ZWZ Quotes

The following quotes were available for media to use in articles relating to Ei and the Zero Waste Zones (ZWZ.)

City of Atlanta ZWZ Support:

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed:

“The city’s support of Zero Waste Zones illustrates our commitment to moving Atlanta toward becoming a top 10 city for sustainability. One critical step in this process is to develop a viable zero-waste plan that will create green jobs and reduce the green-house gas emissions of discarded materials. ZWZ complements our zero-waste plan and vision and is the economically and ecologically the right thing to do for the city.”

Bill Hosken, Interim Director of Sustainability:

“Supporting Zero Waste Zones benefits the environment, local businesses and will ensure long-term cost savings for city government and the community through promoting best practices that minimize waste and recover valuable materials for reuse.”

Holly Elmore, Founder & CEO Elemental Impact, Director Zero Waste Zones:

“The City of Atlanta’s participation is vital to Zero Waste Zones’ overall success.  ZWZ is built upon collaborative effort by government, nonprofits, trade/business organizations and private enterprise. A big thanks to the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability for stepping forward with this commitment to the ZWZ.”

 

General ZWZ Support:

George McKerrow, Jr., Co-Founder and CEO, Ted’s Montana Grill:

“We’re always looking at new ways to help lessen our environmental footprint and become more sustainable. The restaurant industry as a whole can be a great catalyst for creating stronger sustainable practices across many industries.  We’re proud to be part of this important initiative for Atlanta and want to help lead the way for others to be part of the movement.”

Holly Elmore, Founder & CEO Elemental Impact, Director Zero Waste Zones:

“Landfill disposition of assets, especially organics, has harmful environmental impact and is a wasteful use of valuable resources.  The ZWZ program educates corporate consumers on how recycling of used products makes good business sense and assists in infrastructure creation for vibrant recycling systems.”

 

Chris Moyer, Conserve Project Director, National Restaurant Association

 

“By working with Ei, the NRA will bring industry stakeholders together to help restaurant operators establish and reach waste-diversion and resource-recovery goals.”

“We hope more restaurants can divert 75 percent to 95 percent of their refuse from landfills through the ZWZ program.”

 

Patrick Cuccaro, General Manager, Affairs to Remember Caterers:

“This is not just a trend; It’s a mega movement.  This is something where people are going to wake up in five years, and if they haven’t been an early adaptor, they’re going to be a late adaptor, and it’s going to be to their detriment.”

“For us, it was about the Zero Waste Zones program, but for somebody else it might just be about getting rid of Styrofoam.”

“It’s a journey.  We constantly look at ways to leave a smaller footprint.  This is not just a task for us.  This is a mission for us.  So we embrace the journey.  It’s fun.”

National Restaurant Association Collaboration:

Scott DeFife, Executive Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs for the National Restaurant Association

“Atlanta’s Zero Waste Zone program has been incredibly successful, and we are now looking to expand that success to communities nationwide.  Sustainability is imperative to our industry, other business communities and the general public. Working with Elemental Impact, we are bringing industry stakeholders together to enable our members to establish – and succeed in reaching – waste diversion and resource-recovery goals.”

Holly Elmore, Founder & CEO Elemental Impact, Director Zero Waste Zones

“These are exciting times.  To build upon what has already been done here in Atlanta with the Zero Waste Zone program and bring it to the nation’s almost one million foodservice operations is truly remarkable.”

Chris Moyer, Conserve Project Director, National Restaurant Association

“The NRA|Ei initiative will identify best practices and provide resources to restaurants through the NRA’s Conserve Solutions for Sustainability initiative.  Participating operations can submit information about much they recycle, how much of it is organic, what they pay for hauling, and so forth.  Ei will help the NRA compile the information, turn it into helpful tools for other restaurateurs and post on conserve.restaurant.org.”

 

Zero Waste Zones Two-Year Anniversary:

Holly Elmore, Founder & CEO Elemental Impact, Director Zero Waste Zones

“The Zero Waste Zone’s second anniversary brings amazing new relationships that are staged to expand the environmental and economic impact across the nation within the foodservice industry and beyond.”

A Trailblazer:

Steve Simon, Partner, Fifth Group Restaurants:

“Before the Zero Waste Zones we had an 8-yard dumpster that was pulled three times per week.  Our trash is now viewed as a raw material and collected by either a recycling or composting company.  By following the ZWZ Criteria, ECCO no longer requires a dumpster.  We are excited to be Atlanta’s first dumpster-free restaurant!

It was Easy ~ Thank You:

Randy Childers, Senior Director of Engineering, Hyatt Regency Atlanta:

“Thank you for how easy you made it for us to accomplish some of the most challenging of our remaining sustainability goals.  I can’t express how beneficial this was in accelerating our ability to meet not just your challenge, but to address a serious need in the community and our internal goal of finding a productive, sustainable use for our food waste.  Your support for our recycling efforts and the recognition we have received through our mutual efforts, are very much appreciated.  Thanks for paving the way.”

A Cost-Saving Solution:

David Rossman, General Manager, Doubletree Atlanta-Buckhead:

“By joining the Zero Waste Zones we were given an easy and cost-saving solution for food-waste composting.  We have fewer and lighter compactor pulls since there is no smell from decomposing food in the compactor.  The process was easy and our employees feel good about helping the environment.”

Employee Enthusiasm:

Paul Baldasaro, C.O.O. Buckhead Life Restaurant Group:

“It was amazing to see how the entire staff got behind the ZWZ initiative. Many of our staff members volunteered their support and experience to spearhead the efforts in their own restaurants. Both management and staff got excited about the opportunity and it seemed to bring an additional level of pride to their daily work.”

ZWZ: A Revenue Generator:

Patrick Cuccaro, General Manager, Affairs to Remember Caterers:

“The ZWZ program is a financial winner for our company.  It differentiates us, and in the realm of luxury catering where exciting food is increasingly a commodity, differentiation is what it’s about.  We have already experienced well over $100,000 in sales made almost exclusively because we are a responsible caterer who “walks the talk” of sustainable practices.”

“When you compare what we paid our waste hauler to come out and unload the huge bins six times a week, versus what we pay them to come out twice per week now and collect one half bin – plus what we pay to remove organics for composting – we’re saving 10%.  It’s very significant.”

“Affairs to Remember now composts, recycles and donates food to a local mission, diverting 83% of our assets away from the landfill.  In just two years, we have diverted a total of 100 tons from the landfill and found we save money in the process.”