“We don’t need a handful of people doing Zero Waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.” –Anne-Marie Bonneau, Zero Waste Chef

You may not realize it, but the Zero Waste mindset is spreading and growing. 

Last year Delaware County hired a Chief Sustainability Officer and launched a Sustainability Commission. The Commission has been meeting monthly virtually since, reviewing many topics related to Zero Waste. They welcome public attendance and participation. Find the meeting schedule at https://www.delcopa.gov/sustainability/commission/schedule.html. 

This fall, the County selected a team of Zero Waste consultants, Zero Waste Associates (ZWA) and Nothing Left to Waste (NL2W) to develop a Sustainability Plan for the County over the next 12 months.

Title page of the ZWA & NL2W Team Proposal to the County

The Plan will guide County planning and operations, setting a model for municipalities. It will also include education and outreach, offering guidance to towns and boroughs seeking to reduce waste and local pollution, protect the County’s natural resources, maximize the use of clean and efficient energy and transportation systems, promote the health and wellness of citizens and strengthen the County’s resiliency to climate change. With overarching principles of equity as well as economic growth, the Plan will build in inclusion of historically underserved communities and focus on the local economy.

An outline for the Plan may be found on the DelCo Sustainability webpage:  https://delcopa.gov/sustainability/pdf/DelcoSustainabilityPlanUpdateNov2021forWeb.pdf. 

As Plan development gets underway, the Commission intends to conduct extensive public outreach to get rich input from the community. Look for announcements for a series of public meetings and workshops the first half of 2022. They will need to hear from you.

For now, take the project survey:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2H22QCL. 

Goals and Guiding Principles for the DelCo Sustainability Plan