 Zero Waste climbs to new heights in Himalayas
“The world has not paid attention to the plight of the Himalayas, and we want the whole of humanity to know that the Himalayas are bearing the brunt of our wrongdoings.”
That’s the word from Anil Manandhar, of World Wildlife Fund Nepal, on the impact climate change is having on the highest mountain range in the world. In an effort to combat the mounting environmental damage, a coalition of 24 organizations has banded together under the banner of Zero Waste Himalayas. The group aims to reduce waste in India, Nepal and Bhutan through actions like calling for an immediate end to disposable plastic packaging and drafting a Zero Waste declaration.
Another complementary effort, the Eco Everest Expedition, has carried more than 26,000 pounds of trash and 660 pounds of human waste off the world’s highest peak since 2008.
 Seattle says NO to trashy food packaging
Banning Styrofoam® food containers was its first step toward making on-the-go eating Zero Waste. Now the city of Seattle has expanded the effort by requiring all businesses that sell or supply food to offer only reusable, recyclable or compostable food containers, utensils and the like. Now restaurants, fast food joints, cafés, delis, coffee shops, grocery stores, vending trucks and institutional cafeterias must also have recycling and composting services to collect these materials from customers to make sure these sustainability efforts don’t go to waste… literally.
The city is getting plenty of help from its regional composting facility, which has found a new business opportunity in certifying which products are truly compostable so local businesses aren’t fooled by greenwashing claims like “biodegradable” or “natural.”
 USA v. Scotland
Nevermind the soccer field: When it comes to the war against waste, Scotland’s beating the U.S. hands down. The new Scottish Zero Waste plan has an incredibly progressive goal of keeping any material with reuse or recycling potential out of the landfill by 2020. Jump-starting the effort is the Love Food, Hate Waste campaign
(www.lovefoodhatewaste.com), which encourages residents to be more conscious of their food consumption habits—it’s estimated the average Scot throws out nearly $700 worth of food every year. As for the United States, we scored a few points with President Obama’s Executive Order on Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance, which establishes a 50% recycling goal for all federal agencies by 2015. But the President was quickly outcompeted by EPA Region 9 and its pledge to reach carbon neutrality and Zero Waste at its offices by 2012.
 Buried in garbage debt in Pennsylvania and Florida
Burning garbage to make energy may sound like a smokin’ deal, but dig deeper and you’ll find it’s the local communities that are getting smoked.
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania is contemplating municipal bankruptcy, and, as reported by MSNBC and the Wall Street Journal, “most of the blame can be placed squarely on a single incinerator.” Harrisburg owes $68 million in interest for its incinerator, an amount larger than the city’s annual budget.
Down in Lake County, Florida, fewer snowbirds from up north means less trash, and that amounts to trouble with the local waste burner. Most incinerators operate under “put or pay” contracts that require a minimum amount of trash every year. If Lake County can’t deliver its annual 163,000 tons of trash, the situation “could potentially cost the county millions of dollars.” County officials are soliciting trash from nearby counties and admitting, “We’re not promoting recycling in a big way right now.”
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