“Vamos Verde”

1. “Vamos Verde” KC Latinos Going Green!!

2. Vamos Verde KC Partners: • University of Missouri Kansas City • Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City • Magic Touch Cleaning, Inc. • Marathon Reprographics Kansas City • ECCO Select • Hoffman Cortes Contracting Company • Dos Mundos Bilingual Newspaper • Deffenbaugh Industries, Inc. & Affiliates • Phillips West Public Relations & Communication • KCP&L

3. Why is It Important to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle? • Conserve resources and save money. • Solid waste disposal fees • MO Senate Bill 530 in 1989 reduce waste by 40% by 1998. • 60% of all the nation’s solid waste is generated by businesses.

4. Advantages of Reducing Waste Economic Advantages • Efficient paper purchasing practices mean you only buy what you need • Stream lining your inventories also saves money • Reducing disposal costs • Double-sided copies mean reducing the amount of paper used by 50%. Environmental Advantages • Reduced air, water and land pollution through recycling processes instead of virgin materials manufacturing processes • Lowering amount of greenhouse gases to combat global warming • Making recycled paper takes less energy than producing paper from virgin fibers Social Advantages • Many consumers consider a company’s environmental record when making purchases--good public image • Businesses and their employees contribute to a more sustainable society • People feel good when they know they are a direct link to the economic and natural resources savings.

5. Methodology for a Successful Waste Reduction and Recycling Program • Reduce: Purchasing less means less waste generated. Carefully evaluate your company’s waste stream. • Reuse: Reusing products and equipment uses less energy than recycling because there is no remanufacturing involved in the process. Reuse also saves money by not purchasing new products and equipment. • Recycle:Only recycled products and materials that have reached the end of their life and cannot be reused. • Buy Recycled:Create a “Green Purchasing” policy within your organization that encourages and promotes buying supplies and equipment that have recycled content, such as paper products, copier, toner cartridges, etc.

6. Ten Steps to Developing a Successful Recycling and Waste Reduction Program • Create a “Green Team” across all levels of your company including outside vendors and other partners • Gain support from Top Leadership in your business • Develop a Company Vision, including goals and implementation strategy to reduce and recycle paper waste • Survey everyone in your company to gain valuable feedback and to gain support • Conduct a Waste Assessment • Find out what is going on in your community with recycling and waste reduction • Create a program specific to your organization and institutionalize the process • Plan a rollout of your program with events and festivities • Promote your program as part of your overall marketing strategy • Track and evaluate your program

7. The Step by Step ProcessLet’s Do it! Step 1- The “Green Team” involves individuals from across all levels including outside vendors and other partners. This is one of the most important steps in creating a sustainable program.

8. The Step by Step ProcessLet’s Do it! Step 2- Gain Support from Top Leadership. It is important for top leadership to support your program.

9. The Step by Step ProcessLet’s Do it! Step 3- Develop a Company Vision, including goals and implementation strategy. Having a vision and specific goals will help in the development of a successful waste reduction program.

10. The Step by Step ProcessLet’s Do it! Step 4 – Survey Everyone in Your Organization to Gain Valuable Feedback and Support. Providing a feed-back loop within any program is critical to its success.

11. The Step by Step ProcessLet’s Do it! Step 5 – Conduct a Waste Assessment. Determining the content of the waste stream is important in learning how to manage it.

12. The Step by Step ProcessLet’s Do it! Step 6 – Find out what is going on in your community with recycling and waste reduction. In order to create a waste reduction and recycling program that fits your organization’s specific needs it is important to understand what services are available in your community.

13. The Step by Step ProcessLet’s Do it! Step 7 – Create a program specific to your organization and institutionalize the process. Whether it is selecting recycling bins or contracting with a recycling hauler, considers all aspects of creating a program.

14. The Step by Step ProcessLet’s Do it! Step 8 – Plan a rollout of your program with events and festivities. Making the program simple, easy and fun are the buzz words for a successful recycling program.

15. The Step by Step ProcessLet’s Do it! Step 9 – Promote your program as part of your overall marketing strategy. Plan to promote your program within your company as well as with your client base.

16. The Step by Step ProcessLet’s Do it! Step 10 – Track and Evaluate Your Program. Tracking your program’s progress is important in understanding what improvements need to be made and to encourage continued participation.

17. Tools For You! • Employee Waste Reduction and Recycling Survey • Employee Survey Tally Sheet • Waste Assessment Questionnaire • Facility Walk-Through Form • Suggested Questions • Waste Sort Form • Waste Sort Totals • Sample Waste Assessment • Summary of Findings • Summary of Waste Stream and Reduction and Reduction and Recycling Efforts

18. Now Just Do It! Commitment Card • Free Waste Audits • Helps the Chamber Show Benefits

19. What We Do Together Matters! Tracking Latino Contributions to Recycling and Waste Reduction Part of the program is that you will track recycling monthly and share with the Chamber!

20. Questions? Thank you! Kaye Johnston Hugo Trejo Angie Callison Paula Schumacher