How was Zero Waste implemented at the Earth Day events in Reno and Northstar-at-Tahoe?
Early in the planning of the Earth Day events, Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) suggested the idea of bringing Zero Waste to the celebrations to heighten awareness of the demands we place on the ecosystem and our natural resources. The recycling of beverage containers had been a part of both events in the past, but this year NDEP suggested going beyond that. The effort would be to separately collect paper, food wastes, and other biodegradable discards for composting; and to incorporate waste reduction and minimization considerations into other aspects of the event such as food service, vendor’s products, and event activities. Planners agreed that this is an important Earth Day message and Zero Waste was identified as a worthy goal. The North Lake Tahoe Earth Day was held at Northstar-at-Tahoe ski area. Northstar-at-Tahoe provided the venue, food and beverage services. The planning committee and resort approached Zero Waste by trying to minimize packaging, using servic
