With The Help of Recycle Ann Arbor, We Diverted 87% Of Our Picnic Waste Away From The Landfill!
Our beverage dispensers were an easy way to move away from aluminum cans, and they looked great too!
The Piper Partners 4th Annual Client Appreciation BBQ was a success! Thank you to everyone who made this fun day possible!
When we started planning, one of our goals was to have and promote a zero-waste event. We reached out to Recycle Ann Arbor and were very fortunate to connect with Angela Porta, the Outreach & Zero-Waste Program Manager who quickly became an invaluable resource! She consulted us on what compostable and recyclable products to buy, brought a zero-waste station to our picnic, and stood by all afternoon to answer questions and make sure our guests knew what materials went where. Thank you, Angela, we could not have done it without you!
Angela Porta, Outreach and Zero Waste Coordinator with Recycle Ann Arbor. If you are planning a zero-waste event you can reach out to Angela Porta for assistance. Notice how small our landfill container is between the recycle and compost bins.
The BBQ was so much fun to plan and execute! With Angela advising us, we learned a lot we didn’t previously know about recycling and sustainable living. Before the picnic, we didn’t even know what a diversion rate was! Now we know that we can calculate what percentage of our waste is diverted from the landfill by dividing our individual types of waste (recycle, compost, and trash) by the whole weight of everything we discard.
After the picnic, Angela calculated our diversion ratio and sent us a comprehensive analysis of the results! The Piper Partners 4th Annual Client Appreciation BBQ diverted 87% of our waste away from the landfill through composting and recycling. We composted 69%, recycled 18%, and trashed only 13% of everything we used to make this BBQ happen!
While we are very pleased with the success of our first-ever zero-waste BBQ, there is room to improve. We were surprised at how many little unsustainable items slipped through the cracks. For instance, the flowers for our table vases came wrapped in cellophane and our ice cream containers had plastic seals.
By being more mindful of the small things in the coming year, we can reduce waste in our everyday lives. Also, we are setting the bar higher for our 2020 BBQ by aiming for a diversion ratio of over 90%! We are confident that we can achieve this goal with a year’s worth of knowledge and experience under our belt!
If you want more information on planning a zero-waste event feel free to reach out to us or contact Recycle Ann Arbor!
