• Hard 2 Recycle
  • About
    • Job Openings
    • History
    • Staff/ Contact
  • Get Involved
    • Internships
    • Make a Donation
    • Sponsorship
    • Volunteer
    • Wish List
    • Youth Environmental Leadership Program >
      • YELP Staff & Alumni
      • How to Apply
  • Programs
    • Bee City USA Asheville >
      • 10th Anniversary Yearlong Pollination Celebration
      • Native Pollinator Plants and Nurseries
      • Pollinator Garden Certification
      • Pollinator Gardens & Meadows Project
    • Education
    • Urban Forestry >
      • Cool Green Asheville
      • Food Tree Project
      • RRI
      • Tree Nursery
      • Treasured Trees >
        • Treasured Trees Calendar
    • Rivers & Roads >
      • Adopt-a-Street
      • Clean Streams Day
      • Cleanup Supply Stations
      • Trash Trout
    • Waste Reduction >
      • Asheville Bag Monster
      • Composting Information
      • Flip Your Lid
      • Plastics Reduction Task Force
      • Recycling Information
  • Silent Auction
  • Upcoming Events
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Benefit Concert
  • Blog Roll
    • Latest News
    • Mind Your Plastic May
    • Protect our Pollinators
    • Voice for the Trees
ASHEVILLE GREENWORKS
  • Hard 2 Recycle
  • About
    • Job Openings
    • History
    • Staff/ Contact
  • Get Involved
    • Internships
    • Make a Donation
    • Sponsorship
    • Volunteer
    • Wish List
    • Youth Environmental Leadership Program >
      • YELP Staff & Alumni
      • How to Apply
  • Programs
    • Bee City USA Asheville >
      • 10th Anniversary Yearlong Pollination Celebration
      • Native Pollinator Plants and Nurseries
      • Pollinator Garden Certification
      • Pollinator Gardens & Meadows Project
    • Education
    • Urban Forestry >
      • Cool Green Asheville
      • Food Tree Project
      • RRI
      • Tree Nursery
      • Treasured Trees >
        • Treasured Trees Calendar
    • Rivers & Roads >
      • Adopt-a-Street
      • Clean Streams Day
      • Cleanup Supply Stations
      • Trash Trout
    • Waste Reduction >
      • Asheville Bag Monster
      • Composting Information
      • Flip Your Lid
      • Plastics Reduction Task Force
      • Recycling Information
  • Silent Auction
  • Upcoming Events
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Benefit Concert
  • Blog Roll
    • Latest News
    • Mind Your Plastic May
    • Protect our Pollinators
    • Voice for the Trees
Picture
Do you ever find yourself at the French Broad River staring at piles of plastic litter wondering what you can do to stop this?  Asheville GreenWorks and our sister page, Going Plastic Free, are here to help you make this happen! Mind Your Plastic May is a month-long campaign to inform you about the grave social and environmental harms that ensue from plastic waste and equip you with the knowledge to reduce plastic in your own life.  

All month long, we will be sharing plastic reduction tips, volunteer opportunities to address plastic waste, educational materials featuring local Asheville businesses, and much more. We aim to foster knowledge and encourage mindfulness around plastic consumption and disposal for individuals and business owners. This month, we hope you will follow us on Facebook and Instagram, where you will gain valuable knowledge about how to refuse, reduce, reuse, and recycle plastics, as well as learn about local waste reduction efforts.

Join our 
Race2Reduce and commit to decreasing your plastic usage for the entire month of May. Sign up here to join the challenge and earn points to win a $25/$50/$75 gift card to Ware!

Many thanks to the businesses and restaurants who supported this effort and are working hard to reduce their own plastic waste. #goingplasticfree

Join us in our love for the planet as we
 address and defeat our global plastic addition.
Donate now for a plastic-free future
Mind Your Plastic May is meant to encourage and challenge us in our journey to live plastic free. These posts are created by GreenWorks staff. If you've found these posts helpful and encouraging, please consider making a donation to support this work. If you have any questions, please email [email protected]

Weaning off the Work Waste

5/18/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
Offices are often bursting with wastes of all kinds. From plastic to paper to food we take our waste with us to work. You may be wondering how to tackle office waste and inspire your colleagues to do the same. Read below to find out how YOU can lead that effort!  

Picture
Perform a waste audit 
Waste audits can give you an idea of what material you are sending to the landfill, and provide you with the necessary information to curb your waste production. According to a recent waste audit at a large government building in Asheville, 67% of the waste could have been diverted to recycling or compost. 

How to do it: 
  1. Collect all of your waste over a one-week span. 
  2. Sort your waste into categories and calculate the weight of each category using the attached form and a kitchen or body-weight scale. 
  3. Analyze your data and consider how you can reduce your highest-waste categories.

Then… reduce! Depending on your data, consider how you can address your biggest waste problem. If your office’s largest category of waste is office paper, consider printing double-sided and placing a reminder above the printer that American offices use about 4 million tons of copy paper every year (equivalent to chopping down 100 million trees). A Xerox study found that nearly half of all printed documents are thrown away within 24 hours, and 30% are never picked up from the printer. Whew… we can do better. 

If you’re throwing away a lot of food, consider implementing a composting program using a local composting pickup service, such as Compost Now, or driving your compost to our local food scrap drop off location. 

There are so many plastic alternatives and innovative avenues to reduce waste! 

Picture
Consider your shipping and deliveries 
According to Oceana, in 2019 Amazon generated 465 million pounds of plastic packaging from their 7 billion packages they sent out. It’s estimated that 22.4 million pounds of that plastic packaging ended up in waterways and marine ecosystems. Those estimates are from just one company and before the Covid-19 pandemic, when e-commerce exploded. 

If you receive large quantities of shipping material to your office, there are numerous reduction options to consider. 

Ask your distributor to switch to more sustainable packaging and/or use less packaging. Our Mind Your Plastic May business partners have emphasized the power of asking. Your distributors want to keep you happy, so they might surprise you with the accommodations they’re able to provide. If possible, use a local company to avoid excessive shipping packaging. If it’s food items, soap, detergent, etc., you may be able to switch to buying bulk. Try to reuse the packaging you're receiving—perhaps to send out your own packages. 

Sourcing office items 
If you buy food, coffee, or other beverages for the office, consider buying in bulk and refilling when possible. The same goes for hand soap, dish soap, and other cleaning supplies. Many cleaning supplies are full of plastic so make sure you know what’s in the products you purchase. If you have a cleaning service, ask them to use your zero-plastic supplies. 

  • Toilet paper/paper towels/tissues → Who Gives a Crap (sold locally at West Village Market) 
  • Trash bags→ Earth Hero
  • Hand soap → Ware, To the Brim Refill, West Village Market, Plaine Products 
  • Dish soap → Ware, To the Brim Refill, West Village Market, Cleancult 
  • All purpose cleaner → Ware, To the Brim Refill, West Village Market, Blue Land, Cleancult
  • Ink cartridges →  Inkpal
  • Paper (8.5*11) →  EcoEnclose
  • Envelopes (4.1*9.5) → EcoEnclose
  • Envelopes( 4.4*5.8) →  EcoEnclose
  • Labels → EcoEnclose
  • Receipt paper → 
  • Packing tape →   EcoEnclose
  • Stickers -->EcoEnclose
  • Other/office supplies -->Dolphin Blue
  • Before using Amazon, check local businesses or Etsy for miscellaneous!
Picture
Eliminate single-use plastic 
Whether it’s for an office party or everyday work, see if you can skip the single-use items. Instead, stock your office kitchen with reusable plates, mugs, cups, cutlery, etc. Make sure you have clean filtered water available so that folks don’t feel like they need to bring in plastic water bottles. 

Do you use a Keurig or another single-use pod-based coffee machine? Good news: There are now reusable Keurig cups. Or consider switching to a coffee machine and using a reusable filter. A french press is also a great zero-waste coffee brewing option. 

Making coffee at the office can also prevent all the disposable to-go coffee cups that employees might opt for in the place of homemade coffee. You could even offer incentives, such as reusable water bottles or metal straws, to folks who skip the disposable coffee cup and brew it in the office! 

Picture
Implement a composting program
One Asheville waste audit, which found that 67% of the building’s waste could have been diverted to recycling or compost, discovered that 52% of the material was compostable. That is a pretty compelling reason to start a composting program! 

Asheville makes composting really easy. Sign up for Asheville’s free Food Scraps Drop Off program here. Assign someone each week to bring the compost to Stephen Lee’s Recreation Center. Or try Compost Now, which is a private composting service that picks up your compost. 

Recycle
Although we should work to reduce and reuse before we recycle, recycling is a useful tool to divert material from the landfill. Place a recycling bin in every room of your office with a list of items that can be recycled in your county. See the Waste Wizard to find out what can and cannot be recycled in Buncombe County. 

For that pesky junk mail: Collect it all and take your name and address off their list! 
Picture
Organize a Green Club 
This is a great way to get folks involved and make sure your “greening” effort is sustained over a long period of time. This group of people (whether it’s 1 person or 50) can lead the implementation of the previously mentioned tips. The Green Club can help bring awareness to the office, celebrate Earth appreciation holidays, such as Earth Day, Composting Awareness week, World Environment Day, Climate Week, and many others. The Green Club could start an onboarding training with employees to get them caring and understanding the importance of plastic and waste reduction. 

We’re so excited for your waste reduction journey! 
If you need more support, reach out at [email protected] to let us know how we can help. ​
By Livia Charles, Sustainability Coordinator at Asheville GreenWorks ​
0 Comments

Posana's Taste for Zero Waste: An Interview with Peter Pollay

5/9/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
Reducing waste at restaurants isn’t simple or easy, but it has the potential to have a huge impact. All
of the choices a restaurant makes to reduce their plastic and food waste can add up to a big difference for our planet. According to DineGreen, the average restaurant generates 100,000 pounds of garbage per year, 90% of which could be diverted to the compost or recycling.
Plastic waste, such as to-go items, bags, straws, cups, plates, and much more, is often a huge part of a restaurant’s waste. For example, 40 billion disposable plastic cutlery are used each year in the United States, enough to wrap the globe more than 139 times. 


​
​Prioritizing reusable materials at restaurants is an essential way to reduce plastic waste. For a coffee shop with multitudes of to-go cups or a restaurant with unavoidable to-go items, creating a reusable incentive program [e.g., providing discounts for folks who bring their own mugs, take-out containers, and bags] could decrease plastic usage. Another option is to switch to compostable plastics and implement a composting program. Of course, along with offering compostable plastics, restaurants need to figure out where that material will go. Compostable plastics cannot be recycled and when they’re put in the landfill they emit methane. Instead, compostable plastics must be disposed of at an industrial composting facility. 
Danny’s Dumpster is a great local composting service option.

Picture
Although restaurants can mitigate large amounts of material going to landfills, other factors complicate waste reduction efforts. It's essential to acknowledge these systemic issues so that we can work to address the waste crisis from multiple angles and levels. Manufacturers and government agencies must share the burden that waste creates. Our current economic system does not account for the environmental costs of plastic waste, and our political system favors the plastic industry’s billionaire shareholders. That means wasteful materials are often cheaper and easier to obtain and the people who manufacture them are not obligated to accept full responsibility for where they end up or the damage they do along the way. This makes switching to eco-friendly materials costly and more difficult. To quote Gillie Roberts, the owner of Ware [see her interview here], “Our governments… should be doing so so so much more. In the meantime if we don’t take some level of accountability we can only hold them so accountable.”
In the meantime... restaurants have enormous power in our struggle against the global waste crisis. I spoke with Peter Pollay who is the co-owner of Posana with his wife, Martha Pollay. He took me through Posana’s sustainability journey and what they’re doing now to reduce their plastic waste. ​
Picture
"I know that you might just be one restaurant in one location thinking, 'what am I going to do to change the issues of our world,' but if everyone did their little part it all adds up. Every little bit helps. "

What inspired you and your wife to certify Posana as a green business and adopt sustainable practices? 
I was a classically trained chef who moved to Asheville and became a realtor. In 2004 the Asheville board of realtors started a course to provide knowledge for local realtors about buildings that were green built, which was through the local realtors green building association which certified homes. At the time, Asheville constituted 95 percent of the green buildings in the state; it was very forward thinking. I helped that [course] form: through training and working with the home builders association.  
​

Right before my wife and I decided to open our own restaurant, we took a trip to Los Angeles where we dined at a certified green restaurant. This was inspiring. When we opened Posana there was not a single other green certified restaurant in North Carolina. 

After all this time that we invested into thinking about eco choices surrounding the restaurant, we believed a third-party certification would help explain our sustainability practices to the public. So we decided to join the green restaurant association. The procedure to get certified is very rigorous. You need to get a certain number of points in six different categories, including having ZERO styrofoam. 
"We divert approximately 85 percent of our trash by weight into recycling or composting."
Picture
What are your sustainability practices? 
Posana has robust recycling and composting programs. We divert approximately 85 percent of our trash by weight into recycling or composting. The highest percentage by weight is compost by far [Posana uses Danny’s dumpsters for compost], then recycling and cardboard, and the smallest percentage is trash— Posana produces two small trash bags everyday. 

As far as plastic, Posana’s biggest plastic waste comes from chemical containers [e.g., cleaning supplies] and gallon jugs of food and drink. We try to buy everything in five gallon jugs [bulk] so that we have less plastic packaging; we also ensure that the jugs are recyclable and get to the recycling bin. All of our takeout is given in compostable containers* [Posana uses cornstarch-based bioplastics], including compostable bags. We avoid all plastic water bottles, and for the sparkling water we use recyclable glass bottles of Mountain Valley Spring Water, an Asheville local water distributor. Before water was readily available, we filtered city water and made our own water bottles, which prevented the packaging and shipping required for water bottles coming from non-local businesses. 

We also work hard to institute other sustainable methods beyond waste and plastic reduction. We buy as locally as possible in order to avoid the fossil fuels required to transport items and the extra packaging that’s used to ship food far distances [which reduces plastic because plastic is the primary packaging material]. Our seafood is from the east coast and sustainably raised, as well as the majority of our meats— mostly from local farms. We give our cooking
​oil to Blue Ridge Biofuels to convert into clean-burning biodiesel. The secondary product of this conversion, liquid glycerine, is made into liquid soap, which we then use at Posana. A few of our other sustainable tricks: the hardwood floors at Posana were made from reclaimed wood from a barn in Haywood county, we use LED bulbs, an electric water heater, and water filtration. If we ever renovate, we try to use someone local to avoid the environmental cost [including loads of plastic packaging] of shipping materials. 


Posana doesn't have a ton of food waste, but we have worked with Food Connection in the past, and always make sure to compost. 



​So what actually ends up in the landfill at Posana? 
Certain printed materials, some bubble wrap and shipping peanuts, plastic wrap film which food is often wrapped in, and garbage that people leave. 

What have been the hurdles? 
The cost of things; we are constantly negotiating with purveyors about prices and increasing sustainability. At some point you just have to make the decision to do the right thing then get comfortable with that. 

The legal system does not facilitate plastic and waste reduction efforts. The USDA does not allow farmers and producers to reuse egg flats, cartons, and boxes that have already been used to deliver items; in essence they become single-use containers, which creates a ton of waste. To illustrate this issue: when Posana used to do brunch, we would go through approximately 8 flats (2.5 dozen eggs per flat) of eggs per week. There were about 7 flats in each case so we were going through approximately 224 flats of eggs per month. Posana only did brunch twice per week, so other more breakfast-oriented restaurants may be creating four times that amount of waste. We also get a huge number of boxes everyday: cardboard, wax-covered, and more. 

It would be great if this material could somehow be reused. Perhaps if ASAP brought the containers back to the farmers to reuse or if we figured out a system where the containers were not thrown away after one use. Beyond legality, many of these decisions come down to ease and lack of systems in place — delivery workers are already at capacity and to ask them to redeliver boxes and flats would be a further burden on them. 
"No matter where you are, ask for your suppliers to have bulk products."
Is it more expensive to run your restaurant sustainably? 
This is a hard question because it’s not a yes or no answer. Definitely all of the compostable materials are more expensive. Compostable items are 2.5-3 times more than the cost of Styrofoam. A case of 1,000 compostable cups cost upwards of $110 [a case of 1,000 styrofoam cups costs about $38]. 

In other ways sustainable practices can cost more up front but save money down the line. The cost of LEDs have come down and Duke Energy now provides rebates to subsidize the cost. [LEDs use 75 percent less energy than incandescent lighting, so they last longer, saving the material and energy, as well as serious cost saving—up to $300 per year.] LEDs don’t heat up the room, so you don’t need to use as much AC, saving fossil fuels and money. ​
Picture
How can other restaurants/businesses begin this process?
No matter where you are, ask for your suppliers to have bulk products. Using products wrapped/packaged in bulk prevents all the single-use containers involved with retail-size purchases.

Our purveyor of tea had a lot of packaging and no options for wholesale packaging. We continuously hounded the company asking them every month to please make something more conducive to restaurants and they finally did. This likely was a result of many people calling and asking for this change. It’s great when you have smaller purveyors and can connect with them about these kinds of issues. For example, from Lusty Monk, I started getting one gallon containers of mustard after a while. The retail product comes in small glass jars.

Anything else? 
I know that you might just be one restaurant in one location thinking, “what am I going to do to change the issues of our world,” but if everyone did their little part it all adds up. Every little bit helps. 
... 
Picture
Thanks for sharing, Peter. Head over to Posana to enjoy a scrumptious cocktail and see their sustainability in action! 

*For any restaurants using compostable to-go items/compostable plastics of any kind: Make sure you are ALSO providing a place where that material can go— compostable plastics must go to an industrial-level composting facility. They cannot be recycled and when they’re put in the landfill they emit methane. Danny’s Dumpster is a great local option! ​
By Livia Charles, Sustainability Coordinator at Asheville GreenWorks ​
0 Comments

Low Waste Shopping Guide

5/9/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
Two of the easiest places to reduce plastics are in your kitchen pantry and in your personal care routine. And that’s why you’re lucky to live in Asheville. We have many stores that offer alternatives to plastic packaging and let you bring your own containers to refill your laundry detergent, shampoo, soap, peanut butter, flour, quinoa, and SO much more. ​

Picture
According to the Bulk is Green Council, the average shopping cart of 10 plastic products refilled over a year keeps 118 pieces of packaging out of the landfill. That means, a family of 4 could eliminate 472 pieces of packaging. If every resident in Buncombe County switched to buying bulk, we could eliminate 3 million pieces of packaging from landing in our landfill. Since packaging accounts for 40 percent of all plastic produced, eliminating some (extra credit: try for all) of your packaging can drastically shrink the pile of plastic waste you create by the end of the year.

Peruse our low waste local shopping guide to find out where you can get bulk food, personal care items, and cleaning supplies. All of these places are BYOC friendly – bring your own container. Personally, I like to reuse glass jars and plastic tubs for bulk food items and cleaning items. I use old shampoo/conditioner bottles for personal care supplies, as well as old yogurt tubs! So the next time you finish up some peanut butter, be sure to hold onto that jar, so you can refill it with some delicious local granola from the French Broad Food Coop! 

Picture
Picture
A few of our refill locations in Asheville and what they specifically offer: 
  1. Our MYPM partner Ware provides many bulk personal care items (e.g., lotion/ shampoo/conditioner/soap/toothpaste tablets) and home items (e.g., laundry detergent/dish soap/cleaning spray), as well as some more fun zero plastic products. You can bring your own container or use one of Ware’s free reusable containers. 
  2.  To The Brim Refill Store also offers bath and body products, as well as cleaning products. 
  3. The French Broad Food Co-op  and West Village Market offer extensive bulk food options, including grains, nuts, flours, herbs and spices, teas and coffees, freshly ground peanut and almond butter, and more! Other grocery stores, such as Whole Foods and Hopey, also offer many bulk items. 

It’s certainly not easy to completely avoid plastic packaging, but shopping in bulk with a reusable container is one of the easiest ways to cut your plastic waste. 
​

Use our shopping guide to keep plastic packaging out of your life and off of our planet!
By Livia Charles, Sustainability Coordinator at Asheville GreenWorks 
0 Comments

Ware: Plastic and Waste Cognizance

5/4/2022

0 Comments

 
Asheville is full of ordinary people meeting tough environmental challenges with creativity. 

There is so much to learn from Gillie Roberts, the owner of Ware, a sustainability shop in downtown Asheville. Her shop is a great example of how any business—whether a restaurant, retail shop, real estate office, or brewery— can reduce their waste. Gillie is also full of wisdom on how we can reduce waste in our personal lives and the hurdles that prevent us from moving away from landfill waste. 

Watch Gillie’s interview to learn about sustainability, plastic waste reduction, and find out how Ware can help you divert material from the landfill. 

This feature is part of our larger 2022 Mind Your Plastic May Campaign; join the Race2Reduce challenge here. 

By Livia Charles, Sustainability Coordinator at Asheville GreenWorks 
0 Comments

Our Plastic Problem

5/26/2021

0 Comments

 
By Maggie Gulick
Picture yourself at the grocery store. Imagine looking around at all the packaging. Every product you want or need is contained in plastic films, bottles, tubs. Even the produce section is full of things like organic cucumbers wrapped in gleaming seals of unrecyclable plastic. 

Have you ever tossed something into the recycling bin hoping it was, in fact, recyclable? Perhaps you hoped putting something you thought should be recyclable in the bin would magically make it so. You wouldn’t be alone; it’s called “aspirational recycling,” and it’s a natural response to the information we’ve been given. 

For years, many good-intentioned and eco-minded people have become complacent in their plastic consumption, because they were assured plastic would be responsibly recycled to its next useful life. Growing awareness of the world's significant plastic problem--think the Pacific Garbage Patch, single-use plastics, and microplastics--has shattered that complacency for anyone paying attention. In recent years, with China no longer accepting the majority of the world's plastic waste, Americans have found themselves (or more to the point, our planet) quite literally choking on plastics. 


A Lifestyle Shift

Cue the rise of the zero-waste movement. The concept is nothing new (respect for our trusty food co-op and farmers markets), but its rise to popularity in recent years may feel to some like the latest millennial trend. Well, some trends last. As consumers become more educated about the effects of plastic on our lives, the zero-waste “trend” is becoming a true lifestyle shift. Sure, it’s chic to show off your reusable canvas shopping bags and instagrammable beeswax wrap, but there is a clear and growing desire by consumers to be better and do better by our planet.
Options for waste-free shopping are becoming more accessible in response to the plastic and packaging piling up across our planet. Asheville has long been home to bulk food stalwarts like the French Broad Food Co-Op and the former Greenlife (now Whole Foods). Today, smaller independent shops and specialized refilleries are expanding options for package-free purchasing of everything from cleaning products to toothpaste tabs and facial serums.
Many of these shops aim for zero waste with their refill sales and stock goods from small eco-minded manufacturers with their own zero-waste goals. Nearly all these places welcome customers to bring their own container (BYOC) or have refillable storage items available for purchase. Many also feature sustainably, ethically, and locally made goods.
Read on to learn about some local Asheville shops making it easier to reduce your plastic footprint. Website links for each shop are provided; be sure to visit their pages for the most up-to-date information on pricing and availability.

Don’t have time to read the whole article? Check out this chart for the quick down-low on some popular Asheville refill stations:

​
Picture
Picture
More Mindful Consumption: Where To Shop

First up, Earth Fare. Its reopening was celebrated by many Ashevillians, but the pandemic had an effect on refill availability. Bulk food is still available but with less variety than in pre-pandemic times. A future shift to more bulk items is possible, but for now, some pantry staples are still available at this chain. 

Next up is Ecolibrium, a refill delivery service and pop-up operation run by UNCA graduate student, Yarina. Pop-ups occur every other Sunday at Haywood Commons Sunday Market, from 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM. A Haw Creek Commons pop-up is planned for the near future. The shop sources their refill products (dish soap, hand soap and laundry detergent) from a sustainable, small family business called Rustic Strength. Rustic Strength uses low environmental-impact ingredients including aloe, coconut oil, natural sea salt, biodegradable and renewable surfactants; they never use phthalates, parabens, perfumes, synthetic dyes or colors, nor sulfates (SLS and SLES). 

5th Season is known primarily as a garden store, but they also cater to the zero-waste consumer. 5th Season carries dish soap, hand/body soap, shampoo/conditioner, lotion for refill in bulk. Like a few other shops on our list (To The Brim, Ware, and West Asheville Market) 5th Season stocks Refill Stations from Fillaree, an earth-friendly producer of soaps and cleaners, based in Durham, NC. In addition, 5th Season sells a full range of supplies for the aspiring (or current) homesteader including fermentation, canning, and brewing supplies.

Hopey & Co., Asheville’s much-loved family run budget grocery, has reduced its supply of bulk items during the pandemic. They currently pre-portion many of the previously refillable pantry staples. This is likely to change again in the coming months. 

Ah, the French Broad Food Co-op. This long-time purveyor of sustainable food has one of the best bulk sections we’ve seen. Find nuts, seeds, herbs, spices, teas, flours, granolas, beans, maple syrup, vinegars, oils, soy sauce, nut butters, coffee, candy, cleaning products, shampoo, lotion, body wash and more. Like other shops, the Co-op is BYOC. Be sure to have your containers weighed before you fill them! Like the West Village Market- which sells seeds, nuts, nut butters, beans, coffee beans, granola, flours, rice, herbs, medicinal herbs in addition to shampoo, lotions, castile soap, biodegradable cleaner and more- it can be a one-stop-shop for most of your pantry, household, and personal care basics. 

The New Generation

To The Brim Refill Store is a game-changing shop for anyone looking to take their zero-waste shopping to the next level. Owner, Shelby, welcomes shoppers to bring in all kinds of (clean and dry) reusable vessels for refill. She carries many sustainable, ethical personal products and home and kitchen goods like UNpaper towels. The shop has over 80 household, cleaning, and body care products available in bulk. They have a Refill Station from Fillaree and an impressive assortment of bulk personal care items—think vitamin C serum, charcoal masks, and toners—in addition to zero-waste natural beauty line, Zerra & Co. 

Beauty is one of the most plastic-intensive consumer industries (to the tune of 120 billion units of plastic packaging annually); greater awareness of and access to sustainable beauty brands is essential to plastic waste reduction. Shelby is committed to carrying brands like Zerra & Co., which commit to limiting plastic and avoiding single-use plastics altogether in packaging and delivery of their products. Zerra & Co. tries to work exclusively with ingredients suppliers using 100% recyclable and compostable shipping materials (including the tape!). Increasingly, brands—from smaller brands like Zerra & Co. to larger brands like Kjaer Weis and Alima Pure—are also experimenting with returnable and refillable packaging.

Ware is, quite simply, a lovely place to shop. It feels a bit like part old-timey mercantile and part chic homeware store. Gillie, Ware’s owner, stocks plastic and (mostly) package-free personal and home care products like bar soap, shampoo bars, toothpaste tablets, and dishwashing blocks. This includes an array of reusable products like refillable biodegradable dental floss and cotton makeup remover pads. She also carries numerous sustainable and ethically made goods from local makers and a Refill Station from Fillaree. Ware also offers carbon neutral bicycle delivery with Flashcat Courier Co. for customers in the 28801-28806 zip codes for a small $6.00 fee.


​The Bigger Picture

Zero-waste shopping really means zero-waste consumption. As a movement, zero-waste is tied to much more than reducing plastic waste. It is about creating healthier products and healthier systems to deliver those products to consumers. 

A growing number of online purveyors are connecting consumers with eco-minded, zero-waste brands. Such brands use minimal packaging and aim to distribute their goods with as little waste as possible. Robust, new recycling programs like Terracycle, Loop, and Nordstrom’s BEAUTYCYCLE program are gaining traction with consumers. These programs and brands are great and necessary, but none is enough by itself. Local zero-waste options are a necessary additional step to make zero-waste shopping more accessible to all kinds of consumers. Asheville’s wide variety of zero or near-zero-waste shops make us aware of our consumption habits and how easy it can be to waste less. Everyday products need not be wasteful anymore. Refillable and reasonably-priced bamboo-fiber dental floss, anyone? 
Picture

Maggie has lived in Asheville for five years and is a member of the City's Sustainability Advisory Committee on Energy and the Environment (SACEE). With SACEE, Maggie currently focuses on waste reduction working with both Food Waste Solutions and the Plastics Reduction Task Force. ​

0 Comments

Thank you for being a part of Mind Your Plastic May!

5/29/2020

0 Comments

 
Thank you for participating in Mind Your Plastic May! We hope that the information shared here will inspire you to reduce plastic in your life where you can. Please consider following us on social media to stay up to date with waste reduction content like this, and more about GreenWorks' programming.
Follow Asheville GreenWorks
Follow Going Plastic Free
​If you have a few minutes, please fill out the survey below to help us make our educational information and resources even better!
0 Comments

Giving Plastic-Free Gifts

5/27/2020

4 Comments

 
Picture
By Ghia Ulrey

Choosing the perfect gift can be a challenging task. Making sure the gift is environmentally-conscious and plastic-free may seem even more challenging. In this post, we hope to inspire you to give thoughtful, fantastic gifts while decreasing your overall environmental impact.

Read below to explore the many ways to give a gift!

  1. Give the gift of experience: Most people have a hobby they enjoy, whether it’s going to concerts, making art, or playing sports. This year, instead of buying them another paintbrush or basketball, look for tickets to an event or a class to learn a new skill. Make it something you can do together because they are more likely to remember the experience you’ve facilitated than an item that you bought. 

  2. Make it edible: The way to a person’s heart is through their stomach. Prepare a favorite dish or treat and bring it over in a reusable container to avoid plastic packaging. If you’re not the best cook, purchase a gift card to their favorite restaurant, bar, coffee shop, etc. Try to avoid the plastic card with an email gift card or a paper one if the shop provides. You could also pick up something tasty from a local shop. Ask in advance if they would be willing to put it into your own container so you can be prepared. If not, ask for it on their dine-in dishes and transfer it to your own container.

    During the time of COVID-19, most businesses are not accepting reusables. Don’t let this stop you from supporting your local businesses! Reducing our plastic waste is important, but in the scheme of things supporting our local community makes a big impact, too. 

  3. Be intentional and purchase quality: Ever received a gift you didn’t want? What happened to it? Instead of getting someone a gift that is going to end up in a thrift store or the landfill, talk to your friend or family member about what they really need or want. When you find the perfect gift but realize it is made from plastic, search the internet for the same gift made with better quality materials (i.e. glass, stainless steel, wood). If you’re buying clothes, opt for natural fibers like cotton, wool, and silk. Polyester, acrylic, nylon, and more are synthetic fibers that shed microplastics when washed. 

  4. Alternative wrapping: Most wrapping paper can’t be recycled due to dyes, lamination, or other additives. Check with your local recycling organization before throwing it in your bin. In Buncombe County, Curbie does not accept wrapping paper.

    Instead, you could try these low-waste alternatives: brown paper, newspaper, and fabric. If these are too plain, decorate them yourself with paints or stamps! Swap your scotch tape for paper tape or avoid tape completely by using the furoshiki method, a Japanese wrapping technique that uses only fabric to elegantly wrap a gift. Skip bows and ribbons for a sprig of their favorite herb or a flower. The receiver will hopefully take a bit longer to cherish your thoughtfulness before getting to what is inside. 






​



​


Ghia Ulrey lives a low waste life with her rescue pup, Yama. She cares about plastic reduction because she really wants to go to the beach and not have to collect trash. With her TRUE Advisor certification, she hopes she can help businesses start zero waste programs. 
​

4 Comments

Plastic-Free Crafting with Kids

5/27/2020

0 Comments

 
By Megan Travi

Crafting with kids has become a plastic-filled nightmare. Glitter, foam, googly-eyes, beads, pipe cleaners… So. Much. Plastic. If you’re like me, many of these precious works of art spend a few days affixed to your refrigerator door, then end up in the trash. What a waste!

It may be hard to control what happens in schools and daycares, but I’m here to inspire some plastic-free craft ideas you can easily do at home. First, let’s talk about procuring your materials. You likely have an abundance of craft supplies in and around your home!

Collecting Your Art Supplies

In your yard: Leaves, flowers, twigs, acorns, maple “helicopters,” pine cones, grass, moss or lichen (on the ground), and rocks can all be excellent materials for any art project. 

**Bonus -- collecting these items can be an activity all on its own. Go on a scavenger hunt to see how many different colors, shapes, (really any variations you can think of) you can find. Just grab a basket and start exploring!

In your pantry: Dried beans, legumes, rice, pasta, cereal, popcorn, marshmallows.

In your recycling container or trash: toilet paper/paper towel rolls, egg cartons, yogurt containers, empty jars, brown paper bags, newspaper, and cardboard.

Now that you’ve got your supplies, here are a few DIY projects to substitute store-bought materials, further diminishing your craft-related environmental footprint.

Homemade Craft Supplies

Glue: Simply whisk together 1 cup flour, 1 ½ cup water, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 tsp vinegar.

Paint: You can use almost anything as a base for non-toxic, edible paint. Yogurt, sweetened condensed milk, or coconut milk (the thicker style that comes in a can -- just be sure to shake it vigorously before opening). Or if you’d like to use a paint recipe that’s a little less “appetizing,” combine 1 cup salt and 1 cup flour, slowly mix in 1 cup COLD water, and add in the desired amount of food coloring. Pour into a container with a lid, shake before use.

**Pro-tip -- save those empty squeeze bottles (ketchup, mustard, sriracha, etc) to increase ease of use and storage. Need a paint tray? Squirt small amounts of the different colors into an empty egg carton!


Food Coloring: While many folks probably have store-bought food coloring on hand, you likely also have many items in your pantry or refrigerator that can be substituted. Some families also prefer not to use store-bought food coloring due to the concern for artificial dyes and preservatives. Check out this link to this blogger’s recipe for creating pink, yellow, purple, and green food coloring using items such as beets, turmeric, spinach, and blueberries. Making each one takes about 5 minutes, minus cooling times for some of the recipes.

Glitter: Homemade glitter could not be any easier! It won’t have the shimmer and shine of store-bought, but remember -- glitter is essentially tiny shards of plastic. Simply mix a small amount of salt (table or rock salt both work - the finer the salt, the finer the finished product) with a few drops of food coloring of your choice and dry it out for 10-15 mins in a low oven. You can make a range of colors and textures for your kids to experiment with, and it’s SO much easier to clean up!

Playdough: There are so many recipes online for making your own playdough! The best results are those with cream of tartar, which helps to make the dough extra-smooth and pliable, but you don’t have to. Follow TinkerLab’s recipe here, or search for other recipes online.

Now that you are inspired and equipped to ditch the plastic from your kids crafting repertoire, here are a few fun examples using the above materials. We’ve curated some of the best, but a quick online search will lead to many more. So check these out and happy crafting!

Craft Ideas

5 zero-waste craft ideas the kids and the planet will love - includes paper mache, colorful food art, DIY containers, DIY wrapping paper, and leaf painting.
20+ Nature Crafts for Kids - includes a variety of crafts for kids of all ages, including a maple-seed dragonfly!
Mandala Art for Kids - make mandalas using leaves, flowers, colored pasta, or anything else you can find! Includes links to designs to get your creative juices flowing.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Nature Craft - This classic book and its beloved imagery by Eric Carle can be turned into an activity that brings to life the hungry caterpillar and some of the food it eats on its journey to becoming a butterfly.

Picture
​
​Megan is the Development Associate for Asheville GreenWorks. She was born an environmentalist and continually strives to pass on her love of nature and passion for environmental stewardship on to Amos and Hazel, her wild and wonderful 5yo twins.
0 Comments

Throwing a Plastic-Free Children's Birthday Party

5/26/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
By Marcia Schroeder

There is mounting pressure to have goodie bags, colorful plastic plates and cups, and a room full of balloons at your child’s birthday party. But with a little planning and resourcefulness, your plastic-free party can be lovely, as well as educational for children. Here are a few tips for hosting an excellent, educational party:

  • Bring the kids on board for planning. They are receptive to anything that helps animals and our planet.
  • Send invitations by Facebook or Evite.
  • Switch from plastic to your everyday dishes and cutlery. There is more cleanup, but zero waste means less cleanup for the planet.
  • Use fabric tablecloth and napkins.  If you don’t have a tablecloth, repurpose a colorful old sheet.
  • Say “No!” to plastic straws, balloons, and glitter - which is made from thousands of pieces of plastic.
  • Plan plastic-free activities like musical chairs, mini-Olympics, Mother May I, and Red Rover.
  • Make your own DIY bubble solution. Instead of plastic wands, you can use embroidery hoops or make loops of pipe cleaner or a wire hanger. Then have a contest to make the biggest or weirdest bubbles. 
  • For goodie bags, use paper gift bags and fill with birdseed, chalk, homemade play dough, or edible treats.  Part of your guests’ take-home loot could be recycled flower pots with potting soil planted with carrot tops.

Depending on the age and desires of your child, you might suggest guests contribute to a local charity (e.g. Asheville GreenWorks, a pet rescue center, animal shelter, or Make a Wish Foundation) instead of purchasing new toys. If gifts are a necessity for a harmonious and happy birthday party, here are a few tips to give your guests:

  • Select items with minimal packaging or bring something gently used. 
  • Gift non-plastic toys wrapped in child’s art, the funny pages, or decorated with leaves and flowers.
  • Give creative gifts like a butterfly garden or modeling clay or ticket to an event. 

​You might also suggest guests bring a shelf-stable food item for a local food pantry or a pet toy to donate to the shelter. This type of giving fosters community awareness and responsibility in your child.

Planning a plastic-free, zero-waste birthday party might take a little more time, but making it fun and educational will result in an excellent party and learning opportunity for all the children and adults.
















“As an avid biker and hiker, I have become more passionate about protecting our planet.  Working with Asheville GreenWorks has introduced me to a new level of commitment and activism in our community.” Marcia is a member of the Plastic Reduction Task Force.


0 Comments

A Review of 'Join the No-Plastic Challenge: A First Book of Reducing Waste'

5/25/2020

11 Comments

 
By Mary Moody
Picture
By Mary Moody

The Crosby, Stills, & Nash lyrics, “teach your children well,” came to mind when I purchased Join the No-Plastic Challenge by Scot Ritchie. Our children will inherit this earth, and we need to do everything we can to teach them that Earth is our home and deserves our protection.  

This illustrated book for children uses cartoons to explain how plastics are made, the good uses for plastic, and the harm caused by single-use plastics. The book’s birthday party theme illustrates simple changes we can make to reduce plastic waste.  For example, in the book, the children remember to bring their own water bottle, help their parents to remember reusable bags when shopping, and politely say, “No, thank you!” to straws and lids at restaurants.  

This book strives to educate children about the 3 Rs: Reduce, Reuse & Recycle.
It teaches children how the 3 Rs help to protect our wildlife and our food sources. Readers are also challenged to go a day without using any single-use plastics and to leave each place they visit cleaner than when they arrived.  This book may seem redundant to families already making plastic reduction a priority. However, other families might be inspired to reduce their plastic usage by practicing the thoughtful examples explained by Scot Ritchie. Adults can gain perspective as they teach their children about building a better world. And no time is better than childhood for learning the importance of the 3 Rs!  

11 Comments
<<Previous

    AuthorS

    Staff from Asheville GreenWorks, volunteers from the Plastic Reduction Task Force, as well as other guest writers who are advocates and friends.

    Archives

    May 2022
    May 2021
    May 2020
    May 2019
    April 2019

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed


​Asheville GreenWorks is a 501(c)3 non-profit environmental organization, governed by a Board of Directors. Established in 1973, GreenWorks mission is to inspire, equip and mobilize individuals and communities to take care of the places we love to live.
  • Hard 2 Recycle
  • About
    • Job Openings
    • History
    • Staff/ Contact
  • Get Involved
    • Internships
    • Make a Donation
    • Sponsorship
    • Volunteer
    • Wish List
    • Youth Environmental Leadership Program >
      • YELP Staff & Alumni
      • How to Apply
  • Programs
    • Bee City USA Asheville >
      • 10th Anniversary Yearlong Pollination Celebration
      • Native Pollinator Plants and Nurseries
      • Pollinator Garden Certification
      • Pollinator Gardens & Meadows Project
    • Education
    • Urban Forestry >
      • Cool Green Asheville
      • Food Tree Project
      • RRI
      • Tree Nursery
      • Treasured Trees >
        • Treasured Trees Calendar
    • Rivers & Roads >
      • Adopt-a-Street
      • Clean Streams Day
      • Cleanup Supply Stations
      • Trash Trout
    • Waste Reduction >
      • Asheville Bag Monster
      • Composting Information
      • Flip Your Lid
      • Plastics Reduction Task Force
      • Recycling Information
  • Silent Auction
  • Upcoming Events
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Benefit Concert
  • Blog Roll
    • Latest News
    • Mind Your Plastic May
    • Protect our Pollinators
    • Voice for the Trees