March and April Eco-Leader Newsletter
Support Colorado’s Plastic Pollution Reduction Act Nothing we use for a few minutes should be allowed to pollute our soil and water and persist indefinitely in our landfills or environment. That’s why Eco-Cycle and partners have worked with Colorado legislators to introduce a new plastic pollution bill. The Plastic Pollution Reduction Act (House Bill 21-1162), was introduced by Representatives Lisa Cutter and Alex Valdez and Senator Julie Gonzales, addresses some of the worst plastics in our state: polystyrene (a.k.a. styrofoam) and plastic carry-out bags. This bill will:Ban polystyrene and plastic carry-out bags, and put a fee on paper bags to encourage reusable bags.Strike a 1989 law that prevents local communities from regulating plastics and managing their own plastic pollution. Legislators need to hear from you that you want them to pass this Act in 2021!Tell your legislator it’s time for Colorado to break free from single-use plastics! Click to support Colorado’s Break Free from Plastic Act! |
| Eco-Cycle has a big cleanup/social hour for Earth Day, they want everyone to feel comfortable and be safe, so what they are going to do instead is pick a spot and individually do a cleanup (or invite a friend or two for a small safe group)! You can do it any time in April that works best for you. You can post pictures, motivation and results in our Facebook Event Page, and plug in your results in our survey! As we work toward eliminating or reducing single-use packaging and plastics, your results in the survey will help us add to national data on which products are the largest contributors to community litter pollution. |
| Volunteer Opportunity: CHaRM Attendant Eco-Leaders has an ongoing volunteer opportunity. If you’ve been wanting to put in some volunteer hours or struggling to figure out how you can make a difference as an Eco-Leader, this is your chance! The Eco-Cycle/City of Boulder Center for Hard-to-Recycle Materials (CHaRM) is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and is also undergoing renovations! They are looking for volunteers to help staff at the CHaRM lane every Saturday. You can sign up for a single Saturday, a few, or ongoing, it’s totally up to you! They need shifts from 10am-1pm and 1pm-4pm, but are very flexible on times! It takes place outside, and masks and COVID precautions are strictly enforced at the CHaRM. Duties include: Getting trained on how the CHaRM operates/layout of the facility wearing a safety vest to identify you as a resource to customers-directing customers to the correct zones to recycle their materials. Offering help and answering questions from customers standing at frequently contaminated bins to help customers learn what does and does not go inside Sign up through the link below. CLICK HERE to sign up for a shift (or more!) |
| Upcoming Events: April Eco-Leader 2.0 Training Series: Equity, Inclusion & Zero Waste Thursday, April 8th & Thursday, April 22nd 5:30-7:30pm (Mountain Standard Time) Via Zoom April is Earth Month, Eco-Cycle is excited to invite eco-leaders to a first two-part training about social justice and its intersection with Zero Waste. They will discuss the history of environmental justice and environmental racism, how those issues apply to natural resources and Zero Waste specifically, and how you can be a part of the solution. Parker McMullen-Bushman from EcoInclusive will be our incredible guest speaker, and we’re greatly looking forward to offering this important training to our Eco-Cycle community. RSVP HERE! Zero Waste Local Businesses! There are new Zero Waste businesses in Boulder County! The Conscious Merchant is in Louisville, and it is an amazing refill/Zero Waste hub! Nude Foods Market is a local company that delivers (by bike!) groceries, meals and household products in reusable, refillable, returnable Zero Waste containers! |