About Us
Bainbridge Island Zero Waste’s mission is to reduce the amount of waste produced by our community, from acquisition to disposal. We aim to encourage changes in behavior that ultimately lead to a more sustainable use of resources.
Want to know if you can recycle something?
Want to know which organization might reuse your functional item?
Get the answers on our “Guide to Reusing and/or Recycling Locally” page.
Sustainable Bainbridge created BIZW in 2010. It is managed and run by all volunteers. We encourage you to explore our site, check out news posts and future events, and engage with us if anything strikes your fancy.
Subscribe to our semi-monthly newsletter to keep current on our activities, opportunities for participation and education, and other zero waste news.
Pre-Covid, we met monthly, either in general public meetings or as a steering committee, which consists of Diane Landry (ZW director), Alison Kettering, Susan Knell, Jane Martin, Barbara Ochota, and Carolyn Hart. Check the events listings below for the next scheduled general meeting.
The Zero Waste International Alliance defines “zero waste” as “the conservation of all resources by means of responsible production, consumption, reuse, and recovery of products, packaging, and materials without burning, and with no discharges to land, water, or air that threaten the environment or human health.” Below is the hierarchy to achieve zero waste. Details on the hierarchy can be found here.
What We Do and How We Inform
Highlights
Fashion in the Forest
2022 ReFashion (Trashion) Show
June 12, anytime 1-4pm on IslandWood trails. Seventeen wearable art pieces modeled in three cateories: Upcycled Ready-to-wear, Stage-ready Theatrical Wear, and Mystery Box.
Plus optional audience activities: clothing swap, scavenger hunt and creative postcard campaign
Disposable Mask Recycling
Recycle your used, disposable masks (not cloth) courtesy of Cedars Unitarian Universalist Church. Cedars is collecting in a bucket outside the church office doorway at 284 Madrona Way NE #128 (last commercial building, farthest door down on the left) and will send on to Terracycle.
Zero Waste Meeting: Microplastics and Puget Sound
Listen to the special presentation from Nora Nickum and Dr. Lyda Harris, both of the Seattle Aquarium, to learn about plastic pollution in Puget Sound and the broader ocean, and what policies are being advanced to reduce that pollution and cut back on waste from single-use plastics and other packaging. They presented at the Zero Waste general meeting on March 16, 2022.
New Waste Reduction Ordinance
On November 9, 2021, the Bainbridge Island City Council passed a Disposable Food Service Ware and Waste Reduction ordinance. Starting January 1, 2022, accessories such as straws, utensils, and condiments will be provided upon request. In January of 2023, home-compostable take-out ware, reusable dine-in ware, and a single-use cup fee go into effect.
