Saturday, April 22, 2006 - EarthFest

In spite of several inches of rain that fell the past two days, EarthFest 2006 was held today and was a huge success in several respects.  1) World's Fair Park officials estimated attendance at 10,000 throughout the day, 2) more than 80 exhibitors set up information booths covering everything from recycling to paper-making to alternative fuel vehicles, and 3) the organizing committee decided to make EarthFest a Waste-Free event and we feel very good about the outcome.  Our interns did some research on Waste-Free events and our event is one of the most ambitious we could find.  Waste Management, in conjunction with the Great American Cleanup™ provided funding to Keep Knoxville Beautiful to underwrite several aspects of the Waste-Free event.  Waste Management also provided banners and a bin for the compostable waste produced on the site.  Other critical support for the Waste-Free event included BioTuf® compostable trash bags donated by Heritage Bag Company (the banner at the right was at the main entrance to the event) and UT Recycles/UT Cares provided the recycling/composting containers.  We also want to thank the more than 30 volunteers who helped manage the Recycling/Composting tents, especially members of the Farragut Optimist Club, KKB's Youth Advisory Board and others.  A very special thanks goes to the Knox County Greenwaste Facility.  Rodney Rockett, Greenwaste Facility Coordinator agreed to take all of the compostable waste and mix it with other organics in their composting process.  If we did not have access to this facility, the composting component would not have been feasible.  SP Recycling took the clean paper, PET, aluminum and glass.

Substantial planning went into making the event Waste-Free.  Our goal was to recycle or compost all the waste produced at the event and send nothing to the landfill.  In the end we produced 6 bags of trash that could not be composted or recycled.  Two bags were mostly plastic table cloths and shrink wrap which we could have recycled but did not make prior arrangements for.  Two additional bags were heavily soiled recycled toner cartridge boxes left by the side of the road just outside the site by a vendor (that was kind of weird - we know who did it).  The other two bags were items we could not compost or recycle in Knoxville.  Here is a picture of Sarah Surak with the two bags:



Sarah Surak, KKB board member and UTK recycling coordinator and Sara Hart, Knox County Recycling Coordinator contacted all the food vendors and exhibitors to discuss rules to make the event Waste-Free.  Vendors and exhibitors could not give away or sell anything that could not be composted or recycled.  Food venders were supplied with corn-resin (compostable) utensils purchased by EarthFest.  All food was served on some type of paper.  Beverages had to be served in aluminum cans, PET bottles, glass, paper cups (including "waxy" cups).  If a vendor or exhibitor had to produce waste that was not allowed, they had to take it out with them at the end of the day.  Vendors and exhibitors did an excellent job of following the guidelines. 

Other steps taken included the following:

• Television ads and the Metro Pulse (weekly paper) special insert advertised that the event was waste-free.
• We posted 24 "NOTICE, EarthFest is a WASTE-FREE EVENT" (see below).
• Volunteers (approximately 30) and event officials wore stickers saying "ASK ME ABOUT WASTE-FREE".  Some food vendors were asked to wear the stickers, too.
• Recycling/Composting tents were clearly marked and distributed throughout the site at five locations.  Three of the locations were close to the food vendors and eating tables.
• Recycling/Composting volunteers working with Keep Knoxville Beautiful wore special t-shirts along with the "Ask me about..." stickers.
• Volunteers "helped" event-goers with their recycling and composting "choices".
• UT Recycles/UT Cares supplied the bins for composting that we lined with compostable BioTuf® bags donated by Heritage Bag Company and those really cool blue wire frame container recycling systems. 
• Event officials monitored the bins and when "banned" trash was found we immediately traced it back to the source and had "the meeting" with the exhibitor.  The solution required the exhibitor to tell their "customers" to bring the non-recyclable item back to them for proper disposal.

Official trash results are this:

• garbage (non-compostable, non-recyclable), 6 bags, ~ 150 pounds

Recycled and composted amounts (520 pounds total):

• mixed paper ~320 pounds
• newspaper ~150 pounds
• PET bottles ~40 pounds
• AL cans ~10 pounds

Compare to (amounts provided by City of Knoxville recycling official):

• Sundown in the City ~2.5 to 3 tons
• Dogwood Festival (Market Square) 3 days ~2 to 2.5 tons
• Fountain City Dogwood ~1 to 2 tons

Here are the pictures:













Thanks to everyone who worked to make this event a big success!!!

- posted by KKB Staff at 9:30 PM

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Today was phase two of KKB's work at the Mabry-Hazen House.  We want to thank 9 students and 2 teachers from The Park School in Buffalo, New York, who chose to do a "working" spring break in Knoxville.  The group spread mulch in all the planting beds and planted about $250 in bedding plants.  Funds for the 15 cubic yards of mulch and the bedding plants were donated by Waste Management in conjunction with the 2006 Great American Cleanup™.  Here are some pictures from the work day:

- posted by KKB Staff at 2:30 PM

Saturday, April 8, 2006

We delivered supplies to a three-church youth cleanup in West Knoxville called Project 412.  They chose some littered roads in the Cedar Bluff area.  Here are some shots of them getting their instructions and supplies:

- posted by KKB Staff at 3:34 PM

Thursday, April 6, 2006

We had our regular board meeting in the training room of the Knoxville Coca Cola offices.

- posted by KKB Staff at 1:45 PM

Sunday, April 2, 2006

We haven't updated the new GAC groups in quite a while.  This year promises to the be the biggest in recent memory.  Here are the new groups:

The Ayers Family
A.L. Lotts Elementary (poster)
Ball Camp Elementary (poster)
Ball Camp Baptist Church Youth Group (completed)
Bearden Middle School
The Bell Family
Carter Middle School (poster)
Carter High School (poster)
Civil War Roundtable - Fort Dickerson Cleanup
Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon (refreshment stations)
Fulton High Staff
Galasso/Hall Family (poster)
Gibbs High School
Girl Scout Troop 338
Girl Scout Troop 771
Girl Scout Junior Troop 1040
Glencree Homeowners Association
Halls Crossroads Women's League
Hardin Valley Elementary
Harts Ridge Inc.
Hidden Cove Homeowners Association
Inskip Elementary School
Karns High School AFJROTC
Lake Forest Neighborhood Association
Mount Olive Elementary (poster)
New System School( poster)
Pond Gap School
Powell Elementary School (poster)
Rhines Family & Friends
Project 412 (3 church cleanup)
River Rescue (completed)
Sequoyah Elementary (poster)
South Haven Neighborhood (completed)
UT Canoe & Hiking Club
UTK African American Students for Excellence
UT Students for Tyson Park
Vine Magnet Middle School
Walter P. Taylor Homes Residents
Young Life of Knoxville

- posted by KKB Staff at 1:55 PM

- posted by KKB Staff at 12:30 PM