Event Recycling Solutions
We support our partners with every step of their sustainability journey from program design to execution and legacy planning. We can provide full transparency within our waste reduction streams and for those materials handled directly by us, we guarantee a 98.7% recyclability rate.
Our Impact
Number of events we’ve supported in their programs
Amount of material we’ve diverted from the landfill for clients
The amount of people impacted by our programs
trusted partner
Sustainability in events recycling
Since 2008, we have partnered with events and cities across Michigan and the Midwest to provide event and public space recycling solutions. With our partners, we’ve diverted more than 3.1 million pounds of material from landfills.
Designing and executing waste reduction programs including recycling, food waste, donation, handling of hard to recycle items and zero waste programs with onsite sort teams.
All the equipment you need to keep your grounds and hospitality suites clean before, during and after your event.
Know the economic impact of your event to communicate to stakeholders and leverage sponsorships.
Validate your program by becoming certified through one of the event industry’s sustainability standards. Our team will guide you through the process to start to finish. Certifications include Zero Waste, Council for Responsible Sport and GEO.
Measure your Scope 1, 2 or 3 emissions to offset and mitigate.
Need a speaker or trainer for your next webinar, conference or professional development day? We can partner with you to share our knowledge.
Creating Positive Volunteer Culture
Volunteers are especially valuable to the success of events; they provide additional manpower, community connection, and support for event operations without significantly increasing labor costs. Why This Deserves Real Attention, Not an Afterthought It’s easy to treat volunteer coordination as logistics; assign shifts, hand out T-shirts, and say thank you at the end. But volunteers are often your event’s most visible, most trusted representatives. They’re the ones answering attendee questions, directing traffic, and handling problems in real time. If they’re exhausted, under-informed, or feel unappreciated, that shows up in how they treat everyone around them. There’s also a retention cost that’s easy to underestimate. Recruiting and training volunteers takes real time and effort. A program that loses most of its people every year is quietly expensive. You’re re-doing recruitment and training work that a well-treated returning volunteer base would make unnecessary. What Actually Makes Volunteers Want to Come Back A few things consistently separate volunteer programs people enjoy from ones people tolerate: – Clear expectations before the day arrives. Volunteers who don’t know what they’re walking into, what their shift actually involves, how long it runs, or what to bring start the day anxious instead of ready. A short pre-event orientation, even a 10-minute video or a one-page guide, solves most of this. – Reasonable shift lengths with real breaks. A four-hour shift with a scheduled break is sustainable. An eight-hour shift with a vague “grab food when you can” policy is how you burn people out by year two. – A real point of contact during the shift. Volunteers need to know who to ask when something goes wrong, not a general email address, but a named person with a radio or phone who can actually help in the moment. – Being told why their role matters. People will do far more and be far more willing to help when they understand the impact of what they’re doing rather than just being handed a task. A five-minute framing at check-in: here’s what this event supports and here’s why your specific role matters, goes a long way. – Genuine recognition, not just a t-shirt. A branded shirt is fine, but it’s not recognition. A short personal thank-you, a shoutout at a closing meeting, or a small post-event gathering signals that people were actually seen and their work was appreciated. Incentive Programs That Go Beyond “Free Admission” Free entry or a t-shirt is the default incentive at most events. This is a great start, but it doesn’t build a program people stay loyal to over multiple years. A few approaches that go further: – Tiered recognition for returning volunteers. Something as simple as a different colored badge or shirt for volunteers on their third, fifth, or tenth year signals that returning matters and is noticed. – Skill-building opportunities. Offering volunteers a chance to learn something- event production, first aid certification, sustainability practices turns volunteering into something they gain beyond the immediate cause. – A volunteer-only appreciation event. A short gathering after the event, even something modest, gives people a chance to connect with each other, not just with the organization. Many long-term volunteers say the community is what keeps them coming back, more than any single perk. – A clear path to bigger roles. Volunteers who feel like there’s a next step- team lead, shift captain, planning committee- are more likely to stay engaged year over year, rather than treating it as a one-off. – Flexible options for different capacities. Not everyone can commit to a full shift. Offering shorter “micro-volunteer” roles (a two-hour set-up shift, a specific task-based role) can widen your pool to people who would otherwise sit out entirely. The events that treat their volunteers well don’t just get better feedback. They get a volunteer base that shows up year after year, already trained, already invested, and already telling other people it’s a good event to be part of.
Mighty Monarchs: The Journey of Monarch Butterflies
Every year, millions of monarch butterflies make one of the most extraordinary migrations. Traveling thousands of miles across North America, these delicate insects depend on a network of habitats along their journey. One way individuals can help is by creating a monarch waystation—a garden designed specifically to support monarch butterflies with food, shelter, and breeding habitat. What Is a Monarch Waystation? A monarch waystation is a habitat area planted with milkweed and nectar-producing plants that provide the resources monarch butterflies need to survive and reproduce during migration. These spaces function like rest stops along a highway, allowing butterflies to feed, lay eggs, and continue their journey. Milkweed is the most important plant in a waystation because it serves as the only host plant for monarch caterpillars. Adult monarchs lay their eggs on milkweed, and the caterpillars feed exclusively on their leaves. In addition to milkweed, monarch waystations include nectar-rich flowers that provide energy for adult butterflies during breeding and migration. A registered Monarch Waystation sign. Posting signs at the monarch gardens helps inform passersby that the space is protected habitat and spreads awareness of why it matters. The Monarch Migration Monarch butterflies are famous for their remarkable annual migration. In eastern North America, monarchs travel up to 3,000 miles from breeding areas in the United States and Canada to overwintering forests in central Mexico. Migration occurs in several stages: Spring and early summer: Monarchs move north from Mexico and begin laying eggs on milkweed plants.Summer: Multiple generations are born and continue moving northward as milkweed becomes available.Late summer and fall: A special “super generation” emerges and begins the long migration back to Mexico.Winter: Monarchs cluster together in forest habitats to survive the colder months before returning north again in spring. The super generation is what makes monarch migration so remarkable: unlike the two-to-six-week lifespan of summer monarchs, this generation can live six to eight months, long enough to complete the entire flight to Mexico, overwinter, and begin the return trip north. Shortening day length and cooling temperatures in late summer trigger this generation to delay reproduction and redirect its energy into building fat reserves for the journey instead. During this journey, monarchs may travel around 50 miles per day, relying on nectar-rich flowers and milkweed habitats along the way. Because habitat loss and pesticide use have reduced milkweed and nectar sources across North America, creating backyard waystations has become an important conservation effort. Eastern and western monarch migration routes and seasonal ranges across North America. (Map: Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation) Monarch-Friendly Plants A successful monarch waystation includes two main types of plants: host plants and nectar plants. 1. Milkweed (Host Plants) Milkweed is essential because monarch caterpillars can only survive on these plants. Planting several milkweed plants together increases the chance that migrating monarchs will find them and lay eggs. Not all milkweed is created equal, though. Choose milkweed species native to your region rather than tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica), which is widely sold at nurseries but doesn’t die back in winter in warmer climates. That can encourage monarchs to breed later than they should and has been linked to higher rates of a debilitating parasite, OE (Ophryocystis elektroscirrha). Your regional native plant society or extension office can point you to milkweed species suited to your area. 2. Nectar Plants (Food for Adult Butterflies) Adult monarch butterflies feed on nectar from flowers to fuel flight and migration. Planting a variety of flowers that bloom throughout the growing season helps ensure a consistent food source. Late-season bloomers like asters and goldenrod are especially important because they provide energy for monarchs preparing for their fall migration. How to Create a Monarch Waystation Building a monarch waystation can be simple and scalable. Even a small garden can support monarch populations. Why Monarch Waystations Matter Monarch populations have declined sharply in recent decades due to habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change. The eastern population that overwinters in Mexico has declined by roughly 80% since the 1990s, and the western population that overwinters along the California coast has declined by more than 95% since the 1980s. Large areas of milkweed habitat have disappeared as land is developed or converted to agriculture. By creating monarch waystations in backyards, schools, parks, and community spaces, individuals can help rebuild a network of habitats that supports monarch reproduction and migration. These gardens don’t just benefit monarch butterflies — they also support bees, other pollinators, birds, and healthy ecosystems. Learn more about Monarch Migration, or visit Monarch Watch to register your own waystation.
Exploring Invasive Species
Invasive species are a growing global concern, quietly reshaping ecosystems, economies, and communities. From forests and wetlands to oceans and urban environments, these non-native organisms can cause lasting damage when introduced into areas where they do not naturally belong. What Are Invasive Species? Invasive species are plants, animals, or microorganisms that are introduced, either intentionally or accidentally, into a new environment. Without the natural predators or controls that exist in their native habitats, these species can spread rapidly and outcompete local organisms for resources like food, water, and space. Not all non-native species are harmful, but those classified as invasive cause measurable ecological, economic, or social harm. Common Examples of Invasive Species Across the world, many invasive species have become well-known due to their widespread impact: How Zebra Mussels alter a lake ecosystem: by filtering out phytoplankton they trigger a cascade of changes shown here, from clearer water and deeper light penetration to shifts in where first like trout can find food. Environmental Impacts One of the most serious consequences of invasive species is the loss of biodiversity. Native ecosystems are built on long-standing relationships between species, where each plays a role in maintaining balance. Invasive species disrupt these relationships, they may prey on native species, introduce diseases, or compete more effectively for resources. In some cases, invasive species can completely transform ecosystems by changing soil chemistry, water availability, or even fire patterns. Over time, these disruptions can lead to population declines or extinctions of native species. Economic Consequences The financial burden of invasive species is immense and continues to grow worldwide. Industries that rely on natural resources are particularly affected: Globally, invasive species are estimated to cost more than $400 billion each year in damages and control efforts, and that figure has climbed as global trade and travel have expanded — making prevention and early detection far cheaper than the alternative. Social and Recreational Impacts Beyond environmental and economic effects, invasive species can alter everyday experiences. Natural areas may become less accessible or enjoyable when overrun by invasive plants or animals. Waterways can become difficult to navigate, and declining wildlife populations can affect recreational activities like fishing, hiking, and birdwatching. In some cases, invasive species can even pose risks to human health through allergens, toxins, or disease transmission. Why Invasive Species Spread So Easily Several factors contribute to the rapid spread of invasive species: What Can Be Done? Addressing a problem of this scale takes action at both the individual and institutional level. Individuals can help by: At a larger scale, governments and organizations work to prevent and manage invasions through: The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) coordinates much of this work globally — maintaining a database of invasive species, assessing which pose the greatest threat, and advising governments on prevention and control strategies. Looking Ahead Invasive species are not confined to one region—they are a global challenge that affects ecosystems everywhere. As environmental conditions shift and global connectivity increases, the risk of new invasions continues to rise. By understanding the issue and taking proactive steps, individuals and communities can play a meaningful role in protecting biodiversity and preserving the natural balance of ecosystems worldwide. For more information on Michigan’s invasive species check out the Watch List