My B g Idea: Make Ithaca a Zero-Waste C ty

By Jessica Franken

Almost any time there is something thrown in the trash, there is an opportunity for things to be different. Zero-waste systems are a versatile collection of strategies that maximize the reuse of materials, divert waste material to beneficial uses, and minimize production of disposable goods and packaging.

Hundreds of cities around the world have adopted zero-waste models, which bring measurable benefits to

• climate, through lower emissions

• public health, through lowered exposure to toxic chemicals

• natural resources, through less extraction and pollution

• local economies, through more money kept in the community, new jobs supporting material reuse, and essential goods redistributed to those in need

According to a 2022 report by global zero-waste coalition GAIA, at least 70% of global emissions come from the material economy: the manufacture, transport, use, and disposal of goods. Zero-waste actions are often the easiest way to bring down emissions rapidly and cheaply.

One of the most crucial zero-waste strategies is to reduce or eliminate singleuse plastics. Plastic pollutes at every stage of its lifecycle, and only 5-6% of plastic waste is recycled in the US. It is not difficult to imagine our city with less plastic—perhaps you even remember it, since half of the plastic in existence today was manufactured in the last 15 years.

Ithaca already has many successful waste reduction programs. I admire the work of organizations like Finger Lakes ReUse and Friendship Donations Network, redistributing materials and food that would otherwise become waste. I’m inspired by community-led initiatives like Zero Waste Ithaca’s Bring Your Own Container program: nearly 100 area restaurants committed to reducing packaging through BYO. I’ve seen how local Buy Nothing and Gift Economy groups build community resiliency by connecting people to their neighbors.

Here are some additional steps we could take to reduce waste—solutions with immediate impact that build upon efforts already underway. You can find more ideas and specifics, as well as a list of the sources cited in this piece, at zerowasteithaca.org.

Support Ithaca City School District’s recent initiatives to switch to reusables in their cafeterias in collaboration with Zero Waste Ithaca.

Go zero waste at festivals, Commons concerts, and other public events. We have a great model with Ithaca Farmers Market’s Dish Truck and BYO initiatives.

Divert usable items from dumpsters during college move-out.

Get containers back to producers for reuse. Think maple syrup bottles, beer bottles, can carriers, etc.

Build water refill stations to lay the groundwork for a shift away from bottled water.

Consider a city-wide Deposit Return System of reusable containers shared among restaurants with drop-off spots and delivery systems.

The new commercial kitchen the City is discussing would make deposit return possible.

Develop a robust local composting infrastructure, which can reduce methane emissions from landfills by 62%.

Pass a “Skip the Stuff” bill making single-use items like silverware and condiments by-request rather than automatically provided for takeout and delivery.

Pass bans on certain single-use plastic.

Pass a right-to-repair bill without the loopholes of the state’s.

The U.S. plastic industry’s greenhouse gas emissions are predicted to surpass those of the coal industry by 2030. The City of Ithaca has a stated pledge to be carbon-neutral by 2030. Rethinking our relationship to solid wastes must be part of those efforts, as circular economy strategies can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 39 to 48%.

Ithacans have the opportunity to safeguard human health, protect our natural resources, reduce our contribution to climate change, and invest in new green jobs by pushing to make Ithaca a zero-waste city.

Iturned sixty years old on Tuesday, December 6, 2022. It bothered me at first. Way over the hill now. Sixty. Not old, but definitely not young. A teenager sandwiched between an aging younger generation and our own older cohorts. I like to call us Late Boomers, or sometimes cuspers.

Four days later on Saturday, or really early Sunday morning for normal people who don’t work nights, my husband is at work in the ED, and I’m at home enjoying my first night off alone after my own two 12 hour shifts. I’m sitting by the fireplace with a cup of tea watching a documentary on Harry and Meghan in happy amazement at the many parallels in our stories, more than I’m permitted to enumerate here. Diana and I (she’d be a year older) both gave birth to a millennial in the same Orwellian year of 1984. By the end of the documentary indelible memories of an almost 40 year journey with my husband and the significance of our recent birthday trip floated around in my head. I gathered these thoughts, and discovered a ‘Big Idea’ from our trip and this famous millennial love story.