We’re already several weeks into the new year, so this article may be a bit late, but we wanted to share this overall look at last year, and share some of our plans for 2023.

Last year we posted a similar article in December 2021, “Tips for a Waste-Free Holiday Season”, in which we focused on sustainable gift wrapping, giving handmade, secondhand or experiences as gifts, and shopping local. In this post, we will expound on some of those areas, with the addition of a few new tips. As we discover or hear about new tips from others, we will update this post throughout the month.

Prior to a couple of weeks ago, we had not heard about The Forever Walk, an initiative started this year by Chris and Sabrina with the goal of traveling across the U.S. on foot and picking up trash along the way.

Earlier this month, we attended the Charity Bingo Night at the Yellow Cab Tavern, not because Waste-Free Dayton was the charity beneficiary, but because our friends at Access to Excess were there to benefit from the generosity and community mindedness of Yellow Cab and The Pizza Bandit.

After experiencing so many ups and downs emotionally as a climate and sustainability activist over the last few years (e.g. the U.S. withdraws from the Paris Agreement, then the U.S. is back in the Agreement; hope for a Green New Deal, those hopes dashed), the United States Congress finally passed a significant piece of legislation earlier this month to address climate change, which President Biden signed into law on August 16th. Finally, something to cheer about!

This month, we are excited to feature this husband and wife duo with a passion for coffee and sustainability, passions that all of us here at WFD share as well! We met Michael & Jessica Beans in the spring, and have been to a couple of Namesake Coffee’s popup events, the coffee roastery that they founded in 2016. Let’s learn more about Michael and Jessica..

We’re kicking off the summer months with another edition of Humans of Waste-Free Dayton. Below, you will learn more about a repeat Waste-Free Dayton volunteer, somebody who cares deeply for his community, Matt K.

Earth Week 2022 is a wrap! Over the span of five days, we were at a Bingo Fundraiser, our Executive Director was interviewed on live TV, we had a largest cleanup event to date, we assisted at an after school program for their Earth Day activity, and we participated in a partner organization’s cleanup and beautification event. We are definitely in the “Earth Day Every Day” camp…

The theme for Earth Day in 2022 is Invest In Our Planet. Actions that we take and decisions we make on a daily basis ultimately have an effect on our planet. We should also be thinking about how our actions and decision affect our neighborhoods and cities.

On April 8th, 2022, Waste-Free Dayton was two years old. We began as a Facebook group, started by our Executive Director Natalie, who desired a community of people who encourage one another and share ideas about how to live waste-free in the Dayton area.

Making your own homemade oat milk is quick and easy, and one more step towards living sustainably. Whenever possible, buy your ingredients in bulk, try to avoid unsustainable packaging, and use your leftovers. For oat milk, you can use the leftover oats to make cookies, in smoothies, or just as cooked oats.

On March 2nd, we celebrated the one year anniversary of our first cleanup event. Last year, Natalie, our founder, got tired of seeing all of the litter up and down Hamilton Avenue, and decided to organize that first cleanup. Since then, Waste-Free Dayton organized twelve cleanup events in the one year period ending this past February.

Spring officially arrives this coming Sunday, but with the weather we have been experiencing this week, it already feels like spring. We are entering the season of rebirth and renewal as we begin to see growth from plants, flowers, and trees, but litter also becomes more apparent on our streets and roadways. Waste-Free Dayton recently celebrated one year of cleanup events in early March, and we’re aiming for an even bigger second year.

After a break around the holidays, we resume our series where we feature members of the community who are striving for waste-free lifestyles or are involved in sustainability initiatives in the region. This month’s Humans of Waste-Free Dayton profile is Natalie G., a lifelong resident of Dayton on a journey to educate herself and make intentional changes, and to educate and inspire others.

With three weeks of the new year behind us, hopefully progress is being made towards your waste-free goals for 2022. In our household, we set several goals to push us further along on our waste-free journey, such as doing more meal planning and doing more homemade staples like bread, and also improving our backyard composting. Since I became involved with Waste-Free Dayton last year, a few people have asked me for tips on changes they can make in their daily lives if they are just starting their journey.

Christmas is less than a week away, so for those who are waiting until the last minute to shop for gifts and make preparations for your holiday get-togethers, I thought I might share some of our strategies to try to be more waste-free this year.

Following Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday has turned into one of the most important days of the year for nonprofit organizations. In 2020, $2.47 billion was given to nonprofits in the US, a number that has increased each year since the first Giving Tuesday in 2012.

When Waste-Free Dayton was established earlier this year as an official nonprofit organization, three focus areas were identified as critical to our mission: Reducing Plastics, Increasing Composting and Decreasing Food Waste, and Community Rejuvenation. It is that third area under which we include our monthly litter cleanup events. Organizing and mobilizing volunteers to get out into our communities is something tangible where we can see an immediate impact. It does not address the root cause of the litter - our education and awareness campaigns will hopefully help in this area - but it certainly helps with working towards healthier and safer communities. Recently, we had our largest cleanup event of the year.

Waste-Free Dayton was started in April 2020 to be an online community where members could share tips, ask questions, learn and help each other grow on our waste-free journeys. The group, and our community as a whole, has many inspiring individuals, so we are excited to launch this new feature, Humans of Waste-Free Dayton. Our first interview is with Darion, certified nature therapy guide and founder of Gem City Wild.