The Zero Waste Countdown Podcast

Meet Josh Walters (front right), one of the men behind the new Feedback App sweeping Toronto’s quick service restaurant scene.

When a restaurant gets close to throwing out leftover food they post a discount on the Feedback App instead. Hungry deal seekers can use the app to find restaurants close by offering discounts in realtime, thus decreasing food waste sent to landfills.

Not only can restaurants make more money by offering quick discounts instead of wasting food, customers can save money too, and get to know more local restaurants and find new favorites. Feedback even donates meals to charity - find out how on this episode of ZWC.

Feedback App 

The Ontario Government’s Donation of Food Act, 1994 

Kupfert & Kim

What is BPA, where is it found, how is it getting inside us, and why is it potentially dangerous to human health? Which age group is most exposed to BPA?

Lorna Harries is an Associate Professor in Molecular Genetics at University Exeter Medical School.

“She developed an interest in gene regulation and alternative messenger RNA processing in endocrine disease and human ageing. She now heads the ‘RNA-mediated mechanisms of disease’ group at UEMS. She has written over 90 peer-reviewed articles and was awarded the Diabetes UK RD Lawrence Prize Lectureship in 2011. She is co-ordinator of the annual UEMS ‘Men in White’ school outreach with Dr. John Chilton. This event brings in year 9 students from schools stretching from South Devon to North Somerset and gives them hands-on experience of work in a research laboratory. Lorna is a STEMnet ambassador and also an Exeter Catalyst Champion for Public Engagement.”

Read more at https://medicine.exeter.ac.uk/people/profile/index.php?web_id=Lorna_Harries#W5JBmbcALyr5Ffs4.99

Lorna recently headed a research study about BPA levels in the diets of teenagers.

Read her full study here: An engaged research study to assess the effect of a ‘real-world’ dietary intervention on urinary bisphenol A (BPA) levels in teenagers.

Change petition for BPA labelling in packaging:

https://www.change.org/p/uk-parliament-stop-unavoidable-plastic-pollution-of-human-bodies-from-food-packaging

The flower industry packs a large carbon footprint by using airplanes for transport, refrigerated trucks, chemical fertilizers and pesticides, plastic packaging, cellophane, little plastic trinkets, and balloons and ribbons that end up on our beaches and can strangle wildlife. What a mess!

Local farmer Melanie Harrington of Dahlia May Flower Farm doesn't use any of these harmful aspects of the flower industry yet her blooms are healthy, beautiful, and bountiful.

Find out how Melanie grows and sells flowers sustainably in the Bay of Quinte region and why her business is booming.

Dahlia May Flower Farm

The Director of Environmental Defence Canada, Tim Gray, joins the Countdown to speak with us about legislation in Canada that's leading to waste reduction on a massive provincial scale.

Five cent plastic bag charges have shown to be more than 85% effective in reducing plastic bag use and Environmental Defence is pushing Ontario to introduce a bottle return program that will see bottles returned for 10 cents - it's proven to work! Ontario produces about 3 billion plastic bottles a year but only 1.5 billion make it into the recycling system. A bottle return program will see upwards of 90% of those bottles returned.

Did you know that there are lobbyists in this world who want to DOUBLE OUR PLATIC PRODUCTION to increase their sales? If the plastic industry doesn't take more responsibility for plastic recovery then citizens may get so fed up with plastic pollution that we push for single-use bans in general.

Laura also gets the chance to ask Tim what Canadians, as a freezing cold and large nation, can do to curb our carbon footprint when we have long distances to travel and homes we need to significantly heat just to survive our cold winters.

This is Tim's article in the Toronto Star on how Canada can lead the way forward against plastic waste at the G7 Summit.

We talk about the Great Lakes, Canada's microbead ban, and how governments can take action to reduce waste by setting targets and introducing penalties.

If you're interested in paving out an environmental career for yourself Tim gives some valuable advice for those wanting a meaningful, purposeful job that helps the environment and reduces needless waste.

Environmental Defence Canada

Our mindless overconsumption is out of control on a planetary scale and our oceans are being emptied at an alarming rate. A lot of fish that are taken from our oceans today lose their lives but aren’t actually consumed by humans – what’s happening to our oceans?

Julia Barnes is the award-winning filmmaker behind Sea of Life. For as long as she can remember Julia has been passionate about the natural world, but it wasn’t until she was 16 that she realized the world she loved was in jeopardy. After watching Rob Stewart’s documentary Revolution and learning that the world’s coral reefs, rain forests and fisheries are expected to be gone by the middle of the century she was compelled to take action to protect the world she loved from human destruction. Film was the most powerful weapon she could imagine so at the age of 16, with no film experience, she picked up a video camera and set out to make a documentary to raise awareness about the biggest threats facing the planet and inspire audiences to turn things around.

Sea of Life Movie

Sustain makes healthy, sustainable clothing from organic, natural fibers that are good for your body and good for the world. Unlike traditional manufacturing processes they avoid using petroleum-based dyes and toxic chemicals that harm the environment and can absorb into your skin. Sustain's selection of plant-dyed clothing is made with certified organic materials and traditional ayurvedic processes. Also, by using pesticide-free plants for both fabrics and dyes, Sustain actively reduces harmful chemicals in the atmosphere. Together we can help reverse the cause of global climate change and save our own skin.

Kat, the founder of Sustain, has given us coupon code ZEROWASTE for a 15% discount

Sustain Clothing 

Facebook

Join Laura in Toronto as she speaks with Jessica Panetta, the Marketing and Communications Manager for TerraCycle Canada, as we talk about how TerraCycle started, how it works, how you can participate, and how you can get your workplace involved.

A Zero Waste Box on top of a bench made from TerraCycle recycled plastics 

TerraCycle is Eliminating the Idea of Waste® by recycling the “non-recyclable.” Whether it’s coffee capsules, pens from school, or plastic gloves from a manufacturing facility, TerraCycle can collect and recycle almost any form of waste. They partner with individual collectors such as yourself, as well as major consumer product companies, retailers, manufacturers, municipalities, and small businesses across 21 different countries. With your help, they are able to divert millions of pounds of waste from landfills and incinerators each month.

There are many free programs to participate in or you can actually purchase a zero waste box to mail in items that cannot be collected curbside. Use coupon code COUNTDOWN on TerraCycle.ca if you’re Canadian, or TerraCycle.com if you’re American to save 10%.

The Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency (OCRRA) is in charge of facilitating the proper disposal of solid waste in the county. Proper disposal is a constantly evolving term, and OCRRA has been a leader in this evolution, having won numerous national awards; most recently the 2017 Solid Waste Association of North America’s Gold Award for Composting Systems.

Dale Cocca is a recycling specialist with OCRRA, closely involved in building local markets for recycled organic matter (namely compost and mulch), with concurrent responsibilities in educating the business community and the community at large on proper practices for handling waste. Join us as we discuss the benefits and challenges of outgoing compost in the Syracuse area and beyond.

https://www.facebook.com/OCRRA/

http://ocrra.org

China recently announced it will no longer accept contaminated plastic recycling from the West, leaving municipalities in England and North America scrambling. Why isn't Quinte Waste Solutions affected?

Quinte Waste Solutions was one of the frontrunners of the blue box program in Ontario, Canada, going strong now for 28 years.

More than that, Quinte Waste Solutions showcases the importance of community involvement and how recycling is one piece in a process, and one process in overall environmental improvement. Find out the whys and hows of one of the best curbside recycling programs in Canada with Rachel Revoy, the Communications Coordinator at Quinte Waste Solutions.

How does your municipal recycling program compare?

QuinteRecycling.org

Facebook.com/QuinteRecycles

Twitter: @QuinteRecycles

Instagram: @QuinteRecycles