Letter: How to reduce more waste at Downtown After 5

Graphic by Lori Deaton

Thank you to the Asheville Downtown Association for organizing the Downtown After 5 events! We particularly appreciate its efforts to reduce the plastic waste at these events by using compostable cups to serve beer, wine, etc.

However, we’ve watched the majority of these cups get tossed into the trash and recycling bins, instead of the compostable bins. Most patrons do not realize the cups are compostable. We think that with some basic education, the cups can end up in the right place so they get composted.

We suggest that the association asks its wonderful volunteers at the drink booths to tell each customer as they hand them their drink that the cup is compostable and should be discarded in the green bin after consumption. Most patrons will do the right thing when they know what to do.

The food trucks that use compostable food containers could do the same thing by explaining to customers to discard any leftovers and their containers in the green bins.

Hopefully, a little upfront education will go a long way toward the association’s wonderful effort to reduce plastic waste at the Downtown After 5 events!

— Brad and Susan Parker
Asheville

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3 thoughts on “Letter: How to reduce more waste at Downtown After 5

  1. V

    …the cup is going to compost no matter where it ends up. The whole point is that it’s not plastic which will never breakdown.

    • ashevillain7

      ^ This is a good point and one that probably deserves some study (if it hasn’t already been studied). If we remove all of the compostable, recyclable and other waste [that breaks down easily] from the landfill … how does that affect the rest of the waste in the landfill that doesn’t decompose as quickly on its own?

      Does it benefit the overall decomposition of landfill waste if it contains some % of compostable waste along with non-compostable waste?

  2. Robert

    What if we moved Downtown After 5 to earlier in the week when there are fewer tourists so that our resident taxpayers who care about the environment could better enjoy it (and our town)?

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