What is Zero Waste?

Zero waste is a waste management strategy that aims to conserve all resources by means of responsible production, consumption, reuse, and recovery of products, packaging, and materials without burning and with no discharges to land, water, or air that threaten the environment or human health.

Why is Zero Waste Important?

Zero waste efforts are important because it helps keep our natural environment (streams, land, plants, and animals) and humans safe from trash and toxic chemicals. Choosing reuseable materials, or ones that can be easily recycled or composted, not only eliminate waste from the landfill, but also encourage a circular waste stream. When waste materials can be returned back to the cycle, we can save energy, time, resources, and costs. Zero waste practices create sustainable solutions for the future.  

Zero Waste Events

The Sustainability Department and Parks and Recreation have worked closely together to implement waste diversion efforts at city-hosted events. Local partners, Compost Crowd and Sedona Recycles, Inc., have been an integral part of achieving zero waste goals for the following events: 

Sedona Food Truck Festival

The Sedona Food Truck Festival of November 2023 was the city's first attempt to reduce, recycle, and compost event waste on a large scale. The zero-waste initiative successfully diverted 69.1% of materials from the landfill. 

Breakfast with Santa

For this event, the Sustainability team provided over 300 bamboo forks and knives, eliminating the use of single-use plastic utensils, and instead, composting them along with collected food scraps. In addition, Parks and Recreation purchased reusable dishware for this event, eliminating over 300 single-use plates from the landfill. With help from volunteers, the dishware was sanitized and stored for future use, creating a sustainable system. 

Celebration of Spring

For the 2024 Celebration of Spring event, the city implemented similar zero waste initiatives as the Food Truck festival. Thousands of plastic easter eggs were collected for recycling, and other recyclables and compostable materials were sorted and diverted from the landfill.

Sedona Summer Splash - 4th of July Event

The city has continued efforts to reduce waste from the source by purchasing a water bottle refill station for events. The refill station was first used for this July 2024 event, playing a key role in reducing the need for bottled water. With the reduction of plastic bottles, providing food truck vendors with compostable bamboo utensils, and continuing efforts to compost and recycle materials, this event was able to divert 24% of the waste. 

Volunteer Opportunities

If you are interested in volunteering at the next waste collection event, or on the zero waste team, please contact the sustainability team at sustainability@sedonaaz.gov.