Zero Waste Washington

Our Vision We envision a just, equitable, and sustainable future where we all produce, consume, and reuse responsibly. Our Mission Zero Waste Washington drives policy change for a healthy and waste-free world. Why It Matters Through our legislative work, public education and participation, on-the-ground projects and research, we are closing the gap between policy change at the local and state level and the future health of our planet. We work at the intersection of these issues: resource depletion, equity and justice, climate change, and public health. History of ZWW Since Zero Waste Washington’s founding in in the late 1970s by activists working for a statewide bottle bill, we’ve become known as Washington State’s leader in advocacy for sustainable and environmentally-focused waste solutions. and , in particular, product stewardship.. Our work has always sat at the vanguard of necessary change around waste reduction and management and has evolved to be a part of a broader movement that sees zero waste as a solution to the interconnected issues of equity and justice, climate change, public health, and resource depletion.

What We Do Zero Waste Washington is Washington State’s leading legislative advocate for state and local waste management and stewardship policy and advancing the state’s zero waste movement. We do this through a systems-change approach, passing legislation, advocating, educating, and acting as a go-to resource for government, community partners and the general public toward a goal of creating a circular economy that gives back to or helps regenerate nature versus extract from it. How We Do It These four main areas of our work directly and indirectly apply to systems change of waste management at all levels: ● Legislative Work: We work at the legislative level to pass state and local bills and initiatives that are linked to issues of preventing waste, improving recycling and composting, and increasing producer responsibility. ● Policy & Advocacy: We collaborate with local and state-level leaders to advocate for progressive waste policies to be enacted at all levels. ● Community-Based Programs: We facilitate programming that engages communities in zero waste efforts providing behavior change education, galvanize support for environmental justice issues related wo waste, and build a zero waste movement across the state. ● Research: We conduct research to showcase the need for specific policy changes.