Zero-Waste Events
all the fun, less environmental impact
From small office parties to festivals we offer composting and recycling services to help you reduce the amount of waste that goes to the landfill.
Are you hosting an event? Why not make it zero-waste?
Planning your next event as a zero-waste occasion is a fantastic way to contribute towards local, national, and global sustainability goals. It also helps raise awareness about the growing waste problem. By adopting a zero-waste approach, you can actively involve people in the movement and lead by example, showing them how to achieve a waste-free event.
What is Zero-Waste Event?
A zero-waste event is designed to reduce or eliminate waste that ends up in a landfill by reducing the amount of material used and using materials that can be reused, recycled, or composted.
What does a Zero-Waste Event look like?
A lot like a normal event, with some small adjustments. For example, rather than using plastic cups, plates, and utensils, guests will be provided with reusable or compostable alternatives. Instead of having one giant garbage can for everything, bins will be provided for recycling, composting, and reusable items.
What Zero-Waste Event service does Fertile Ground provide?
Prior to your event, our event management team will consult with you about ordering supplies to ensure everything is reusable, compostable, or recyclable.
We will provide bins, signage, and set-up, and after the event ends, we haul away sorted waste to make sure there’s no more trash in landfills than necessary.
Your attendees and or kitchen staff can put all of their food scraps and leftovers into our compost bins and we take care of the rest!
To minimize contamination, we require that any disposable serving ware be BPI Certified Compostable.
Composting
We offer mixed-recycling and glass recycling. The mixed-recycling option includes the collection of Aluminum Cans, Steel Cans, Cardboard, Paper, Plastic #1, #2 & #5 but not glass.
Glass is a separate service.
Recycling
About Food Vendors
In order to make your Zero-Waste event a success you will need to compost and recycle at the event. That means that your food vendors will have to purchase BPI-Certified Compostable items to serve food or drink at this event and sign a Zero-Waste Food Vendor Agreement.
What the heck is a BPI-Certified Compostable Item?
Many serving ware suppliers claim to have compostable items. But, most of them contain Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). PFAS are chemicals that create a plastic coating. This coating resists heat, oil, stains, grease, and water. They are on almost all disposable serving wares and they cause a huge problem for our compost piles.
To eliminate contamination in our compost, we require that if you are composting with us and hiring food vendors or caterers who use disposable serving ware, it must be BPI-Certified. It is the only compost certification that requires its approved products to be PFAS-free.
How do I know if an item is BPI-Certified?
You can check if an item is BPI-Certified by entering the SKU number of the item into the search box on the BPI website: https://bpiworld.org/. If the item appears, that means it is certified! If it does not show up, then it is not certified. If you have any issues finding an item feel free to reach out to us, we’re kinda good at this.
Do you sell BPI-Certified Compostable Serving-ware?
Yes, we do! Check out our Products. If you need to order by the case or need something specific, give us a call. We can make a special order for you.
What is the Zero-Waste Food Vendor Agreement Form?
The form is an agreement that food vendors that will have to sign in order to move forward. It basically states that:
All disposable products provided to event attendees will be either BPI certified compostable or recyclable.
All food will be served on 100% BPI certified compostable serving-ware.
All drinks will be served in 100% BPI certified compostable cups or recyclable cups, bottles, & cans.
All utensils will be visibly compostable.
Food will not be wrapped in foil.
NO individually wrapped condiments will be provided to customers.
When handing food to customers they will be informed that EVERYTHING that they have been served on is compostable or recyclable and will be asked to look for the compost or recycling bins when they are finished.
It goes into more in-depth explanations but this is the gist of it.
Planning is the key of a successful zero-waste event. To ensure everyone is on the same page and committed to the zero-waste concept, it is important to communicate your ideas and goals effectively. Begin by contacting the venue and your vendors in advance and informing them about your waste diversion plans. This way, all participants can be well-informed and educated on the proper waste diversion procedures during the event.
Once you have your venue booked and a general idea of how many attendees you will have, you can fill out the Fertile Ground Zero-Waste Event Form!