Toward Zero Waste

No one aspires to waste anything – we all want to make the best use of what we have. Waste is regret – think of “wasted time”, “a waste of potential”, “a life wasted”. Most tangibly, though, waste is anything we throw away – and waste is costly:

First we pay for something we don’t use.
Then we pay a second time to have it disposed of.
We often pay a third time – without realizing it – through environmental damage and adverse health impacts.
Resources – natural and manufactured – are finite, and many are scarce. Scarce resources increase in cost.

Green Needham’s “Toward Zero Waste” initiative aims to use the four R’s – reduce, reuse, recycle and rethink – to address problems of waste. We are focused initially on three areas we believe can have the greatest impact and benefit locally – food, community-wide recycling and reduce/reuse.

Recycling

Needham has been a state-wide leader in residential recycling rates and reducing material sent to landfills. Green Needham aims to increase awareness, access and use of recycling by the Needham community...

Reduce/Reuse

Why aim to reduce your waste? The EPA estimates that we use 380 billion plastic bags/wraps each year. Plastic is now everywhere, including in our seafood and drinking water. The junk mail that we receive destroys 100 million trees a year ......

Food Waste and Food Justice

Green Needham supports reducing waste, getting food to those in need, utilizing the remaining waste for uses such as compost or energy generation...

Recycling Tips - Best Practices

This page lists "best practices" for recycling at the Needham RTS. Following these ensures that Needham's recyclables will command the highest possible price in the market.

Ask the Recycler

Have a Recycling Question? Consult the RTS website, with its many details about what can and cannot be recycled, and check out our FAQs...

Food Rescue & Food Waste

Over 40% of the food produced in the United States - and the energy, water and money used to produce it - is never used to feed someone - it is wasted somewhere between farm and table. Green Needham's food waste project aims at the parts of that chain ...

Resources

Green Needham