Presenters will highlight why it’s important to protect your storm drains, and how businesses can help protect waterways. While much of this information is broadly applicable to all business types, it will be particularly useful for restaurants, auto repair/body operations, and car wash facilities.
The session will be moderated by Donna Walden of greenUP!/Nevada Business Network, and presenters will include Julianne Rhodes from Environmental Innovations/California Green Business Network and Cassie Carroll of the Illinois Green Business Association/Green Business Engagement National Network (GBENN).
The US EPA estimates that in 2019 alone, 66 million tons of wasted food was generated in the food retail, food service, and residential sectors, and most of this waste (about 60%) was sent to landfills. Food Waste Prevention Week (FWPW) is a collaborative effort to raise awareness about food waste and its negative impacts on our society and environment, while also sharing resources to help individuals, families, and organizations reduce their food waste. Because the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) Zero Waste team has experience working on food waste reduction and management projects, ISTC is proud to be a FWPW partner organization for the third year in a row!
Be sure to check ISTC’s social media platforms during April 7-13, for highlights of relevant projects, as well as facts and resources to help you on your food waste reduction journey. If you’re not already following us on social media, you can connect with us on Facebook and LinkedIn.
How do I get involved?
The FWPW website provides a wealth of information to help various sectors with food waste prevention efforts, including descriptions of webinars presented by partners across the country. Here are just a few suggestions for relevant activities and webinars, arranged by sector, including links to ISTC and partner organization resources, as well as links to appropriate sections of the FWPW website for further information and inspiration. Links to specific programs or services are for informational purposes only and should not be construed as endorsements by ISTC, the Prairie Research Institute, or the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Colleges & Universities
Host a “Weigh your Waste” event to get students involved and to illustrate the magnitude of food waste generated. Uneaten food from student trays from a single meal period is collected, weighed, and put on display. This offers opportunities for discussion around the causes of waste and encourages students to brainstorm ideas for reduction. See this case study from Chapman University for inspiration.
Promote your campus chapter of the Food Recovery Network (FRN), or consider forming one if your campus is not yet participating. FRN is a non-profit that unites students with businesses and other community partners to recover perishable food and fight hunger while simultaneously fighting waste.
Register for these webinars (and check the FWPW webinar page regularly for addition of similar events):
Check out the NRDC Food Matters Beginner’s Guide. The NRDC Food Matters project partners with cities to achieve meaningful reductions in food waste through comprehensive policies and programs. This guide introduces policymakers, agency staff, and activists to the project and provides resources related to food waste reduction and communication strategies, as well as case studies from successful initiatives in partner cities.
Use the NRDC Guide to Making a Public Commitment on Food Waste. This can be a way to harness local leadership and constituent buy-in, while increasing accountability, and helping your city serve as inspiration for peers in other locations.
Register for these webinars (and check the FWPW webinar page regularly for addition of similar events):
See this page for additional information for restaurants.
Individuals & Families
Explore the resources at Savethefood.com, including recipes to use up ingredients and leftovers, storage tips to keep food fresh longer, a tool to estimate the amount of food you’ll need for a certain number of guests, and other planning suggestions.
Register for these webinars (and check the FWPW webinar page regularly for addition of similar events):
Photo by onephoto for Adobe Stock Images, Education License – University of Illinois
Uncover cost-saving and efficiency opportunities for your food-focused business! The Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) and the Smart Energy Design Assistance Center (SEDAC), units of the University of Illinois, areproviding free technical assistance to 10 small for and/or non-profit entities, such as restaurants, grocers, and other food-focused businesses and organizations in DuPage and Kane Counties in Illinois. By getting assessed, businesses can lower operational costs, reduce wasted food & resources, and attract environmentally-conscious customers.
Assessments will focus on helping entities reduce costs and/or reduce environmental impacts through pollution prevention, energy efficiency, water reduction, alternatives to hazardous chemicals, and waste reduction including purchasing and disposal.
What will the process look like?
Step 1: Initial conversation. This will take the form of a brief introductory phone call to discuss the assessment process and expectations. There will also be discussion of utility data collection. (Participant time commitment: 30 minutes)
Step 2: Pre-Assessment Data Collection & Analysis. The participating business will share utility billing data as available. Providing this information helps our team quantify savings opportunities found on-site. (Participant time commitment: 30 minutes)
Step 3: Facility Walkthrough. On-site visit to discuss and tour the facility to review current conditions of the facility including infrastructure and operational processes. Identify sustainability opportunities for cost and resource savings. (Participant time commitment: 1 hour)
Step 4: Providing Recommendations & Resources. ISTC and SEDAC will use data and information from previous steps to develop strategies to reduce costs and/or reduce environmental impact. Recommendations and resources will be shared with the participating business via a written report and presentation with Q&A. (Participant time commitment: 1 hour)
Step 5: Implementation. ISTC and SEDAC will assist businesses that are interested in implementing recommended strategies. Implementation assistance includes further guidance on equipment and/or process upgrades, as well as connecting to incentive or funding opportunities. (Participant time commitment will vary.)
Step 6: Case Study (Optional). A case study will be developed to showcase opportunities uncovered and strategies implemented. (This step is optional. If you decide to share your experiences with peers and customers, your time commitment will be approximately 1 hour to review drafts and provide feedback/approval.)
Participants will be selected on a rolling basis and ISTC and SEDAC will work with participants upon selection until December 2026. Questions can be directed to Zach Samaras at zsamaras@illinois.edu.
This opportunity is made possible by a grant from US EPA Region 5.
According to GRF, more than 28 million glass bottles and jars end up in landfills each year, despite the fact that glass is endlessly recyclable. Recycling glass can protect the environment, economy, and sustainable manufacturing by capturing materials for reuse and keeping them out of landfills, as well as preventing litter from polluting the ocean and beaches.
To improve glass diversion from landfills and educate the public about the importance of glass recycling, Constellation Brands and its popular beer brand, Corona, have teamed up with GRF for a glass recycling initiative as part of the Corona Protect Our Beaches campaign.
This pilot program involves glass bottle recycling at Chicago-based bars and restaurants. Participating locations will separate their glass bottles into a separate bulk bin for pick up, starting in late June 2021. The GRF pays a hauler for the pick-ups; there is no cost to the participating locations. Any glass bottle, not just Corona-branded bottles, can be recycled, and no color sorting of bottles is required (as noted during the webinar Q&A). Additionally, a small amount of incidental contamination (e.g. napkins or straws) is acceptable. This creates a simple system for the participating pilot locations.
The glass recycling pilot will be paired with special events including an interactive experience that sheds light on the need for glass recycling and helps “crush the problem.” At these events, empty bottles will be turned into a sand-like powder using a grinding machine that allows members of the public to watch the process, thus capturing their attention and imagination. Event attendees learn about the program and the call to action, “#DontTrashGlass.” Select consumers will be able to feed empty bottles into the grinding machine. Events will also feature a sand art station for attendees to enjoy as they learn about the benefits of recycling glass. According to Defife and Lang, the grinding machine is actually relatively quiet; the generators used to power the machine at these events is louder than the machine itself. The sand-like substance fits well with the theme of Corona’s Protect Our Beaches campaign and brand identity. GRF recognizes that there are many ways to use recycled glass and beach restoration is one of them; in addition, bottles can become new bottles, fiberglass, construction aggregate, sandblasting, and more.
Over the course of nine weeks this summer, the grinding machine will tour ten different wholesalers and corresponding accounts. The complete list of grinding events is available at https://protectbeaches.com/events/. Events kick off on June 25 at two locations in St. Charles, IL, and one in West Chicago.
During the webinar, it was noted that additional restaurants and bars can be added to the pilot in the Chicagoland area by contacting Defife or Lang (their email addresses are provided at the end of the webinar recording). Also, the collaborative team is trying to figure out what it would cost to continue the recycling program beyond the pilot period. A similar pilot is taking place in Phoenix, AZ, in partnership with Glass King. At the end of the pilot the total tonnage of glass recycled will be measured to illustrate diversion impacts. Participating locations will also learn valuable information about the nature of their waste streams from those measurements.
Links, company, and brand names are provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as endorsements by ISTC or the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
