The Orange County Environmental Protection Division (EPD), in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s voluntary WasteWise program, has recently become a WasteWise endorser.  WasteWise is a national program focused on solid waste reduction.  As a partner, with significant environmental and financial improvements already achieved, EPD’s goal is to focus on reducing internal waste.  As an endorser, EPD hopes to spread this success to others by educating and recruiting new partners to join the WasteWise initiative.

EPD has notably reduced its paper use by printing documents only when necessary and by double-sided printing, reducing paper consumption by 50% in 2008. Savings amounted to more than $1,300, even with the rise in paper costs. EPD’s Office Recycling Program includes envelopes, office paper, post-it notes, junk mail, newspapers and magazines, pasteboard, cardboard, plastic, clean Styrofoam, aluminum, steel, and tin.  In addition, EPD reduces waste by diligently practicing reuse, composting food waste and utilizing external programs to recycle batteries, printer cartridges, cell phones and wooden pallets, bringing EPD to near “zero waste” status.  These are just a few examples of what offices can do to become WasteWise.
 
“Orange County is actively demonstrating how a waste reduction program can be simple and fiscally attractive,” said Lori Cunniff, Manager of Orange County EPD.   “As a certified Florida Green Local Government, we want to build on our current waste prevention and recycling efforts while helping the public become more involved in minimizing waste.”  By providing technical assistance to local businesses through EPD’s new Pollution Prevention (P2) program and by promoting WasteWise on the county’s Orange to Green website www.ocfl.net/orangetogreen, the county can help businesses and residents successfully reduce their waste, and even save money.
  
The WasteWise program has a broad and varied membership that reflects the makeup of corporate America. More than 1,100 organizations have joined WasteWise since 1994, including many of America’s leading manufacturers, retailers and service firms, as well as several government agencies. WasteWise partners have saved thousands, even millions of dollars in purchasing costs and waste disposal fees by reducing, reusing and recycling solid waste materials.

Becoming an endorser for WasteWise is one more example of Orange County’s ongoing commitment to Mayor Richard T. Crotty’s Climate Change Initiative to protect our natural resources.  For more information on Orange County’s WasteWise program or to join, contact Scott Tess at 407-836-1400 or scott.tess@ocfl.net.

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