Human Eco worked with Obliteride event staff to outfit this event with three stream waste collection (compost, recycle and trash) as well as trained vendors on compostable purchasing ensuring that a majority of materials generated through this event were compostable. Additionally, Human Eco trained a green team to lead attendee education and reduce contamination for this 4,000 person, three day event. 

Over the past year, Human Eco and REI have worked together to create zero waste events that have diverted 95%+ of materials from landfill. Through our involvement with REI's Corporate Event's team, we've reached milestones such as donating food scraps to pig farms, working with small scale recyclers, outfitting food trucks with reusable service ware and emphasizing trainings with a variety of stakeholders on the impacts of zero waste. 

HumanEco and Africatown partnered to create an unforgettable night in the Central District. The Africatown Community Land Trust is "working for community ownership of land in the Central District that can support the cultural and economic thriving of people who are part of the African diaspora in the Greater Seattle region". This event brought together hundreds of people and families to celebrate culture and life through food, dance and live music. HumanEco provided dish ware and waste management services, diverting over 200 lbs of food waste from the landfill and properly recycling all cans and bottles served at the event. 

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"I organized and led the planning of a community dinner reunion for over 300 people in the Central District and wanted to ensure that proper tableware and waste management services were provided. The plates were beautiful and worked perfectly with the table settings and floral arrangements. I look forward to working with HumanEco again." - Malaysia Marshall, Event Planner

For this event, HumanEco was hired to conduct a baseline waste audit and report. With over 3,000 attendees, data was captured at the source of disposal to determine the effectiveness of the sustainability purchasing policy and disposal infrastructure. HumanEco was asked to provide recommendations and ideas for next year's event to ensure zero waste success and attendee compliance. 

HumanEco provided dish ware and waste management services for Seattle Public Utilities, Defining Success in Materials Management Symposium. This event brought together over 150 sustainability experts throughout the country including REI, Starbucks, Microsoft, EPA to discuss recycling metrics. Through reusable dish ware, silverware and cups, this event was fully zero waste. In addition to minimizing single use items, HumanEco staff worked with Pyramid Catering Company to cut food waste and properly plan food distribution to allow for leftover foods to be properly stored and donated meeting health code standards. The photo to the left is the entire remains of food waste from the two meals served. Additionally two bags of recycling were produced. 

“Sierra Nevada Brewing Co has worked with Hannah/Human Eco Design and Consulting to put our company’s zero waste philosophy into practice at our Beer Camp festivals. She understands the fundamental importance of zero waste and how to practically apply it to a large event to achieve maximum diversion from landfill, track outcomes, and provide excellent support and service to our event team. Her knowledge and experience working in zero waste is invaluable and we trust her completely to fulfill and represent Sierra Nevada’s high expectations for quality. Hannah is an excellent resource in the field and we will absolutely work with her again on zero waste and other sustainability initiatives.”

An overall diversion rate of 74% was achieved for The KindFest. With an estimated attendee count of 2,000 we were able to properly educate people on the best disposal for their items. We worked personally with all vendor partners of The KindFest to ensure all parties were on the same page about the waste goals set for this event. Most vendors sourced compostable and recyclable packaging and tried to minimize food waste by only making what they needed. 

A day filled with education and scientific revelations of plastic pollution in the Puget Sound. HumanEco partnered with Zero Waste Washington to make this event a zero waste event. We used all durable dish ware and cloth napkins, reducing the need for any waste receptacles. All food waste was composted, and no excess food remained after this event. By working with the Director of Zero Waste Washington, a top down approach to proper waste management practices were taken and a goal of zero waste was achieved!

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"I enjoy working with Hannah. She has a knack for problem solving and finding the right partners to make an event come together. She did an excellent job with the Plastics Summit in helping our organization adhere to its mission of being a zero waste advocacy organization and co-planning an event that was zero waste.  Everyone was impressed! She brings innovative ideas and thought provoking questions to every meeting and is a forward thinking leader." - Heather Trim, Executive Director Zero Waste Washington

The first step to waste management is knowing what is in the stream. Countless waste audits have been performed for non-profit businesses, corporate headquarters, homeowners, and schools. Our conclusions show a majority (typically 50-80%) of the waste stream can be diverted to either compost or recycling. Waste audits also determine purchasing loopholes and can end up saving businesses money through purchasing strategy and utility savings. By right sizing containers and monitoring purchasing and consumption, we've helped customers save thousands of dollars a month.