!!!!

!!

!!!!!!

City%of%Vancouver%|%UBC%Sustainability!

!

Building!capacity!to!support!more!sustainable!special!events!

Angie&Nicolás.!August&2014.!

2

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Background As part of the Zero Waste Goal of the Greenest City 2020 Action Plan, the City of

Vancouver (hereafter, the City) set the target to reduce the amount of solid waste sent to landfill or incinerator by 50% of 2008 levels. City Council identified as a priority “to look for opportunities to green community events that the City runs, sponsors, and permits”. Special events, high profile by nature, provide an occasion to communicate a commitment to sustainability to the public and represent an outstanding waste diversion opportunity.

In 2013, a Greenest City Scholar study showed the presence of recycling educators

guiding event attendees at recycling stations reduces contamination of the recycling and organics streams, effectively increasing waste diversion. In a City-led takeholder workshop event organizers were presented with the results of that study. They asked the City to focus resources on access to volunteers and education to support their waste reduction efforts.

Research scope and purpose:

This report, requested by the Film and Special Events office (FASE) and as part of the Greenest City Scholar program, intends to 1) inform the City on best practices employed by other municipalities to engage volunteers as recycling educators at special events, and 2) provide analysis and recommendations to create and maintain a volunteer program that can support waste diversion efforts at events. Findings

Observations made during special events and after a review of volunteer-supported programs at the City of Vancouver revealed that none of the existing programs would fit the waste reduction purpose of the volunteer pool requested by the event community. Therefore, a new volunteer program would need to be implemented by the City. After review of a dozen municipalities, three case studies of volunteer training programs were identified as potential models for Vancouver: Live Green Toronto Volunteers, Richmond Green Ambassadors and Portland Master Recycler Program. The main research finding was that the benefits of the Volunteer training programs in all cases exceed the special event sphere. From a detailed analysis of the case studies and the limitations of the different approaches and scenarios, a few key recommendations are provided for the City. Main recommendations:

1. Develop a training program that empowers volunteers as Zero Waste Educators (ZWE). Volunteers would receive training in waste reduction, community outreach and project development. The training program should include a requirement for community

3

outreach hours where volunteers can put the skills acquired during training at work before receiving their certificates. Training other volunteers as Zero Waste Educators at special events would be only one portion of the activities carried out by these volunteers. The rest of the outreach hours would involve promoting other City sustainability initiatives and implementing waste reduction plans at the volunteer’s own communities.

2. Recognize the value of the volunteer resource and follow best practices for volunteer management. Adopt the Canadian Code for Volunteer Involvement.

3. Require feedback from waste haulers on total waste produced and diversion rate achieved at each event, since tracking waste production is the first step to reduce it. For yearly events, diversion records will allow the City to evaluate the effectiveness of greening tools and to sanction or acknowledge their performance.

4. Make the Green Event Form mandatory for special events permitted through FASE. This practice, already in place in events permitted through the parks Board would allow the City to incorporate waste management requirements in permit language.

5. Implement a Green Fee that incentivizes the adoption in practice of a thorough waste reduction plan. The requirement of a refundable deposit from event organizers has proven an effective method to increase compliance of waste reduction policies.

6. Complement an event waste reduction model supported by volunteer with incentives for eco procurement.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY!....................................................................................................................!2!Acknowledgements!..........................................................................................................................!5!ACRONYMS!...........................................................................................................................................!5!DEFINITIONS!......................................................................................................................................!5!PROJECT BACKGROUND!................................................................................................................!6!SUSTAINABILITY AT SPECIAL EVENTS!..................................................................................!6!GREENING VANCOUVER EVENTS!..............................................................................................!7!

Findings from a previous Greenest City Scholar Project!.........................................................!8!Stakeholder Workshop!..............................................................................................................................!8!Research scope and purpose!..................................................................................................................!8!

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY!.........................................................................................................!9!Findings!..................................................................................................................................................!9!

Waste diversion challenges at events!...............................................................................................!9!Present volunteerism capacity at the City!....................................................................................!11!

Upcoming platform changes!...................................................................................................................................!11!Could the City expand an existing program?!.................................................................................................!11!Outreach experience: Green Bin Ambassadors (GBA)!..............................................................................!11!GBAs outreach activities!...........................................................................................................................................!12!Management!...................................................................................................................................................................!12!Program results and status!.....................................................................................................................................!12!

Volunteer Training Programs. Case studies!.................................................................................!13!I. Live Green Toronto Volunteers (LGTV)!........................................................................................................!13!II. Richmond Green Ambassadors (RGAs)!......................................................................................................!14!III. Portland Master Recyclers (MR)!...................................................................................................................!15!

Case study analysis!...................................................................................................................................!16!Outreach)in)exchange)for)training!..........................................................................................................................!16!Teach&the&teacher&approach!......................................................................................................................................!16!The$benefits$for$the$City$exceed$the$special$event$sphere.!..........................................................................!17!

Limitations of the volunteer model for special events!...........................................................!18!Forward thinking. San Francisco: Legislation and eco-procurement!.............................!19!

Recommendations!.........................................................................................................................!21!Recommendations,to,build,volunteerism,capacity,at,the,City!.......................................................!21!Recommendations,to,increase,waste,reduction,at,special,events!................................................!21!

Conclusion!............................................................................................................................................!22!REFERENCES!.....................................................................................................................................!22!

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express sincere thanks to Ann Cooper and Sandi Swanigan for their guidance, openness to new ideas and continuous support throughout the course of this research. Thanks to the Film and Special Events office staff for their valuable suggestions and to Jennifer Richards, Jennifer Sheel and Catherine Miller for their inspiration and encouragement. Thanks to Jonathan Evans for sharing his photographic talent with this project. Finally, thanks to all the people who kindly accepted being interviewed, especially to the volunteers who generously shared their insight and the invaluable lessons learned after hours of invaluable waste sorting experience.

ACRONYMS

CCVI: Canadian Code for Volunteer Involvement COV: City of Vancouver CSGVP: Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participation. CVI: Canada Volunteerism Initiative FASE: The City of Vancouver Film and Special Events Office FTE: Full time equivalencies GA: Green Ambassadors from the City of Richmond GBA: City of Vancouver Green Bin Ambassadors GCAP: Greenest City Action Plan KVS: Keep Vancouver Spectacular, a COV volunteer program LGTV: Live Green Toronto Volunteers MR: Portland Master Recyclers MURBS: Multi-unit residence buildings OCVI: Ontario Network of the Canada Volunteerism Initiative UBC: University of British Columbia

DEFINITIONS

Event size: for ease of comparison event sizes referred to in this report follow the convention from a previous Greenest City Report: Small= fewer than 5,000 attendees; Medium: 10,000-25,000 attendees; Large: over 100,000 attendees. Monitored station: a recycling station overseen by an educator who guides the public on how to sort their waste into the available bins and who removes improperly sorted items to ensure low contamination levels of recycling and compost streams. Unmonitored station: a waste station where only bin signage guides the public through waste sorting and no attempts to reduce contamination are made. Waste diversion: the result of preventing municipal solid waste to reach the landfill. It is often expressed as the percentage of the total amount of waste being generated that is being recycled or composted.

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Recycling station: a cluster of four separate and labelled bins for paper recycling, containers recycling, one food scraps composting and garbage for disposal at landfilll. Zero waste event: a special event in which 100% of the waste produced is recycled or composted resulting in zero (or close to zero) waste sent to the landfill. PROJECT BACKGROUND

In 2009 the City of Vancouver launched the Greenest City Initiative, a collective effort to

achieve higher environmental standards by the year 2020. As part of ten milestones outlined in the Greenest City Action Plan (GCAP), the Zero Waste Goal set the target to reduce solid waste sent to the landfill or incinerator by 50 % of 2008 levels (GCAP, 2011). Aligned with a regional legislation framework to keep recyclables and organics out of the waste stream1, a variety of City programs have already achieved 12% reduction of waste from the 2008 baseline (GCAP Implementation Update, 2014).

Under the overarching urban goal, City Council identified four high-priority areas to

promote sustainability in City operations. One action highlights the need “to look for opportunities to green community events that the City runs, sponsors, and permits”. Over 1,050 events of different types were authorized in 2013 alone. An estimated 45% of these events are processed through the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation (hereafter, Parks Board) for locations in and around parks, while 55% are processed through the Film and Special Events Office (hereafter, FASE) when events take place in all other public locations around the city.

SUSTAINABILITY AT SPECIAL EVENTS

Event greening refers to a comprehensive approach that promotes active transportation,

energy efficiency, water conservation, community involvement, eco procurement and waste reduction at special events (EPA, 2013). Given the Zero Waste Goal supported, research for this report focused on volunteerism capacity to support waste reduction.

Events represent an outstanding waste diversion opportunity, especially when food

vendors are present. To visualize this, it helps to imagine a forty thousand-athlete marathon where each participant could discard one fruit item, granola bar or energy drink; or a festival where a hundred thousand attendees could choose to buy from dozens of food vendors. Some estimates anticipate the average event produces 61 grams of residuals per person per hour

1 British Columbia’s Extended Producer Responsibility Programs (EPR) and Metro Vancouver’s 2015 organic disposal ban (Metro Vancouver, 2012)

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(Gordon, 2013). Based on these calculations, the aforementioned festival would generate 24.4 tons of solid waste in only 4 hours2.

Minimizing waste at special events requires the coordinated efforts of five stakeholders

(Fig.1) whose reputations will benefit from showing a public commitment to sustainability (Maung, 2010; Donaldson, 2014). Due to their high profile nature, events provide a live communication opportunity to increase awareness of waste footprint and to promote environmental stewardship through the introduction of new forms of behavior (A Greener Festival, 2013). In this sense, zero waste events have the potential to leave behind a positive legacy in the hosting community (Sustainable United Nations, 2012).

Figure 1. Invested stakeholders involved in waste reduction at special events

GREENING VANCOUVER EVENTS

Through its Green Event Program, the City of Vancouver has implemented a series of tools

that aim to embed sustainability in event planning. As part of the permit application process, organizers are offered a Green Event Guide and are asked to fill out a Green Event Form which encourages the provision of a detailed waste management plan. Portable tap water stations are available for organizers who want to produce events that are “bottled-water free”, thereby cutting their disposable plastic waste from the beginning (City of Vancouver, 2014a).

The City incentivizes composting and recycling through its bin rental pricing structure; as of

August 2014, bins for food scraps, containers recycling and paper recycling are offered for rent at $10 each, whereas garbage bins are offered at $15. Event organizers trying to minimize costs will preferentially request recycling and compost containers; yet, for this strategy to actually reduce total waste production, an important factor needs to be controlled: the contamination level of the bags of recyclable and organic streams.

2 Estimates from the 2014 Vancouver Food Cart Festival allow for a local calculation. 769 kilos of solid waste were produced in 5 hours during the first day. Assuming same attendance as last year (~5000 people), 30 grams of solid waste were produced per person per hour. 92% of the waste was recycled as a result of a collaboration between two event recycling providers funded by VanCity (VanCity Buzz 2014; Green Chair Recycling, 2014)

The!City!FASE,!Parks!Board,!

Sanitation!Operations,!Communications!

Event!organizers!

Service!providers!Vendors,!performers,!bin!providers,!haulers,!cleaning!and!recycling!companies!

!Volunteers!and!volunteer!

coordinators!

Event!Attendees!

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FINDINGS FROM A PREVIOUS GREENEST CITY SCHOLAR PROJECT

Contaminated recycling and organic streams are operational obstacles for waste diversion.

In City serviced events, bags are visually inspected by Sanitation Operation staff to estimate the proportion of improperly sorted items (plastics in the organic stream or food waste in the recyclable streams); if the proportion of contaminants is higher than accepted by local processing facilities3, bags are sent to the landfill (Campbell, 2014).

A pilot study conducted by Annie Merritt in 2013 identified factors affecting contamination levels. The size4 of the event, the presence of food vendors, the absence of event space enclosure and the subjective norms of event attendees were associated with higher contamination levels (Merritt, 2013).

Most notably, the study showed that the traditional approach of placing stand-alone labeled bins for different waste streams (hereafter, unmonitored waste stations) is insufficient to ensure low contamination levels5. The presence of recycling educators guiding the public at recycling stations (hereafter, monitored stations) was found to reduce contamination levels increasing waste diversion (Merritt 2013).

STAKEHOLDER WORKSHOP

In November 2013 results from the Greenest City Scholar pilot were presented to the event

community during a stakeholder workshop organized by the City. A group of 75 coordinators representing events of different sizes and types discussed the challenges and enablers to greening events, allowing the City to prioritize potential incentives and obtain feedback on the 2013 Green Event Form and Guide. Many event organizers suggested the City should focus resources on access to equipment, volunteers, training and education.

RESEARCH SCOPE AND PURPOSE

This report was prepared as a part of the Greenest City Scholar Program (Greenest City

Scholar Program, 2014) a partnership between the City and the University of British Columbia that supports graduate student research to advance the implementation of the 2020 GCAP. The objectives of this report are to research best practices employed by other municipalities to engage volunteers as recycling educators at special events; to provide analysis and recommendations that could be used by the City to create and maintain volunteer resources to promote waste diversion.

3 Formal accepted contamination levels are 5% for containers and mixed paper streams and 2.5% for organics (Metro Vancouver, 2012) 4 See Definitions for event size categories 5 85% of bags from unmonitored recycling and compost bins had contamination levels above accepted limits, as opposed to 52% of bags from monitored recycling station. For the effects of event size, food vendors, bin location, pickup requirements by Sanitation Operations and other factors, see Merritt 2013.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Municipalities were considered for review when their overall infrastructure and sustainability goals were comparable to those of the City of Vancouver. Volunteer coordinators were interviewed over the telephone or in-person about volunteer recruitment, management and training. Whenever possible, sustainability coordinators or Solid Waste staff were also interviewed about waste reduction practices at special events.

Three cities were selected as case studies for their volunteer training programs, based on the following criteria:

• Cities have a comprehensive volunteer program with at least one staff member acting as volunteer coordinator for special events.

• Cities offer recycling and composting service at special events and implement green innovation strategies that have proved successful over the years. To review the current status of volunteerism capacity at the City of Vancouver,

coordinators of volunteer-supported City programs were interviewed. These surveys were not exhaustive but based on the programs advertised on the City website. Volunteer coordinators from local green event companies and event organizers were also interviewed to provide insight on volunteer management. FINDINGS

WASTE DIVERSION CHALLENGES AT EVENTS

Through observations made at six public events this season and conversations with staff

and volunteers it was possible to identify a series of challenges faced by the City on the way to reduce event waste. These challenges are summarized in Table 1.

Table 1. Waste reduction challenges observed at Vancouver special events

Challenge Description

1. Accommodating the recycling

needs of events that range in size, budgets and levels of production expertise

Hiring the services of event recycling companies often exceeds the budget of grassroots community events. Coordinators of small events look to the City for support with volunteer provision and training.

2. Disconnection between waste reduction planning and execution

An annual music festival that gathered over a 100,000 people, serves to illustrate this challenge. Organizers submitted a thorough waste management plan that created high expectations for waste diversion. Unfortunately,

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expectations were not met in practice this year6: A visual inspection revealed insufficient provision and inadequate labelling and placement of bins, together with an evident lack of volunteer training confirmed by volunteer interviews. Extremely contaminated waste streams (see Figure 2) resulted in the disposal of the majority of event waste in the landfill (final diversion figures not available at time of submission).

3. A record of total waste produced at events is not available

Without feedback from haulers and on waste production at events no sanctioning or acknowledgement mechanisms could be implemented.

4. Variation in materials accepted for recycling combined with ineffective signage generates confusion in the public when sorting waste at special events

Waste collection systems (residential versus commercial), greening companies, waste haulers and processing facilities differ in the materials they accept for recycling and compost. Without guidance to make waste sorting decisions, contamination increases, reducing waste diversion7.

5. Vendors receive no training on waste minimization and food scraps composting

Without proper training, food vendors, who have significant time constraints at times of peak attendance, tend to dispose of their food preparation waste in the landfill. Vendor waste, can add up to 90% of the total waste produced at events and often cancels efforts made throughout the day by volunteers and event organizers (Gagnon, 2011; Casley, 2014)

6. The presence of untrained and disengaged volunteers results in high contamination levels

In practice, an unengaged volunteer has the same effect as the absence of volunteers. This premise holds regardless of variation in event size, budget or production expertise.

6 Organizers followed all steps required for a large event: they used the Green Event Guide and Form, they discussed their waste management plan with City staff members, they recruited volunteers to monitor some stations and they hired cleaning and hauling companies. 7 Two examples illustrate this: a) Disposable coffee cups are often sent to the landfill (a plastic lining prevents their recycling or composting) but in May 2014, Multi Material BC included them in the list of acceptable items for curbside recycling. At events, they are a frequent contaminant of paper recycling and compost streams. Plastic coated paper must be separated from non-coated paper, and few green event companies accept them for recycling. b) A paper recycling bin labeled with an icon of office documents is of little help in the event context where those items are infrequent compared to food soiled paper. Event attendees often consider napkins and paper plates are acceptable in the paper-recycling bin, when in practice they are compostable. High contamination rates in paper stream with organics should be expected unless a clear distinction between “clean” and “soiled” paper is evident in signage and though the guidance of recycling educators.

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PRESENT VOLUNTEERISM CAPACITY AT THE CITY

Building volunteerism capacity starts with mapping organizational assets to be able to

answer one question: how volunteer-friendly is the City at the present time? (Volunteer Alberta, 2011). An overview of volunteer-supported programs at the City evidences a wealth of volunteer management skills and experience within staff that the City could capitalize on. Most volunteer programs are advertised through the City website8, however, an integrated volunteer recruitment platform is not yet available for residents searching for volunteer opportunities (City of Vancouver, 2014c). Instead, each City program coordinator recruits, trains and manages volunteers independently.

UPCOMING PLATFORM CHANGES

The City is advancing on the establishment of an integrated volunteer system (Heaney,

2014). The initiative, approved by Council earlier this year and coordinated as part of the portfolio of a Project Manager, is expected to allow all volunteer programs and individual volunteers to be tracked through a single system (Nelson, 2014). Until that centralized platform is developed, a City-wide volunteer database is unavailable for City staff other than current program coordinators.

COULD THE CITY EXPAND AN EXISTING PROGRAM?

At first sight the mission of a program facilitated by the City could appear to overlap

with that of a potential Recycling Educator program. Keep Vancouver Spectacular (KVS) an anti litter program, engages residents in clean-ups, graffiti removal and stewardship of public spaces. The program coordinator provides supplies to Block Captains from different neighbourhoods to carry out maintenance activities with the help of volunteers, who are usually groups of neighbours recruited by the Block Captains themselves (Wong, 2014).

A clear distinction between the mission of anti littering programs and that of compost

and recycling education programs needs to be made. The role of recycling educators would extend beyond the collection or sorting of waste to maintain an area clean. Moving away from an “out of sight out of mind” perspective on garbage, the focus of recycling educators is to teach others how to prevent waste. For this task, a good understanding of the specifics of local waste management systems and a key public outreach component are required. Trained recycling educators would be in the capacity to plan waste diversion systems, to coordinate work with waste haulers and other stakeholders, to promote waste reduction initiatives, to answer questions from the public and even to evaluate and report results. Given the fundamental differences in scope with other programs it is necessary for the City to develop a new program to recruit and train volunteer residents on waste prevention.

OUTREACH EXPERIENCE: GREEN BIN AMBASSADORS (GBA)

8 The City offers links to provincial volunteer platform that lists opportunities in the Greater Vancouver Area (Govolunteer, 2014) and to community centers.

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The Green Bin Ambassador program9, although not voluntary, had a mission more akin to that of Recycling Educators. In preparation for the 2015 Metro Vancouver ban on organics from the landfill, the City10 tested a series of communication strategies to support the launch of a city-wide Green Bin program. Twenty-five outreach agents were hired through an engineering consultant11 to educate single and multifamily residents about food scraps collection. GBAs were paid $14/hour for their work.

GBAS OUTREACH ACTIVITIES

• Reach out to single family homes, delivering compost bins and explaining the

program. • Host lobby education events at participating multi unit residence buildings (MURBS)

that request assistance. • Assist City staff with inspections of green bins to assess participation and

contamination. • Promote the program at festivals, special events, community centers and farmers

markets, answering questions from the public.

MANAGEMENT

Green Bin Ambassadors’ outreach was originally coordinated by a City staff person in

Corporate Communications, but the responsibility was later shifted to the consultant firm when the staff person left the City. The City hosted the training session, wrote the training manual with input from the consultant, and kept record of the number of events attended and interactions with the public at those events (Harris, 2014)

PROGRAM RESULTS AND STATUS

The GBA program was well-received by Vancouver residents throughout its course.

Outreach stopped when the Green Bin program launch wrapped up. Later, GAs were contacted again to visit areas of the City with reported high levels of contamination. In total, GAs attended 28 events, conducted 6,916 interactions and participated in 4,285 conversations (Harris, 2014).

Few GAs are expected to remain active until December 2014. The database with

information on GAs was kept by the consultant, so the City has no records of demographics or contact information of that pool of residents trained on specifics for food scraps composting in Vancouver.

9 The program began as a pilot in 2011 and continued through Spring-Fall 2013 and 2014. 10 Engineering and Corporate Communications Branches 11 Now called Tetra Tech EBA

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VOLUNTEER TRAINING PROGRAMS. CASE STUDIES

I. LIVE GREEN TORONTO VOLUNTEERS (LGTV)

Administered by Environment & Energy Office. City of Toronto.

Overview A general sustainability education and outreach program for residents that supports many green goals of the City of Toronto.

Description

LGTV complete 20 hours of training on various sustainability topics and are required to complete 40 hours of community outreach activities to graduate from the program. Upon graduation, they receive a certificate. LGTV often remain with the program after graduation creating sustainable environmental projects in their own communities that run long after their 40-hour outreach time.

Volunteer

Involvement at Special Events

LGTV staff booths and provide environmental education to citizens at special events. However they do not sort or haul waste. LGTV are in capacity to train volunteers provided by other community groups and answer questions from the public (MacLean, 2014).

Origins and Funding

1996-2002: A series of pilot training programs called “Waste Watchers” were created as a means to aid the City of Toronto achieving its 60% waste diversion target by 2006 (City of Toronto, 2001). The Emergency Services Department trained 27 volunteers on how to reduce, reuse and recycle. Waste Watchers delivered interactive presentations primarily in schools, community centers, apartment recycling projects, environmental fairs, litterless lunch sessions, school waste audits and environment days celebrations (City of Toronto, 1990). 2002-2008: when the City of Toronto realized there was interest in the community to learn about a broader range of sustainability topics, the program was expanded. In 2003 a $50,000 Toronto Atmospheric Fund Grant funded the Toronto Environmental Volunteers program (Toronto Environment and Energy, 2014). 2008-present: the program was rebranded and incorporated as part of Live Green Toronto, an initiative that encourages sustainability in businesses, neighbourhoods, schools and homes . Its annual budget of $30,000 (approximately) is mostly funded by the Environment and Energy Office with partial revenue from sponsorship (Chow, 2014).

Staffing The Live Green Toronto Program is program are a total of 6 FTE Staff

Success indicators

The Waste Watcher Volunteer Program was recognized by Environment Canada for its promotion of healthy communities and environmental citizenship, and in 1997 received the Outstanding Waste Minimization Promotion Award from the Recycling Council of Ontario.

Contact persons Megan MacLean- LGTV Volunteer coordinator Jessica Chow –LGTV Special Events. Fiona Lucas- Coordinator of Volunteer Management –Cultural Events

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II. RICHMOND GREEN AMBASSADORS (RGAS)

Administered by Environmental Programs Department. City of Richmond

Overview A youth-oriented outreach program implemented in partnership with the Richmond School District

Description

Students from grades 10-12 are trained in sustainability topics and provided an opportunity to fulfill their community service hours requirements 12 This targeted program usually recruits students who are already part of their schools environmental clubs or Green Teams. RGAs support various sustainability initiatives (David Suzuki Foundation, 2014)

Volunteer Involvement at Special Events

Before the event During monthly planning meetings RGAs are presented with all the tasks involved in event planning and greening (including Equipment and Tools, Vendors and Exhibitors, Transport and Quality Control, activity groups and volunteer coordination). RGAs tackle special events as group projects and are encouraged to take on responsibility of specific tasks, thus promoting ownership and empowering volunteers from the beginning. With time, experienced RGAs take on Supervisor roles. They run the volunteer orientation sessions, help with volunteer sign up at the City of Richmond Volunteer platform (called I Can Help) and On event day RGAs actively participate on the set up of waste stations, they monitor contamination levels throughout the day and educate the public on waste sorting. Supervisors coordinate volunteer shifts, ensure volunteers receive their lunch vouchers (volunteers can then exchange them for a 5-7$ meal) and towards the end of the event, RGAs ensure organics and mixed container bins (the two streams most vulnerable to contamination) are picked up first.

Origins and Funding

The RGAs program is funded as part of the City of Richmond’s Community Outreach budget (further funding details were unavailable). Additional funds are provided for the organization of the Richmond Earth Day Youth Summit (REaDY), organized by RGAs together with City or Richmond, Richmond School District and the David Suzuki Foundation.

Staffing The program is coordinated by one staff member from City of Richmond (in addition to School District staff)

Success indicators

The participation of RGAs has achieved high diversion rates at multiple special events. In 2013, they helped divert 83% of waste at Ships to Shore Steveston, 76% at Steveston Salmon Fest and 86% at Richmond Maritime Festival (SWANA, 2014).

Contact person Emy Lai. Green Ambassador and Environmental Program Coordinator.

12 Due to an ongoing labour dispute no further details on community service requirements were available from the School Board office.

III. PORTLAND MASTER RECYCLERS (MR)

Administered by

Bureau of Planning and Sustainability. City of Portland.

Overview A paid waste reduction training program with a required outreach component

Description

Participants pay $50 to participate in a City-certified waste-prevention training program. Eight weekly classes include presentations by professionals and industry leaders on waste reduction topics 13 , volunteer training and project development and two field trips to waste processing facilities. To receive their certificate students must put skills at work during 30 hours of community outreach. These “payback” activities must a) provide a one-on-one educational contact and a meaningful skill enhancing experience for the volunteer or b) implement a system or program that diverts materials from the waste stream. As part of the latter, Master Recyclers often get involved in the design and implementation of a waste reduction plan for special events.

Volunteer

Involvement at Special Events

Before the event • The City encourages event organizers to invite a MR to help

them create and implement a plan to reduce waste generated . • MRs work in coordination with organizers and waste haulers to

estimate the required number and location of recycling stations. • MRs meet with vendors in advance to guide them through

sustainable packaging options, minimizing free samples handed out and link their procurement decisions with local waste management options.

• Most importantly, MRs train vendors on how to compost food scraps and recycle during the event (Master Recyclers, 2012).

On event day: • MRs staff outreach tents at community events. In the City of

Portland, they don’t monitor recycling stations. MRs train and supervise volunteers provided by a wide range of civic organizations, and ensure volunteers understand basic concepts of waste sorting, hauling and recycling for effective station monitoring.

Origins & Funding

In 1991, Recycling Advocates, a Portland non-profit adapted Seattle’s Master Composter program to fit the local context and secured a grant from the local regional government to hire a staff person. The program was originally part of the Oregon State University extension service until funding dropped out. Today, the program is overseen by one Coordinator and one Assistant and funded $40,000 by the Regional government, $40,000 by the City of Portland, and $5,000 by both Clackamas and Washington Counties and $4,400 by class fees. Scholarships are available for participants that require support to cover registration fees (Master Recycler

13 Topics include: thoughtful consumption, recycling markets and processes, toxic waste and building deconstruction.

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Program, 2014)

Staffing One Program Coordinator and one Assistant (0.75 FTE) Success

indicators 48 classes (equivalent to 1350 MR) have graduated from the program. The initiative has been replicated in a dozen US cities.

Contact person J. Lauren Norris. Master Recycler Program Coordinator

CASE STUDY ANALYSIS

OUTREACH IN EXCHANGE FOR TRAINING

The three case study programs rely heavily on volunteer effort, which could be expected to dilute as times go by. However, the outreach requirements incorporated by all programs secure a degree of commitment from volunteers. In exchange for subsidized training, the outreach component provides volunteers with an opportunity to put their skills to work ensuring active and continuous participation in the program.

The fee charged for enrolment in Portland’s Master Recycling covers less that 5%

of the program costs. Instead of a revenue-generating mechanism the registration fee can be seen as a way to add value to the training and promoting program completion. A seemingly counterintuitive strategy (requiring payment to learn about waste reduction during two months) has actually increased participation in the program14: classes fill up very quickly each year with citizens that appreciate certified waste reduction training as a career building tool. Candidates apply15 during the Fall and if selected, begin classes in the winter time. Scholarships are available for some students. An alternative mechanism to incentivize program completion could be requiring a deposit that students can get refunded once the training and outreach are completed.

To ensure outreach opportunities are available for students, part of the job of

the program coordinator is to build relationships with community partners, and to keep track of outreach achievements. The total number of hours and community outreach activities contributed by volunteer each year are the success metric currency for most volunteer programs.

TEACH THE TEACHER APPROACH

Live Green Toronto and Portland Master Recycler programs follow a teach the teacher approach: their goal is not to provide the volunteers that monitor recycling stations, but to generate a pool of educators that can training other on waste prevention; in the case of special events they train the volunteers provided by civic

14 The fee also serves to filter out individuals whose commitment may be unsteady. 15 Applications are received up to a deadline and then 30 people are selected on a weighted lottery

17

groups16. For Vancouver, a similar approach would address the lack of expertise barrier identified by event organizers last year during the workshop.

A program that allows for volunteer growth eventually benefits from volunteers that are able to train other volunteers. According to the experience of most volunteer coordinators, volunteers often stay involved in outreach activities long after their program requirements are met.

THE BENEFITS FOR THE CITY EXCEED THE SPECIAL EVENT SPHERE.

Table 2 compares future scenarios with and without the implementation of the Zero Waste Educator program. However, the advantages of these training programs are not restricted to special events. Educating volunteers as decision makers and outreach agents. The engagement contributions from pools of zero-waste minded citizens graduating from these programs increases their expanded value added. All coordinators have found many volunteers often keep contributing hours after fulfilling the program requirements. The presence of Zerro Waste Educators staffing City tables or booths at special events could serve to inform the public and promote various initiatives supporting other GCAP goals.

Table 2. A comparison of scenarios with and without the presence of Zero Waste Educators (ZWE) at special events

Business as usual (current)

scenario Zero Waste Educator Scenario

Event planning

Waste reduction training needs exceed the capacity of City staff. At the moment no group is able to remove the barriers for event greening expressed by the event community last year: 1) budgetary limitations 2) a small volunteer base 3) a lack of knowledge about contamination and waste reduction and 4) insufficient time to dedicate to coordinating the onsite waste reduction efforts- (Merritt, 2013)

As part of outreach hour requirements ZWE would assist organizers months prior to the event. Zero Waste Educators would act as consultants for event organizers free of charge, addressing barriers 1 and 3. A training program would gradually build a pool of knowledgeable volunteers that event organizers can access to provide training. They would be knowledgeable and updated on materials accepted and proper waste sorting to increase diversion (barrier3) and as part of their outreach hours required for graduation of the program, they would work before and during the event with organizers, vendors and

16 In other Oregon municipalities MRs do volunteer at waste stations during community events (Lauren, 2014)

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volunteers (barrier 4)

Event development

Event vendors receive no direct training. As a result waste diversion from these sector is minimal.

ZWE would training food vendors on recycling and compost during events, to reduce contamination and increase diversion.

Volunteer are trained by volunteer coordinators with often little experience on waste reduction. Events that lack experienced coordinators often underestimate or are unable to provide volunteer training, substantially reducing the impact of station on contamination levels even if volunteers are present.

ZWE would engage and prepare volunteers for station monitoring at special events.

City sustainability initiatives

The City communicates sustainability initiatives through its website, newsletters and the media but has little direct presence at special events, schools and community events

ZWE could staff City booths, visit schools, residences, businesses and community groups conducting public outreach on sustainability initiatives, changes in legislation and in curb side recycling programs, etc.

Waste reduction at home, school and at work

When programs are implemented or expanded (e.g. the Green Bin program) the City hires third party agents for one-time outreach campaigns

A city-owned database of engaged and experienced volunteers is kept up to date through newsletters and mailing lists on updates on City waste management systems. This pool of knowledgeable volunteers is available to train and update others.

LIMITATIONS OF THE VOLUNTEER MODEL FOR SPECIAL EVENTS17

• Inherent dependence on volunteer availability. For volunteer efforts to

translate into increased waste diversion, all recycling stations need to be monitored. This means a minimum number of volunteers are required for success18. A “no show” risk is always present on event day. The City of Surrey stopped requiring the presence of volunteers at recycling stations after many

17 The term volunteer model is used here to refer to a strategy that transfers most of the responsibility to reduce contamination levels to the actions of volunteers monitoring recycling stations at events. 18 For best results it is advisable to place two educators per recycling station, and to avoid having unmonitored stations. Volunteer coordinators should ensure reasonable duration of volunteer shifts and break times. The practice of compensating insufficient provision of volunteers by demanding extra time from the few present volunteers is detrimental for volunteer retention.

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did not find reported not find it “a meaningful role” (Monk, 2014 and Yedav, 2014). The combination of a training program with an integrated system that tracks and incentivises volunteer outreach hours on waste reduction could help mitigate these risks.

• Monitoring contamination levels at recycling stations is only one part of the

work Planning, placing and setting up bins and pulling and hauling bags are also expected from the waste teams at events. There is room for debate on whether it is beneficial from a risk management perspective to expect volunteers to perform these tasks. The City of Toronto for example, acknowledging volunteers are not covered by an insurance policy, does not allow LGTV to engage in activities that involve heavy lifting (Chow, 2014). In cases were volunteers are covered by a risk management plan they can safely take charge of the full range of responsibilities.

• Event size and duration. To avoid abusing the volunteer nature of Recycling

educators, it is recommends their involvement as coordinators is restricted to small events of maximum 1 day duration19. For medium to large events it is recommended organizers hire staff to perform the coordinator job (Norris, 2014). Furthermore, keeping low contamination levels at large events may require a combination of station monitoring with post-event sorting, an activity that is usually avoided by volunteers (Merritt 2013).

• Removing contamination costs more and achieves less than avoiding

contaminants in the first place. A proactive approach for waste reduction at special events is to avoid materials that are non compostable or that are hard to recycle and to encourage sustainable consumption. Vendors should be discouraged from the use of single use non-recyclable plastic cups, cutlery, free samples containers, etcetera. Even wasteful decorations like balloons could be replaced by reusable signs and ornaments (Campbell, 2014).

FORWARD THINKING. SAN FRANCISCO: LEGISLATION AND ECO-PROCUREMENT

The City of San Francisco, with a 78% municipal waste diversion rate, is recognized as a North American benchmark in waste reduction20 (Climate Leadership Awards, 2014; Ferry, 2011). When asked about recycling and compost strategies at special events, staff praises the success brought by municipal and provincial legislation as well as by incentives for compliance that were made possible by including packaging and recycling in contract language at the permit application stage. The City of Seattle, Washington, follows a similar approach.21

19 As an example, in Portland, the threshold for Master Recyclers participation is usually around 6000 attendees. 20 Diversion calculations in San Francisco include bio solids and construction materials (Discard Studies, 2014) 21 Seattle does not require the presence of volunteers at recycling stations. It relies on packaging restrictions to reduce contamination levels. The Seattle Municipal Code mandates the use of compostable packaging for food items and the provision of recycling during special events (City of Seattle, 2010). For events that achieve high diversion rates, consecutive permit applications go through a streamlined

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STRATEGY

To overcome the dependence on city-supported volunteer availability, the city refers organizers to a rich assortment of community groups that specialize on recycling at special events (San Francisco Environment, 2014b). Their proactive zero waste approach at events is based on policy and on a close relationship with waste haulers (Kielty, 2014). LEGISLATION

Three ordinances summarize San Francisco’s waste reduction policy22: a Special

Event Ordinance that mandates recycling and composting for all street closures23 (San Francisco Environment, 2014a), a 2006 Food Service Waste Reduction Ordinance that mandates all food vendors and restaurants use compostable or recyclable to-go containers (San Francisco Environment, 2006) and a new ordinance effective October 2016 that forbids the sell and distribution of bottled water at an Event held outdoors on City Property, including a City Street (San Francisco Environment, 2014c). ZERO WASTE EDUCATION

Zero Waste training is mandatory for first time event organizers and is provided in the form of free consultation and workshops facilitated by City staff (San Francisco Environment, 2014). To encourage eco-procurement the City website keeps an updated list of acceptable food ware and explains to vendors how to recognize certified compostable items24. To facilitate efficient signage, the City website offers a tool that provides a template for organizers to create their own signs (City of San Francisco, 2014). COMPLIANCE

To overcome the lack of staff hours available for verification of compliance, the city recurs to a monetary incentive. With a contract language that incorporates packaging and recycling requirements, the permitting office is able to ask organizers for a deposit that is kept by the department if the event fails to comply with the recycling requirements (EPA, 2008; Kielty, 2014). Verification of compliance is possible through a fluent communication with waste haulers that report the weight of total waste produced by each event to the City. An anonymous Non-compliance Form for Residents is also available for citizens to report events that fail to ensure proper waste management (Kielty, 2014).

application process instead of being exhaustively reviewed by the special event committee. An intern and a contractor check for compliance during the event (Kauffman, 2014). 22 Ordinances number No 73-89, 100-09, 295-06 and Ordinance 28-14 respectively. 23 Enacted in 1989, extended with the Mandatory Recycling and Composting Ordinance in 2009. 24 In this way the City helps protect citizens against green washing, the false advertisement of products as recyclable or compostable. A fluent communication with local composting facilities is required to this end.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

RECOMMENDATIONS TO BUILD VOLUNTEERISM CAPACITY AT THE CITY

1- Adopt the Canadian Code for Volunteer Involvement. In this way the City shows recognition of the value of volunteer work and can employ best practices for its management.

2- Develop a Zero Waste Educator training program that trains volunteers on waste reduction and on community outreach. To this end the City could gain inspiration from the award winning Master Recycler program has been successfully replicated in many cities.

3- Include a required an outreach component before program completion. Waste reduction planning and execution at special events would be a part of the outreach opportunities for Zero Waste Educators, but their activities should include engaging organizers and vendors on waste management planning, as well as implementing waste diversion systems and engaging people in their own communities.

4- Empower volunteers as outreach agents. As part of the training program volunteers should learn how to conduct community outreach. As showed by all case studies, education is an effective method of volunteer empowerment and retention.

5- Establish partnerships with community groups for the facilitation of a Zero Waste Education program. Local non-profits social enterprises have accumulated invaluable waste reduction knowledge from which the City could benefit when developing a waste reduction training program.

6- Update the City website with a complete list of volunteer opportunities and incorporate the Zero Waste Educator program in the City’s upcoming integrated volunteer platform. This key step is required to increase volunteer recruitment as it would grant interested citizens access to a complete list of volunteer opportunities at the same time it allows City staff to access a volunteer database.

RECOMMENDATIONS TO INCREASE WASTE REDUCTION AT SPECIAL EVENTS 1. Require feedback from haulers on total waste produced and diversion rates at each

event. Tracking waste production is the first step to reduce it. For yearly events, diversion records allow the City to evaluate the effectiveness of greening tools and to sanction or acknowledge their performance.

2. Implement a Green Fee to increase compliance. Although municipal laws may not allow for penalization, the requirement of a refundable deposit is an effective method to increase compliance.

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3. Make the green event form mandatory for special events permitted through FASE.

This practice, already in place in events permitted through the parks Board would allow the City to incorporate waste management requirements in permit language.

4. Involve waste management groups in the planning phase. Feedback from waste haulers and processing facilities should be kept in mind when an event waste management plan is being designed. Zero Waste Educators would be of valuable assistance for event organizers in this regard, especially in the case of small events.

5. Complement an event waste reduction model based on volunteers with a focus on legislation and eco procurement. The City could follow the approach of the cities like Seattle and San Francisco and explore policies to keep materials that have proven difficult to recycle and compost out of the landfill.

6. Take proactive measures against greenwashing. Educate citizens on how to recognize certified compostable foodware. Keep fluent communication and collaboration with Sanitation Operations waste haulers and composting facilities. If Sanitation starts finding materials that are rejected by compost facilities, a quick feedback loop can inform Communications accordingly.

CONCLUSION

Research showed many of the challenges identified by last year’s Greenes City

Scholar are still prevalent at special events. The establishment of a volunteer training program with required community outreach will help overcome the barriers identified by the event community in their greening efforts and would get the City closer to its diversion targets. The advantages of implementing a volunteer program for the City would exceed the Special Event sphere, since the pool of empowered volunteers that such program would generated could effectively support multiple GCAP goals. REFERENCES

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