About
Vision
To foment a national campaign where compostable organics are too valuable to landfill and are instead diverted to home, municipal or commercial compost systems. These systems then produce contaminant free amendments that when applied to gardens, landscapes, farms and open land, naturally sequester atmospheric carbon in the soil where it is slowly converted to energy by plants and microflora.
Mission
To reduce the climate impacts of misplaced organics by encouraging all 50 US states to develop robust compost and diversion infrastructures and move away from landfilling compostable organics as soon as possible. In addition provide resources for individuals and groups to support these efforts at home, school, work and play as well as through advocacy.
Objectives
- Raise Awareness
- Showcase Solutions
- Provide Tools and Resources
- Develop and Promote Legislative Efforts
COOLNow Advisory Board
Richard Anthony, Vice President, Zero Waste USA, President, Zero Waste International Alliance (ZWIA) and Principal, Zero Waste Associates, San Diego CA
Brenda Platt, Director, Composting for Community Project, Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Baltimore, MD
Sally Brown, Research Associate Professor, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Stuart Buckner, Buckner Environmental Associates, Ronkonkoma,, NY
Peter Anderson, President of RecycleWorlds Consulting and Executive Director, Center for a Competitive Waste Industry, Madison, WI
Kevin Drew, Carbon Positive Futures and retired Zero Waste Coordinator, San Francisco Department of Environment, Petaluma, CA
Jeff Lindenthal, Retired Composting Practitioner, Monterey, CA
Ruth Abbe, President of Zero Waste USA, and Principal, Abbe and Associates LLC., Alameda, CA
Resources
ZWIA Definition of Zero Waste
- Peer-reviewed definition of Zero Waste from the Zero Waste International Alliance
ZWIA Hierarchy of Zero Waste
- A Pollution Prevention Hierarchy of best use.
Declaration of Zero Waste
- Cities, municipalities, provinces and states can sign a Declaration of Zero Waste. This page at C40 Cities shows a model declaration your city can endorse.
In nature there is no such thing as waste. In nature nothing is wasted; everything is recycled.
David SuZuki
* COOL Now is a project of the non-profit Zero Waste USA