What’s Happening in Gainesville’s Solid Waste/Zero Waste Offices?

Interview with Matt Buszko, the City of Gainesville’s Senior Zero Waste Specialist

Matt wants everyone to understand the difference between Zero Waste Gainesville and Gainesville’s Zero Waste Initiative. Zero Waste Gainesville is the local organization that spear-headed the campaign for the collection of Gainesville’s Zero Waste ordinances that unanimously passed in 2022.

Gainesville’s Zero Waste Initiative is the City’s plan of action that stems from the collection of zero waste ordinances and has an overarching goal to make Gainesville a zero-waste city by 2040. The Initiative involves the entire Solid Waste division of Gainesville’s City Government.

Current Focus:

Matt and his colleagues on the Zero Waste Team are currently focusing on assisting Multi-Family Properties with their Lease Transition Plans. The initial focus is limited to properties with 200 units or more, and the Solid Waste Department plans to provide waste alternatives that promote diversion, reuse, and overall better waste management. Effective 1/1/2025, properties with 50 units or more will also be expected to submit Lease Transition Plans.

Left to right: Austin Smith and Matt Buszko, Zero Waste Specialists, City of Gainesville

 “Everywhere you look you see a single-use item,” Matt said, “and everywhere you look, you see a trash can.” Together they present a powerful visual that upholds the current linear waste stream where everything winds up in the landfill.

“If all you have is a trash can,” Matt continued, “all efforts at meaningful waste diversion are effectively disincentivized. Our aim is to help MFPs equip themselves with the proper tools to set up waste diversion systems that can end up saving them money (by reducing waste hauling fees) and making them look better in their tenants’ eyes.”

Creating and launching a plan of action to divert this trash would make a significant dent in our goal to reach zero waste by 2040. The City hopes providing increasing alternatives to that linear waste stream will further build the mindset of sustainability.

Curbside Composting:

Matt began our talk about Curbside Composting by saying, “If you build it, they will come.” 

The challenge of curbside composting is that nobody in the South or in Florida offers an example of curbside food waste collection. The original curbside collection pilot project that was originally funded by a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant has expanded. The program continues to receive consistent positive reviews from participants. There is ongoing exploration into expanding the program, but also into weighing the economic feasibility of expansion.  Matt encourages people to make their voices heard if they want this program to continue and grow. Gather 50-100 signatures in your neighborhood, put your neighborhood on a waiting list for curbside pick-up, and tell your commissioners you are in favor of expanding this program.

Further good news is that Beaten Path continues to expand and now employs 4-5 people in green jobs that pay a living wage. And Organix Denali, O-Town Compost, and Renuable are companies that are in the process of providing large-scale composting services to Gainesville.

You can find a complete list of Food Waste Collection Services as well as other waste collection services, such as metal recycling, paper and document shredding, and more on the City’s Website.

Left to right: Austin Smith and Tom Strickland, City of Gainesville Recycling Coordinator

And, What About Long Term Plans?

Matt believes the future opportunities for zero waste expansion are “sky-high.” He is currently in consultation with Joy Hughs at Life Unplastic to design a pilot project for reusable takeout containers across Gainesville eateries, restaurants, and hot-bars. Durham, NC, has offered a program to their citizens for years, and Matt believes a similar program is possible for Gainesville. Check out Joy and Danny at WHOA! with Collin Austin to learn all they do to promote a sustainable Gainesville.

What else is going on?

UF students are participating in the City’s Adopt a Street Program. Students have signed-up for the upkeep of as much as two miles of City streets. This program is open to all. If you are part of an organization that wants to give back to Gainesville, contact Matt for more information.

Matt Buszko during a composting workshop

Zero Waste Around Town

Check out the great resources we have around town to help you reduce waste! Content developed by Life Unplastic.

Sustainable Gainesville Interactive Map

Access Sustainable Gainesville on Google Maps.

Features: 

• Zoom in/out

• Select/unselect layers to isolate categories

Sustainable Gainesville Brochure

Download a PDF copy here.

Zero Waste Collaborations

The Importance of Diverting Food Scraps from the Landfill 

Composting is a system that combines food scraps with chipped yard debris to create a nutritious soil amendment. The finished “compost,” when applied to the land, can help store carbon and grow new food. This circular system of resource use has many benefits to the environment and the climate, but before composting, reduce the amount of edible food wasted. Every effort should be made to eat edible food and not waste it. The food scraps from plate scrapings, bits of spoiled food, pits, cores, and peels should all be added to a composting system. 

See content about preventing wasted food from Zero Waste Week 2021 and Zero Waste Week 2022. 

ZWG talked to Stephan Barron, founder, and owner of Beaten Path composting service in Gainesville, in 2021. See the blog post here. 

We’re following up with Stephan to see how the collaborative programs with the City of Gainesville and The Repurpose Project’s Zero Waste Schools Program have affected his business.

ZWG: How has the city’s pilot curbside composting program helped your business grow?

Stephan: The city-sponsored curbside pilot program was a big step for us. In many ways, it showed us what our capacity actually is, gave us the funding to create an actual team and start mobilizing more than just one vehicle, it tied us to more city officials so that we have more of a say and sway in the composting movement, and also got our name out there in a much larger way. I think the biggest help was that it was our first very dense area of participants, and so we were able to see how efficient we really can become when working at a larger yet more tightly knit scale. With the success of that pilot, it has now shifted to an actual city-funded contract, and in April, we will be doubling the participants, if not tripling!

ZWG: What are some of the essential aspects of growing the food scrap curbside collection program over the past 1.5 years that you want to share with us?

Stephan: I think there are more essential aspects than I even realize yet, but what I do know is that community outreach and education are some of the biggest.  As our understanding of climate change, and sustainability/resilience increases, more and more people are reaching out, wanting to do their part. So, I think if we put more effort, funding, and care toward intentional education within our schools and community systems, we will see a huge increase in not only compost participants but home composters and people going even further to grow their own food and much more.

ZWG: Are you on track with your five-year goals? Have any plans changed?

Stephan: So far, I feel like I am on track to reach all of my goals, if not more, within the 5-year time frame I discussed 2 years ago. We now have a team of 3, including me, all paid a living wage.  By April, or roughly around then, our curbside program will be doubled, if not tripled, we will have a new, more efficient truck, and I will be able to hire a 4th to our team.  In the meantime, between then and now, I am meeting with two local farms to discuss contracts for us to compost on their land.  This would allow us to more efficiently compost in various parts of town since the farms selected are strategically located closer to where we would be servicing.  All the while, we would be able to use the compost we make on-site (which you can't get much more efficient than that!). 

Along with that, we are now in close contact with Two Farms One Dream, who will also be possibly expanding into more city contracts! As this all aligns, we hope to find our opportunity to either start creating our "compost academy" on either one of these newly contracted farms, or we will very soon get our own plot of land. Once this falls into place, we will also begin, in earnest, our attempt to start building/creating a regenerative, ecological-based farm.

ZWG: You collaborate with The Repurpose Project’s Zero Waste schools program to divert the student and staff’s post-lunch food scraps. Why is it important for you to collaborate on this program?

Stephan: Collaborating with the Repurpose Project's Zero Waste school program is one of our most rewarding and important connections. As mentioned above, we believe there will be no greater catalyst for the increased communal participation in composting than education. As these kids at school make composting a daily activity, some of them will and have taken that home to teach their family/friends as well. Along with that, when we host field trips for these kids, and they see where the food waste really goes, it seems that they become even more connected to the act of composting and WANT to do it or WANT to share the knowledge with others. So, with this said, not only is it important for our own growth as a business, but it's vastly more important for the simple survival of our species! If we want to continue living on the planet, we need to begin living WITH and within the natural cycles of this planet. So that means more folks need to compost, if not everyone.

ZWG: What do you want the Gainesville community to know about the importance of diverting their food scraps? 

Stephan: I want Gainesville to know that by diverting their food scraps, they are not only reducing powerful greenhouse gases such as methane from being released into our atmosphere, but they are also helping to create high-paying, meaningful jobs while simultaneously helping to restore land! When their food scraps are composted with us, we process them in a way that a large portion of the material and nutrients are disbursed in a balanced way into the surrounding landscape to grow more native plants, which supports native biodiversity while sequestering carbon and capturing heat from the sun into living plants. What material we keep and turn into finished compost is then used by local growers to then magnify this by growing even more plants, life, and food for all!  I think this is what makes us a unique composting operation is that we use a method that helps restore the land we use.

ZWG: How can residents and businesses sign up and begin diverting their food scraps with you?

Stephan: To sign up and compost with us, all you need to do is go to beatenpathcompost.com and apply in our footer form at the bottom of the page. Once you do this, we will get back to you with your options and rates based on your location.  It's that easy, and we offer one of the cheapest services in the nation so that everyone can get access to it!

We also asked Amanda Waddle, Director of Zero Waste, The Repurpose Project, a few questions. 

ZWG: Why is it essential to have Beaten Path Compost in Gainesville?

Amanda: It is essential to have Beaten Path Compost in Gainesville because we need the programs and infrastructure that Beaten Path offers to divert our food scraps from the New River Landfill (Gainesville’s landfill materials travel 33 miles north to the New River Landfill in Union County). But more than that, we’re fortunate to have Stephan, who profoundly understands biological processes and closely connects to nature. His foundation in ecology and knowledge of climate change helps him steer the direction of his business. Stephan is great about collaborating on community projects as well. I’m grateful for all the hard work he has put into his business, and I’m glad he’s here in Gainesville.

ZWG: How does Beaten Path Compost collaborate to help Gainesville reach its Zero Waste goals?

City of Gainesville Zero Waste Initiative

Amanda: Stephan has been eager to collaborate on projects that grow his business and grow the awareness around environmental stewardship from day one. He has worked with the City of Gainesville to expand curbside residential service, and he’s worked with me on various projects. These projects test his ability to grow and help develop the practice and exposure of food scrap collection for composting to those who may not know about it. 

Stephan was willing to collaborate when I started the Zero Waste program at Resilience Charter School. He set up their weekly food scrap collection system while I taught the staff and students how to divert post-lunch food scraps for collection for composting. He also opened his team and their schedule to having the students visit Grow Hub to see his composting operation. For the past two years, the students at Resilience Charter School have visited Beaten Path Compost at Grow Hub in collaboration with Working Food. The students received a two-hour tour of the facility and learned about seed saving, composting, and the connection of our soil to our food. These sixth, seventh, and eighth graders have had a unique experience thanks to their school’s dedicated staff and the teams at Beaten Path Compost and Working Food. Stephan and I also collaborate with Melissa DeSa from Working Food to do a small portion of the Seed to Soil workshop. This four-hour spring workshop, held at Grow Hub, combines Mel’s expertise in seeds saving and growing plants with my expertise in reducing wasted foods, along with Stephan and his team’s knowledge of turning food scraps into a nutrition soil amendment that will nourish future food growth. 

Zero Waste Gainesville and The Repurpose Project are proud that we have community organizations, private businesses, nonprofits, and city and county staff and elected officials that see the value and environmental benefit of working towards Zero Waste. We look forward to fostering these relationships and collaborations for many years as we work towards Zero Waste.   

Here’s how you can divert your food scraps to Beaten Path Compost for composting:

• Grove Street Farmer’s market – bucket swap

  • Where: Cypress & Grove Brewery, 1001 NW 4th St, Gainesville, FL

  • When: Mondays, 4-7 pm

• GNV Farmer’s Market - bucket swap

  • Where: Heartwood, 619 S Main Street, Gainesville, FL

  • When: Thursdays, 4-7 pm

• Drop-off food scraps at either location for free:

• Afternoons, 231 NW 10th Ave, Gainesville, FL

• 4th Avenue food park, 409 SW 4th Ave, Gainesville, FL

• Residential Curbside bucket swap - limited area

• Commercial businesses can contract with Beaten Path for weekly pickup of food scraps. Contact them at beatenpathcompost@gmail.com.

Bread of the Mighty

We talk a lot about food. It stands to reason, people need it to survive and we put a lot of time, money and resources into growing and preparing it. Unfortunately, much of the food we produce goes to waste. In the U.S., up to 40% of all food produced goes uneaten, and about 95% of discarded food ends up in landfills.

There are ways to address food waste and The Environmental Protection Agency Food Recovery Hierarchy provides a simple way to visualize how we should handle excess food. It goes like this:  source reduction, feeding people, feeding animals, industrial uses, composting and the very last resort - landfill/incineration.

Luckily, we have groups in our community that are working to make sure food is provided to those who need it and stays out of the landfill. For Zero Waste Week 2023, we want to highlight one of those organizations - Bread of the Mighty (BOTM). We had a chance to interview Monica Williams, Manager of Strategic Initiatives to learn more about Bread of the Mighty and its critical mission.

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Zero Waste Gainesville: Tell us about Bread of the Mighty. 

Bread of the Mighty: We are a non-profit that collects, sorts, stores and distributes donated food and basic essentials to 170+ non-profit agency partners such as food pantries, churches, homeless shelters and other organizations. These partners in turn distribute food in their communities to feed neighbors struggling with food insecurity. Our organization operates in a five county service area - Alachua, Dixie, Gilchrist, Lafayette and Levy; we are also a Partner Distribution Organization under Feeding America and part of the 12 food bank network of Feeding Florida. 

ZWG: Where and how do you store food?

BOTM: Our 25,000 square foot warehouse has 2,600 square feet of cooler and freezer capacity. Thanks to our generous donors, we now have a fleet of 10 trucks and vans and 5 drivers. We’re on the road five days a week picking up donated food from generous retailers and wholesalers. We have a “Share Floor” where our food and coolers are located for partners to pick up and distribute back to the community. 

ZWG: Who do you work with regularly on food donations?

BOTM: More than half, 54% of our food is donated from local stores. Aside from major retailers such as Publix and Walmart, locals may be surprised to hear our drivers pick up from Upper Crust bakery, Trader Joe’s, Earth Origins, and Door Dash warehouse. Farm produce is 13% of our food source. Feeding Florida secures the food from farmers and disperses to the 12 food banks in the network.

ZWG: What do you do with non-edible food? 

BOTM: We contract with two hog farmers to pick up bakery and produce that is not edible for human consumption. We have been doing this for several years and are looking for more hog farmers that can pick up from the food bank.

ZWG: How do you work with partner agencies and what additional services do you provide?

BOTM: Our partner agencies make an appointment and shop on the Share Floor a maximum of two times a week. Produce and bakery items are always free. Other food products have a fee of .18 cents per pound to cover the cost of obtaining and storing food. 

We are increasing our nutritional efforts in a number of ways. At our mobile pantries and USDA senior program, we hand out nutritional flyers provided by UF SNAP ED. We include recipes in meal boxes that utilize fresh ingredients being distributed at events. Finally, we donate produce to Rawlings Elementary School for an after school cooking club. 

BOTM provides family boxes that will feed a family of four for one week. The boxes are strategically packed with items to cook 7 dinners. Approximately 50 boxes are requested each week. A family box costs $12 each for the agencies. Businesses and organizations can make a monetary donation to cover the cost.

ZWG: What food needs are most prevalent in our community?

BOTM: Produce, bakery, and meat are the most prevalent food needs. We have shifted to these three categories as our major focus for distribution at mobile pantries. BOTM is focusing on fresh food because it is the most expensive and therefore not purchased by our food insecure neighbors. 

ZWG: What are your pressing needs (e.g., equipment, certain types of food)?

BOTM: Our most pressing need is monetary donations. We can purchase more food at wholesale for a dollar than a potential donor shopping at a grocery store.

ZWG: How can people get involved and volunteer?

BOTM: Sign up to volunteer by visiting our website and clicking on the link in the volunteer tab. We welcome individuals and groups. Just sign up for a shift and training will follow.

Rethinking Disposables in a Throwaway Society

By Joy Hughes, Owner, Life Unplastic

It happens easily… you’re running late to work so you swing through a coffee shop for your morning cup of joe. They hand you a couple mini cream cups, sugar packets, and a plastic stirrer. 

Of course you didn’t have time to pack your lunch so you run out to the cafe at noon. But you’re a little behind on your deadline so you grab a pre-made sandwich in a plastic clamshell and a yogurt to take back to your desk. Seeing you’re for take-out, the friendly cashier drops a set of wrapped, disposable cutlery in your bag. 

You’ve been sipping from your reusable water bottle all day but when that 3pm slump hits you decide to grab a soda and a snack from the vending machine…

These things don’t feel like a lot in the moment. But when you look in the little can by your desk at the end of the day, it’s actually quite full. 

I don’t say this to make you feel guilty. We’re all doing the best we can, but we live in a society that is set up to hand you single-use throwaways at every corner. 

But what if instead of the story above, your day looked like this:

You’re running late so you swing by the coffee shop on the way to work. You realize you forgot your tumbler but are happy to pay the $0.50 deposit on your coffee that comes in a returnable jar. You add your cream and sugar from dispensers at a self-serve station and stir it up with a stainless steel spoon that you drop in a “dirty” bin on your way out the door. 

At lunch you run to the cafe and grab a pre-made sandwich and a yogurt. The sandwich comes in a standard Gainesville Returnables clamshell and the yogurt is in a Returnables jar. You use the silverware you keep in your desk drawer for just this purpose. 

When that 3pm slump hits, you head over to your work’s energizing station and make a soda with the sodastream, dropping a dollar in the collection box. 

On your way to your parking spot at the end of the day you drop the Returnables clamshell and yogurt jar into a collection bin on the corner. You leave your rinsed out coffee jar in the car for the next time you stop at the shop. 

Same day, but you produced zero trash. 

That’s the power of a society that’s built around the idea of reusables. And we can have that, right here in Gainesville!

The use of disposable foodware items is a massive problem in the United States. Every single day it is estimated that the US alone throws away: 

• 100 million single-use utensils 

• 136 million disposable cups 

• 500 million straws

In order to tackle a problem this big, we can’t only ask consumers to stop buying single-use foodware. We have to also move up the waste stream and prevent it from being created in the first place. To do this, we need a coordinated effort from communities, businesses, and governments. 

Reusable options in the restaurant and food industry can save literal tons of waste. 

How do we make the switch? One course of action that can move municipalities large and small forward in a big way is a single-use foodware and litter reduction ordinance like the one passed in Berkeley, CA. 

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Single-Use Foodware and Litter Reduction Ordinance - Information Sheet (the info sheet can be viewed in this PDF or clicking on the video below)

A Single-Use Foodware and Litter Reduction Ordinance has the goal to reduce the use of all single-use material and instead promote the use of reusables. 

Components of the Berkeley Foodware Ordinance:

• Reusable Foodware For On-Site Dining

• Front-of-House Recycle and Compost Receptacles

• BPI-Certified Compostable Foodware for to-go

• $0.25 Charge for Disposable Cups

• Disposable Accessory Items Upon Request 

Read more about it here!

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There are many components to a “Foodware” ordinance (listed just above) and the city of Gainesville is including one of those components into their possible upcoming Zero Waste Ordinance: Accessories Upon Request.

• Prepared food providers shall not provide single-use plastic food accessories for dine-in, take-out or delivery, unless the single-use food accessory is specifically requested by the customer or is provided at a customer self-serve station. 

A Step Further

Now imagine a system where takeout from your favorite local eateries was put in a reusable container. When you’re done with it, you simply drop it off at a central locale to be sanitized for reuse. This is Gainesville's future and the future of communities working towards Zero Waste.

• Reusables clamshells!

• Reusable coffee cups!

• The Reuse Service Economy is our future - read about it from Upstream Solutions

Think this is a little outside the box? Check out these Reusables To-Go Systems already in place:

• Durham Green To-Go

• Go Box

• r.Ware & r.Cup

• Just Salad

• Vessel 

• Dispatch Goods

• Article on the reusables packaging systems for foodware.

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So what would this mean for local business owners? 

Turns out, switching to reusables (or disposables upon request) is financially profitable for restaurants and cafes! In fact, in a study of 121 businesses and 11 institutional dining programs, implementing a reusables system saved money for 100% of the businesses. This calculation took into account the initial investments to purchase reusable products, increased labor and water usage for dishwashing, and the rate of return from customers. 

You can peruse some of these success stories here.

One popular lunch spot found that by putting unwrapped straws in a self-service dispenser with a sign reading “Do you really need a straw?”, they saw a 43% reduction in straw usage. And with fewer straws and wrappers in the bus tubs, they discovered the dishwashing process became more efficient. 

A popular coffee shop saw net cost savings of $1,263/year after switching to stainless steel utensils and returnable jars. They’ve eliminated over 12,300 pieces of single-use foodware. 

And the benefits don’t stop there. 

Some additional perks:

• Reduced spending on disposables

• Reduced waste collection costs 

• Increased storage space 

• Improved customer experience 

• Reduced litter near your business

• Greener reputation 

What can YOU do for now?

Keep doing your best to reduce single use products in your life. That may look like: 

• Bringing your own grocery and produce bags

• Refusing plastic cutlery and straws

• Carrying a reusable water bottle

• Bringing your own coffee thermos

• Packing a homemade lunch

• Dining in, rather than taking out

• Choosing snacks with less packaging

• Sharing this knowledge with a friend

And if you want to see big changes, let your representatives know you support the Zero Waste Ordinance in Gainesville! Check out Day 2 for a template letter to sent to your Commissioners.

*Download a PDF version of this web page.

**Visit Life Unplastic, your local sustainable lifestyle store and full-service refillery. It offers solutions and alternatives that will empower you to break free from toxic plastics and excess packaging.