Zero Waste Day
On October 27, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) and its partners will celebrate Tennessee’s fourth annual Zero Waste Day. The event aims to raise awareness about waste in Tennessee and educate citizens on actions they can take to reduce it. TDEC and several local and regional partners, including the Tennessee Environmental Council and Metro Nashville's Zero Waste Program, are challenging Tennesseans to improve their waste habits.
In 2018, Tennesseans produced 8.1 million tons of waste, which amounted to 6.56 pounds of waste generated per person each day. This is 31.7% more waste generated per person each day than the national average of 4.51 pounds of waste per person per day.
On Zero Waste Day, TDEC and its partners are encouraging citizens to take actions that support zero waste.
Five Waste Reduction Actions
- Re-Think – adjust your behavior as a consumer and make purchasing choices that limit your impact on the environment
- Reduce – be mindful of unnecessary and wasteful items and learn to live without them
- Reuse – give possessions a second life through creative reuse, repurposing, or donation
- Recycle – use existing products to create new ones and reduce dependence on virgin materials and associated natural resource impacts
- Re-Earth – compost your organics to divert the single largest waste stream from landfills
Zero Waste Day 2024
In celebration of Zero Waste Day 2024, TDEC is partnering with local organizations to host Zero Waste Webinars that will educate listeners on the basics of zero waste, and review local resources available to help citizens go Zero Waste in their every day lives.
Additionally, TDEC is partnering with local organizations to coordinate Zero Waste Day Events to collect miscellaneous and hard to recycle items and encourage the reuse and repair of items. Official event details for both webinars and in-person events will be shared soon.
To learn more about TDEC’s Zero Waste Day, follow @TNSustainability on Facebook, @thestateofsustainability on Instagram. If you are interested in learning more about how you can go Zero Waste, visit our Consumer's Guide to Zero Waste.