ZIP Certified Special Events

The open house is an educational event aimed at increasing understanding about the plant's operations, the environment and science behind water treatment for the 83 communities it serves. Alcosan's commitment to the environment extends to all facets of their operations including their open house. For the third year running organizers of the annual open house have worked with Zero Waste Pittsburgh to reduce the waste of the event and educate the public about alternative waste handling options. Through the efforts of Alcosan staff this year's event have again achieved a diversion rate of over 90%! Read more about their Zero Waste Success

A "block party" for the planet organized by Mt Lebanon residents and supported by the municipality (Information Office -Mt Lebanon Magazine, Public Works, and Parks & Recreation) featured information about local environmental groups, safer products, local farmers, recycled & "green" gifts and of course good food and music. Everything that one would expect from a great Earth Day event!

The Annual Bounty at Boyce Mayview Park Fall Fest featured food, free programs, hikes and activities like pumpkin decorating, Plunge for the Pumpkins, wagon rides, an interactive hay structure, chain saw woodcarving demonstrations, glass blowing demonstrations, campfire s'mores and an apple slingshot and catapult competition. In it's 4th year year, but first attempt at zero waste, it was able to achieve Gold level of certification.

Construction Junction is a nonprofit promoting conservation through the reuse of building materials. Their annual fundraising event, the Steel City Big Pour is attended by 3,000 people, and features two 3-hour sessions of music, art, local gourmet food and local craft beer tasting. In line with their mission, which diverts tons of building materials from landfill every year, Construction Junction achieved a level as high as 80% diversion for this event.

For the second year in a row, Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank has "greened" the Pittsburgh Blues Festival by implementing collection of food waste, cooking oil and recyclables. The Food Bank helps provide food assistance to more than 110,000 people in southwestern PA every month. The Blues Festival is the Food Bank's largest annual fundraiser, a three-day family-friendly event that features national and local blues musicians, food and merchandise, and a Kid Zone with arts, crafts and games.

This event is an end of the year celebration with games, awards and music for students, teachers, parents, family and friends. The event utilized ZWP staff to help provide on site diversion and education regarding recyclables such as bottles and cans and compostables such as food waste, plant based utensils and paper plates. This is the second year in which the organizers of the event, the Colfax PTA, have utilized the services of Zero Waste Pittsburgh to help make their event greener.

For four years running the largest festival in Pittsburgh has worked with the Pennsylvania Resources Council to help implement the zero waste initiative which requires the cooperation of event contractors, vendors and, of course, the participants themselves. An estimated 80% (by weight) of all materials collected at the 10 day long event, were diverted from the landfill including bottles and cans, cardboard, waste cooking oil, pallets, compostable cups, straws, forks, plates and food waste. This year's art, recycling and reuse convergence featured artistic renditions of recycling stations as well as other artists and programming that emphasized the art of re-use.

The Sakura Project is an organization that is devoted to planting cherry trees throughout North Park and increasing cultural awareness of Japan. The beautiful cherry tress they have planted will continue to produce cherry blossoms for years to come. The Sakura Festival has been submitting for certification and pursuing better waste management practices since 2010 when it achieved Bronze. Since 2011 the organizers of this event have held a Gold level of certification for their implementation of waste reduction and recycling.

An outdoor event spent exploring and learning from nature-oriented walks and workshops at this free Citiparks event. The 151-acre Frick Woods Nature Reserve offers an extensive trail system and an impressive array of habitats filled with Pennsylvania's native plants. In the spirit of Earth Day, the organizers succeeded, again, in minimizing the impact of this educational and stewardship event. Efforts included on site handling of compostable wastes, bulk water distribution, recycled content and compostable products and a 93% diversion rate.

The very first out-of-state ZIP certification was awarded to this Canton, New York festival aptly subtitled "A Celebration of Resourceful Living". Focusing on how to live richer more sustainable lives, the event organizers successfully planned, promoted and executed a zero waste event which attained an estimated 94% diversion rate for the two day 1,300 person event.

A crew from Zero Waste Pittsburgh was on site to help this LGBT community event, one of the largest festivals in Pittsburgh, achieve a 70% diversion rate for compostable and recyclable materials.

The organizers of the event took it upon themselves to divert food waste, compostable serviceware as well as educate their students about the environmental benefits of resource conservation. Through their efforts they diverted 86% of their waste by weight. The Annual Strawberry Festival is the first event to be certified outside of the Pittsburgh Region.

The event features "sustainable living and innovation in all forms" took place at the Hartwood Acres Amphitheater and featured various environmental organizations, green energy contractors, local artists, music and food. In it's third year running, the event continued with it's efforts of reducing waste and promoting environmental sustainability by working with Zero Waste Pittsburgh.

For the third year running, this event, named after former Pittsburgh Mayor Richard S. Caliguiri has pursued ZIP certification of it's efforts towards diverting compostable cups and food waste as well as collecting cardboard and leftover print materials for recycling. In 2011 the race achieved national recognition of their greening efforts through the Council for Responsible Sport's ReSport Certification.

BikeFest is Bike Pittsburgh's biggest fundraiser and annual celebration of all things bicycling in Pittsburgh. The week leading up to the Bike Fest party is chock full of bike-themed events organized by individuals and organizations in Pittsburgh. Whether you ride everyday, the weekends, or simply always wanted to give it a try this is the week to do it. The party that wraps up the week long event extravaganza provides food, music and bicycle themed challenges/ rides which to partake in. For the third year in a row, Bike Pittsburgh has worked with Zero Waste Pittsburgh to help make this annual event as light on the environment as possible.

You can not find a more bicyclist supported event in Pittsburgh, than Pedal Pittsburgh. Providing direction, street closures, snacks, water and entertainment, this event eliminates all excuses for getting out on the road. While pedaling around Pittsburgh this year, cyclists had the opportunity to dispose of their recyclables and compostables in an environmental sensitive way at all Pedal Pittsburgh supported stops.

The Venture Outdoors Festival is a free celebration of outdoor recreation. Kayaking, fishing, hiking, yoga, biking and climbing were some of the opportunities available to event participants. Working with ZWP's event recycling services, organizers were able to provide recycling for the entire event that spanned the land and water sides of Point State Park. Venture Outdoors festival has been working with Zero Waste Pittsburgh to reduce waste at their outdoor festival for 2 years, but has been ZIP certified for three.

The evening fund raising event at the Mattress Factory featured an assortment of tastings from Grow Pittsburgh's restaurant partners that purchase locally grown produce as well as music and libations. Zero Waste Pittsburgh provided event recycling services and educational outreach about proper waste sorting with direct interaction with event participants.

This all-day week long camp, sponsored by PA American Water, takes place every July at The Outdoor Classroom in Upper St.. Clair, Allegheny County, PA. The camp is an educational, hands-on, fun and thought provoking journey for campers as they learn about watershed through lots of water-related activities, games, art projects, nature hikes and swimming in Chartiers Creek! The educational staff of the Pennsylvania Resources Council educated children about and implemented waste reduction and recycling techniques which earned this event a silver ZIP rating for a second year running.

In continuing with their good event stewardship, the United Jewish Federation of Great Pittsburgh again worked with a crew from Zero Waste Pittsburgh during the event at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill to help the event achieve compostable and recyclables diversion. This annual celebration is of the nation of Israel’s declaration of independence in 1948.

For the second year in a row, the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix has worked with Zero Waste Pittsburgh to implement waste reduction programs at this annual event. This 10-day celebration, spanning six venues and two counties, culminates in two days of racing and car shows at Schenley Park. It was during this time that the event implemented targeted diversion of recyclables such as glass and plastic bottles, aluminum cans and cardboard that would have otherwise gone to a landfill. The event raises funds to help provide residential care, treatment and support for developmentally disabled individuals in the Pittsburgh region.

With the help of the Alcoa Foundation and the commitment of the Pittsburgh Marathon, Zero Waste Pittsburgh was able to increase recycling and waste reduction at this year's event. Along with traditional recyclables, cardboard and plastic bottles, the effort targeted Heatsheets and other plastic films generated by event operations and participants. Zero Waste Pittsburgh also looked at how to expand the efforts towards capturing the some 300,000+ paper cups and food waste for next year.

For every Friday in July and August, weather permitting, local chefs prepared simple dishes for the public to sample from ingredients purchased at the Farmers Market. Northside cultural organizations presented interactive activities. As part of this year's environmental theme, made possible by Alcoa, local environmental organizations gave demonstrations, shared their mission and talked about how one could implement sustainable practices at home. Zero waste stations were set up to capture food waste and compostable serviceware generated during the market.

This annual event took place at the Springdale High school in the home town of Rachel Carson. The event featured local chefs, environmental organizations, artists and sustainability minded vendors. Separate collection of compostables, recyclables and trash helped the event achieve a diversion rate of 75%.

Organizers of the the Pittsburgh Irish Festival made the first steps towards zero waste while celebrating the Irish experience in America at this year's Irish Festival. Dance, music, artisans, storytellers, and, of course, food and beer were some of the experiences present at this three day festival. Festival participants were able to recycle their plastic, metal and glass beverage containers, aluminum foil and paper programs. Reusable pint glasses were available for purchase to save on cups and waste oil was collected for use in local bio-fuel energy economy.