Our Favorite Ways to Reduce Waste!
Zero waste maximizes recycling, minimizes waste, reduces consumption, and ensures that products are made to be reused, repaired, or recycled back into nature or the marketplace. Reducing your footprint on the planet doesn’t have to be have to be complicated, living in Portland makes minimizing waste even easier! Check our list below of some of our favorite ways to kick-start your journey to zero waste!
ZERO WASTE PDX
To keep your finger on the pulse of sustainability in Portland, follow Zero Waste PDX, a local business offering resources and tips for reducing your footprint in Portland. They also specialize in personalized consulting packages for businesses of all sizes as well as individuals. Simply subscribe with your email to stay informed about ways to lower your impact on the planet at home, at work, or in your community.
RIDWELL
By providing Ridwell bags, it allows you to collect hard-to-recycle items like batteries, light bulbs, plastic films and more! You don’t have to take your bin to the curb. Every two weeks they come right to your front door to make sure your stuff finds a new home! Their mission is to empower neighbors and communities to build a less wasteful future!
They partner with local non-profits, domestic recyclers, and community artists to give your stuff a new purpose. Your old jeans can become a rug and the harmful chemicals in your batteries stay out of our tap water.
REBUILDING CENTER
With your help, the ReBuilding Center builds community resilience in the Portland region by ensuring access to affordable reclaimed home improvement materials, reuse education, and repair skills so people can be self-sufficient and reduce waste.
They are driven by a shared vision of a world in which all people and materials, particularly those perceived as liabilities and often cast aside by society, are respected and valued as community assets.
Founded as a nonprofit in 1997, the ReBuilding Center continues to work every day to ensure that everyone has access to: affordable salvaged building materials, the tools and skills needed to repair and remain in their homes, opportunities to divert waste from the landfill and be part of the reuse movement, and a healthy environment with less emissions and toxics associated with landfilling and new production.
GO BOX
GO Box is a zero waste service that eliminates single-use trash by providing reusable packaging to takeout vendors & customers. GO Box is a circular system that connects conscious consumers & food vendors around a shared asset – reusable containers & cups. The GO Box team manages all of the logistic & washing services, so it’s convenient & easy to choose to reuse.
For Customers: The GO Box app makes it easy for to borrow & return reusables across town.
SCRAP
Artists know that partially used supplies can easily go to waste — but that doesn’t have to be the case! SCRAP is a nonprofit organization with a mission to inspire creative reuse and environmentally sustainable behavior by providing educational programs and affordable materials to the community. They sell inexpensive reused art and craft materials and office supplies in their retail space and provide a workshop space for individuals and groups to rent.
IMPERFECT PRODUCE
Imperfect Foods is a grocery delivery service with a mission to eliminate food waste and build a better food system for everyone. They offer imperfect (yet delicious!) produce, as well as affordable pantry items, and quality eggs and dairy. These items are conveniently delivered to your doorstep at a rate of up to 30% less than you would pay at a traditional grocery store. Imperfect Foods offers the best of both worlds: access to healthy, seasonal produce and reduction of food waste — all at a lower price. They are proving that doing the right thing for the planet doesn’t have to cost more!