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Go Green Initiative
On Earth Day, April 22, 2009, Mel Trotter Ministries’ main facility at 225 Commerce Ave. revealed its intention to “go green” with a recycling program aimed at reducing waste and improving stewardship of resources. A Green Team was selected to spearhead the initiative, which began in the Food Service Department. The program quickly evolved to include not only standard items such as cardboard, office paper, and hard plastics, but also many rarely recycled items such as batteries, light bulbs, tennis shoes, film, soft plastics, and chip bags. Click here for a full list of recycled items.
Food Composting and Zero Waste
· Mel Trotter is committed to composting all food waste. With the help of a local commercial composter, food waste feeds people’s flowerbeds and gardens rather than filling landfills.
· The Mission moved from using disposables to using reusable dining ware
· Mel Trotter adopted a zero waste event policy
o All events will use reusable or compostable dining ware
o Event products’ packaging will be recyclable
o Even The Great Thanksgiving Banquet, with 2,100 guests produced less than 5 pounds of total waste!
Partnership with DART (Recycling Styrofoam)
· Mel Trotter uses little to no polystyrene (e.g. Styrofoam)
· They recognized a need in the community to collect and recycle these products for restaurants, churches, schools, and agencies of Kent County.
· Mel Trotter partners with DART of Mason, MI, one of the world’s largest producers of polystyrene containers, to collect and store these items on-site at 225 Commerce St. Periodically, DART sends a truck to pick up the collected polystyrene for recycling.
· Drop off your foam items at Mel Trotter, 225 Commerce Ave. SW, Grand Rapids M-F, 9am-6pm or Sat. 11am-6pm. Please click here for recycling specifications.
· Click here to see or print the recycling foam flyer.
Results
· In fiscal year 2009, Mel Trotter reduced overall waste at the Mission by 78%, down from a dumpster removal every 3 weeks to once every 4 months.
· At our 225 Commerce St. location we sent 93 tons of food waste to a composting facility and 56 tons of recyclables to manufacturers who used them to make everyday household items.
· Mel Trotter had a net of zero waste to landfill
o 3 dumpster loads of waste (less than 30 tons total for the year) went to the Waste to Energy Incinerator
o The waste was burned to produce electricity in a highly efficient and air quality controlled facility
Awards
· Mel Trotter Ministries was recognized as a 4 of 4 Star Certified Recycler by the Michigan Recycling Coalition (MRC) in 2009.
· Mel Trotter received the Recycler of the Year award from MRC for 2009 at the MRC’s Annual Conference in May 2010.
· The State of Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources and the Environment (DNRE) recognized Mel Trotter for its outstanding efforts to green their building and surrounding area by awarding a Neighborhood Environmental Partner award for 2009.
Other Partnerships
· Grand Rapids Community Sustainability Partnership (GR-CSP)—member
· The Michigan Recycling Coalition (MRC)—member
· The Michigan Business Partnership for Pollution Prevention (MBP3)—member
· The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Waste Wise Program—member
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