The Trashion Show is back, but first we need enough submissions! If you are or know of a clever designer with a yen for reuse, please tell them that they still have till April 2 to submit a sketch proposal. There are two prize categories this year: Ready-to-wear Upcycled and Trash2Treasure. Details can be found at bitrashion.org.

The show itself will be held outdoors at Hilltop on July 25, with timed-ticket entry. Thanks go to Naomi Spinak, for once again chairing the event.

The Trashion committee would like to borrow twenty 10 x 10 tents for social distancing the models at the show. If you have one you can lend for the weekend of July 25, please contact Zero Waste.

Join us in finding out how well we recycle on Bainbridge by participating in a waste audit of a load of Bainbridge Disposal curbside recyclables.

On Wednesday morning, April 21, we will meet at the Olympic View Transfer Station in Bremerton. Led by Kitsap Solid Waste employees, we will work at an open-air table in protective gear to sort materials into their respective categories (cans, plastic bottles, glass bottles, contaminants), then record their weight and volume. Based on this snapshot, we will see how well we recycle compared to the rest of Kitsap, as well as use the information for better strategic outreach.

To indicate your interest in helping with this endeavor, please email Diane Landry.

Kitsap County has just put out a survey open to all households for feedback on current recycling habits. Your input will be helpful in creating better messaging and ways of disseminating recycling information. Take the short survey here.

Plastic pollution is everywhere: in the air, tap water, seafood, salt, ocean and land. In fact, it's estimated we ingest a credit card's worth of it a week.

There is currently state and national legislation underway to address the proliferation of this material and its afterlife. Below are ways to support solutions and to inform yourself about the issues.

Support national legislation. The Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act, reintroduced last week, is supported by 400 organizations, including Sustainable Bainbridge. To attend a webinar to find out more about this legislation from its two co-sponsors, Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Rep. Alan Lowenthal of California, register here. Moderated by Judith Enck (see her course info below), this conversation will cover how the proposed legislation builds on statewide laws and promotes plastic reduction strategies to improve the health of the people and the planet. To read more about the bill and voice support, go here.

Watch this video. This just-released 7-minute film describes the health impacts on the people in neighborhoods where oil refinery and ethane cracker plants have encroached. The ethane plants make plastic, about 50% of which is for single-use products.

Or watch this video. - As only he can, John Oliver explains the plastics crisis on Last Week Tonight.

Audit this class. Judith Enck is a former EPA administrator and founder of Beyond Plastics. She is also a go-to source for national stories on plastic proliferation. Judith is once again offering a 7-week online class, Beyond Plastic Pollution, through Bennington College. It is a public policy course focusing on the systemic reasons why millions of tons of plastic enter the ocean each year. Register here for the course, which meets Wednesdays, 4-6pm, April 7-May 26.

Be creative. Put your humor to good use. Come up with a great meme on plastic proliferation and you'll receive far-reaching Internet recognition and a $100 gift certificate to Lauren Singer's The Plastic Free Shop. The nonprofit Beyond Plastic is running the contest from April 1-18, with the winner to be announced on Earth Day, April 22.

V Calvez and his eco-bricks were featured in a previous Zero Waste newsletter. You can still drop off eco-bricks anytime at #4 Winslow cohousing. In addition, V is looking for other supplies as he undertakes construction of a composter at a Seattle preschool, with the intention of using as many second-hand materials as possible. As V describes it, "This project is an opportunity to promote ultra local composting, eco-bricking, community art making, indigenous wisdom and empowerment of young people."

Besides eco-bricks, V is looking for plywood, 4x4s or 6x6s, Plexiglas sheeting and polycarbonate roofing. For quantities and material specifications, click the link below. To arrange drop-off or if you have questions, please email V.

West Sound Wildlife is gearing up for its busy spring season. Check around your house to see if you have any of the items on their donation wish list, such as old linens, expired medication or meat that's been in the freezer too long.

Up until now, if you had unwanted leftover latex or oil paint to get rid of, you had to traipse all the way to the hazardous waste drop-off in Bremerton. Now, because of a paint producer responsibility law passed by the Washington state legislature in 2019, there are closer drop-offs and more chance that your paint will be reused rather than landfilled.

The nonprofit PaintCare, which operates in ten other states, has been appointed to run the collection program. Funding is supported by a small fee on each can of paint purchased (amount dependent on size of container). The program goes into effect on April 1. At that time, you can plug your zip code into a location finder to identify the nearest take-back spot.

For a complete list of the kinds of paint accepted, as well as other items such as sealers and varnishes, click the button below.

Ridwell, a doorstep pick-up service for special recyclables/reusables, has recently started up on Bainbridge. When you subscribe, every two weeks they will take your plastic film, batteries, "threads" and lightbulbs, plus one extra category. The response from the Bainbridge community has been very receptive: Over 600 people indicated an interest and so far more than 250 have signed up.

If you want to find out more, listen to the broadcast of the February 10th Zero Waste meeting, where Ridwell marketer Caroline Stanford made a compelling case for bringing this Seattle start-up to Bainbridge, or visit their website.

For February ZW meeting minutes, go here.

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