation for local officials. That event sparked the Warren County Public Works superintendent’s
interest in composting and gave ZWWC credibility with the County. Next we provided constructive criticism of the County’s Draft Local Solid Waste Management Plan.
We continued to meet together remotely, and took on several projects. As the first few projects gave us a sense of what we could do, we selected more projects. There has never been a lack of things to do and we have developed a strong group that works together well and takes pride in our accomplishments!
How can I get involved?
Take a look at the list of current programs, consider your skills and interests, and then email
zerowastewarrencounty@gmail.com
Or just contact us and we will arrange a time for a conversation. We welcome your interest and energy!
How can I support ZWWC’s efforts?
Your donation in support of our Zero Waste initiatives would be greatly
appreciated. You may send a check to ZWWC c/o Clean Air Action
Network (CAAN), PO Box 7, Glens Falls, NY 12801. Contributions of
$25 or more will also give you a CAAN membership.
Continue reading about our current projects here
Thank you to the
Touba Family Foundation
of Glens Falls
for their generous support. To learn more about The Touba Family Foundation's grant to Zero Waste, click here
Zero Waste Warren County is proud to announce "A Guide to Re-Use, Repair and Recycling of Household Items in Warren County"
The New York State Bottle Bill at 40 - Is it time to update the Law?
Ahead of the 40th anniversary of the Bottle Bill, at a time when society is drowning in discarded plastic waste and local recycling programs are in crisis on several fronts, it’s time to update and expand the state’s highly successful container deposit redemption program. In a business-as-usual scenario, the ocean is expected to contain one ton of plastic for every three tons of fish by 2025, and by 2050, more plastics (by weight) than fish.
Clearly, reducing the amount of plastic waste -- and waste in general -- is a critical way to avoid “doomsday” environmental scenarios continue reading here.