1 / 19

by Ann Schneider, former Chair, National Sierra Club Zero Waste Committee

Building Zero Waste Communities: Tools to Take Home Sierra Club Policies, Guides & Websites: How To’s to Help Grassroots Activists. by Ann Schneider, former Chair, National Sierra Club Zero Waste Committee. Sierra Club - Who We Are:.

olga-watkins
Download Presentation

by Ann Schneider, former Chair, National Sierra Club Zero Waste Committee

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Building Zero Waste Communities: Tools to Take Home Sierra Club Policies, Guides & Websites: How To’s to Help Grassroots Activists by Ann Schneider, former Chair, National Sierra Club Zero Waste Committee

  2. Sierra Club - Who We Are: Largest Grassroots OrganizationVolunteersTechnical StaffLobby StaffNationalState / RegionChapters & Groups

  3. Sierra Club Zero Waste Chapters & Groups 64 Chapters 13 in California 1 per state & Puerto Rico Roughly 800,000 members 1.1 million if you include supporters

  4. Environmental Issues Issue Committees / Teams • Zero Waste • Energy & Climate • Cool Cities Mayor’s Climate Agreement • Supports Waste-to-Energy • Support Landfill-Gas to-Energy

  5. Sierra Club Adopts ZWIA Definition of Zero Waste* • Zero Waste is a goal that is both pragmatic and visionary, to guide people to emulate sustainable natural cycles, where all discarded materials are resources for others to use. • Zero Waste means designing and managing products and processes to reduce the volume and toxicity of waste and materials, conserve and recover all resources, and not burn or bury them. • Guiding principle is “highest and best use” of items found in the waste stream that incorporates the value already added to those items, like embodied energy, additives, material characteristics. * www.zwia.org/standards.html

  6. Definition of Zero Waste* • Zero Waste creates Green Jobs. • Implementing Zero Waste will eliminate all discharges to land, water or air that may be a threat to planetary, human, animal or plant health. • www.sierraclub.org/committees/zerowaste

  7. Existing Sierra Club Toolshttp://www.sierraclub.org/committees/zerowaste/ • Zero Waste Policy: Cradle to Cradle : EPR, Zero Waste • Municipal Solid Waste Landfill Guidance • Land Application of Sewage Sludge • Landfill-Gas-To-Energy Policy • 2006 Energy Policy • Against incineration • Leaves open biomass energy

  8. Existing Sierra Club Tools http://www.sierraclub.org/committees/zerowaste/ Purchasing Guidelines for Compact Fluorescent Lighting (CFLs) Green Jobs Waste Surcharge Challenge: an Economic Stimulus for Zero Waste ZW to Reduce Global Warming – 15 Steps Activists Can Do Now to Reduce Global Warming Zero Waste & EPR Resolutions Resolutions to support siting of recycling & composting operations Local Action Campaign – Outlines specific steps a brand new activist can do to grow zero waste actions in their community (Clubhouse website)

  9. Tools we Borrow • ILSR/GAIAs Stop Trashing the Planet • GAIAs Entire Website and tools • GRRNs Cool It 2012 • GRRN Garbage is Not a Renewable Energy • Zero Waste Vancouver: Local Action British Columbia Fights 6 Incinerators • Embodied Energy in Reuse and Recycling as Compared to Burning the Material: Incineration of Municipal Solid Waste - A Reasonable Energy Option? Fact Sheet #3 Add – Lisa Skumatz “Recycling Programs Outperform Energy Efficiency on GHG Abatement & Job Creation”

  10. Working the Political Side – Endorsements • Sierra Club charity status allows us to endorse political candidates and to work on endorsed candidates campaigns using Sierra Club resources. • Our Endorsement is highly coveted by politicians (in our progressive communities). In the top three with nurses and school teachers. • We are allowed to directly lobby elected officials.

  11. Political Pressure • This gives us a unique opportunity to develop relationships with elected officials • Increase Our Clout – match members with elected officials who provide an avenue to communicate both what we support and what we don’t support. • Monitor politician’s actions AND hold them accountable for bad votes and decisions • Don’t endorse them the next time • Guest Editorials and Letters to Editors • Publically thank them for good work

  12. Campaigns Now • Adopting Zero Waste Local Resolutions • Advocate for local governments to create community based task forces to develop Zero Waste Policy and Implementation Plans • Adopt resolutions supporting the siting of reuse, recycling and composting facilities • Pressure local governments to ban or charge fees on single use products (bags, take out food packaging, single use water bottles, etc.) • Advocate for local governments to adopt green building standards for commercial, public works and residential buildings….. And historic preservation and Deconstruction ordinances

  13. Hot Hot Activism • Waste to Energy • Plasma Arc / Gasification • Food waste – Anaerobic digestion ? • Biomass – fire suppression, wood waste • Biofuel/biodiesel – restaurant cooking oil • Landfill Gas-to-Energy (LFGtE) • Renewable Energy Portfolio’s & Standards to disallow WtE & LFGTE

  14. Plastic Bag Bans • What drove the action – stream and bay contamination with plastics, dead animals, recreation, tourism • Main Driving Force – Save the Bay (San Francisco) • Partners – Generation Exchange, Elected Officials, Loma Prieta Chapter of the Sierra Club

  15. Plastic Bag Bans…. ADFs • What we did • Educated members and public on the issue • Email & telephone deluge to Board of Supervisors and San Jose City Council Members • Guest Editorials in Local Papers • Gave political cover to elected officials

  16. Zero Waste and GHG Reduction Actions • Global Warming Law “AB32” • Requires our Air Resources Board to create regulations to reduce GHGs • Requires measurements • Public Input – series of meetings and public comment periods • Partnered with Energy & Climate Com. Activists & SC Calif. Lobbyists to include ZW – mandatory commercial recycling

  17. AB 32 Scoping Plan (GHG Reduction for California) Then reached out to partners in labor groups, medical community, youth groups, EJ and the big environs – NRDC, Union of Concerned Scientists Coordinated message for hearings We Won – mandatory commercial recycling We Lost – WtE counting as recycling – fight another day on RES Legislation

  18. Zero Waste Partners Community Activist Trainings • 2-3 hour trainings for community activists • Demonstrate existing tools and how to use them • How to find other partners within the community • Case Studies

  19. Sierra Club ZW Resources • ZW Committee working with people to help next generation of activists • Ask elected officials to support ZW, EPR, more reuse, recycling and composting, green building and no LFGTE or MSW WtE • Sierra Club Zero Waste Website: www.sierraclub.org/committees/zerowaste/ • http://clubhouse.sierraclub.org/committees/zerowaste • http://connect.sierraclub.org/team/Zero_Waste

More Related