The flowers are in full bloom, the sun is shining brightly, and Zero Waste Arlington is championing a variety of community events filled with summer fun and reuse activities
Arlington Beer Garden
For the second year in a row, Zero Waste Arlington is partnering with the Arlington Recreation Department and beer vendor Arlington Brewing Company to establish a reusable cup program for the bi-weekly Arlington Beer Gardens. From June through August, approximately 1,500 residents gather each week for a picnic while enjoying the view at the Arlington Reservoir. All beer sold at the event is poured into reusable cups, affixed with a sticker that reminds patrons to return the cup for reuse and includes a QR code to learn more about the Zero Waste committee’s events and initiatives.
A variety of methods are used to inform and remind patrons that the cups are reusable and, if returned, will be cleaned and sanitized for use at future events, thereby reducing the use of single-use plastic in the community. Educational methods include signage at Arlington Brewing Company’s bar, a 2 ½” bright orange sticker on every cup, bright orange yard signs scattered throughout the beer garden, clear orange signage at the cup collection stations, and social media publicity before each event.
The team collects the cups in dedicated orange bins with clear signage, located next to each trash and recycling barrel. To be ready for the next event, the cups are sanitized and air-dried in a rented commercial kitchen space, following Arlington Health Department sanitation requirements. Zero Waste Arlington and Arlington Brewing Company worked together to select a cup that would withstand the impact of over 100 uses, while also meeting aesthetic requirements of showing off a perfect pour. Arlington Brewing Company pays for the commercial dishwashing rental and labor associated with collecting, sanitizing, and inspecting each cup for reuse. The Committee estimates that the disposal of over 2,700 single-use cups was avoided as a result of offering reusable cups at the event last year. Zero Waste Arlington is currently planning further improvements to the program and hopes to grow the number of participants this summer.
Arlington Town Day
Each September, over 10,000 residents and business owners of the Town of Arlington come together to celebrate the annual rain-or-shine Town Day tradition. The streets are closed off to traffic, and attendees enjoy live music, arts and crafts booths, local restaurant food, and streets lined with every local group imaginable.
Last year, Zero Waste Arlington reserved the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) Water Truck for Town Day, as an extension of the Committee’s Arlington on Tap initiative. The free water truck offered clean, cool drinking water to every Town Day attendee. The Arlington on Tap campaign brings greater awareness to the high quality of the Town’s tap water and develops and promotes a network of public refill stations in Arlington. Public water refill stations increase reuse and align with the town’s single-use plastic water bottle ban that prohibits the sale of non-carbonated, non-flavored water in plastic bottle sizes of one liter or less. Zero Waste Arlington has partnered with the Town of Arlington to install public water refill stations on the Minuteman Bikeway and in parks throughout town. According to Zero Waste Arlington, “more than 1.5 billion beverage bottles are sold each year in Massachusetts. Only around 20% get recycled. The rest end up as litter or in landfills and incinerators.” By promoting “bring your own” water bottle habits and offering refill stations, residents are less reliant on single-use containers.
The team is also tackling single-use takeout containers by partnering with Recirclable to offer a reusable alternative to be adopted by food vendors.
Last year, Zero Waste Arlington eliminated nearly 150 single-use takeout containers from Town Day’s waste stream, as well as diverted a barrel of compost. Recirclable provided the reusables to help support this growing program and will repeat this effort with further improvements to continue to scale up the impact at this year’s Town Day in September. Zero Waste Arlington also emphasizes the importance of actively including the local Health Department to ensure compliance and quality throughout the process.
Zero Waste Arlington received no-cost technical assistance from RecyclingWorks MA to update their Beer Garden reusables program signage and streamline waste stations for optimal use.
RecyclingWorks in Massachusetts is a recycling assistance program funded by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and delivered under contract by CET that helps businesses and institutions reduce waste and maximize recycling, reuse, and food recovery opportunities. Let’s get started! Call (888) 254-5525 or email info@recyclingworksma.com.