As sustainability becomes more important in the face of climate change (it is January 2025 and five fires are currently blazing through the Los Angeles area, decimating entire neighborhoods), venues, corporations, stadiums, and major sporting leagues have all turned their attention to creating zero waste events. What exactly does it mean to be zero waste?
Zero waste is defined as “the conservation of all resources by means of responsible production, consumption, reuse, and recovery of products, packaging, and materials without burning and with no discharges to land, water, or air that threatens the environment or human health.”
Coined in the 1980s by Daniel Knapp, who founded a salvaging operation with his wife that separated commodity sets into twelve different types of resources, the concept behind zero waste, which is defined as is to rely on materials that can be categorized under one of the five R’s:
- Refuse: avoid buying unnecessary items and products
- Reduce: use less or just what you need
- Reuse: use items multiple times or repurpose them
- Recycle: convert waste into its base materials to be repackaged and sold to manufacturers
- Rot: compost organic materials
Zero waste does not mean that you don’t actually produce any byproducts from your event or business or home; what it does mean is that the byproducts you do produce are part of a circular instead of a linear lifecycle stream and don’t wind up in a landfill.
How do you know if your event is zero waste?
Green Business Certification, Inc. provides a number of certifications to events and event venues based on standardized protocols that have been internationally established and recognized. Some of those include:
- TRUE certification: tpromotes the redesigning of resource life cycles, encourages material reuse and recuycling, helps eliminate pollution and cuts your ecological footprint;
- LEED certification: provides a framework for green buildings that are designed to protect and restore water resources, protect biodiversity and ecosystems, promote sustainable and regenerative material lifecycles, and reduce negative contributions to climate change and human health
- PEER certification: promotes a resilient, reliable, and sustainable power system and energy grid
- SITES certification: promotes sustainable and resilient landscape development to reduce water usage and restore natural habitats
A truly zero waste event would have recycling and compost bins with little to no landfill waste whatsoever, minimization of single stream materials such as plastics, and innovative ways of reusing and reducing onsite material consumption.
Events that reduce their landfill production by 90% or more over a 12 month period earn TRUE zero waste program certifications. State Farm Arena, for instance, where the Atlanta Hawks play, is the first TRUE certified sporting venue in the United States. More areas and stadiums are following suit. In fact, MLB, the NFL, NCAA, NBA, NHL, and PGA have all incorporated sustainable initiatives such as reverse vending machines, food donation to local charities or animal feed processors, G-Force Waste Sorters for on-site trash sorting and recyclable compacting, on-site urban gardens to provide locally sourced food, low-flow water saving plumbing fixtures, cooking grease recycling into biodiesel, elimination of plastic straws, and rainwater recapture.
The Cincinnati Bengals now employ a post-game recyclable material clean up crew to go through the stands and comb through for recyclable containers in clear bags before the waste clean up crew sweeps up landfill waste in black bags which decreases the possibility of cross-contamination.
If you would like a comprehensive plan on how to achieve a zero waste event, check out our Sustainable Event Guide, which breaks down all the actions you can take both in the planning and aftermath of your celebration. PopUP CleanUP can provide consulting, rentals, and staff to help reduce your footprint and increase customer satisfaction and experience while still achieving a zero waste or reduced waste result.
