Zero-Waste Workshop for Arizona Businesses and Facilities

​According to the 2021 Circularity Gap Report (CGR)— 70% of greenhouse gases emitted are directly linked to material handling and use (from extraction and transportation to processing and consumption). While CGR reports global circularity at 8.6% as of 2021, they suggest that an increase to just 17% would keep global warming well within 2 degrees by the end of the century. 

​As an eager young professional sitting in my Sustainability and Enterprise course at ASU, my professor, Dr. George Basile, presented findings of the CGR report. I first learned about global plastic pollution and environmental degradation as a junior in high school, activating me to a life of stewardship. After 3 years into college and my pursuit to build a career in sustainability (where I often felt more fuddled about how to approach sustainability than anything else)— Professor Basile had handed me the key to a metaphorical lock presenting a clear path forward. After all my coursework in complexity and ecosystems, renewable energy, and environmental ethics— the research on circularity told me everything I needed to know. A circular economy will allow for a livable and thriving world. As an undergraduate within the College of Global Futures (CGF): the circular economy = sustainability.

​Luckily, Dr. Basile did not limit his lecturing to reports and numbers— he spoke boldly about the power of action and initiative. His attitude and holistic approach to changemaking instilled in me a fierce confidence to take this newfound key and look to unlocking a circular economy within my own community. And I wasn’t alone on this venture. Over coffee in a Tempe cafe I met with my classmate, Timothy Whitney Jr. As the complementary Business and Sustainability hawk to my social science degree, I proposed to him my entrepreneurial concept seeking to bridge the circularity gap starting in our own community. And it was that day over coffee that we planted a seed that, in due time, would sprout and become our zero-waste consulting collaborative and think tank— Circular Earth.

Over the last two years, Timothy and I have used our zero-waste mission to cultivate meaningful partnerships and projects within the Phoenix metropolitan area. Through a shared vision of a livable and thriving world for generations to come— we joined forces with GreenLight Solutions to initiate circularity projects through the City of Mesa’s Youth Climate Action Grant. Of the four circularity projects we submitted, funded at $5,000 each, our Zero-Waste Workshop for Arizona Businesses and Facilities stood out among the three other projects funded by the grant. Instead of partnering with one single business on a project to design and implement custom zero-waste improvements for their facility, the zero-waste workshop aimed to reach a wave of businesses in one swift effort. By convening sustainability stakeholders, community partners, and business leaders over a half-day workshop —organized with a panel of zero-waste experts, an introductory presentation, and collaborative breakout sessions— this project aimed to spread our zero-waste ethos broadly across the community.

With over six months in planning and outreach (largely supported by GreenLight Solutions staff and volunteers), we hosted our workshop on October 13th at Benedictine University in downtown Mesa. Opening remarks were given by AZ State Senator Lauren Kuby, career long sustainability advocate. The workshop additionally gathered support from one of Mesa’s Councilwomen, who attended the event and later told me at the post-event happy hour that she sees circularity as an important pillar, building economic resiliency and self-sufficiency in Mesa. The political support was an added bonus as our workshop saw 35 attendees across the private sector, representing 16 businesses and organizations across Arizona. As the workshop came to an end and attendees proudly developed their own individual zero-waste goals— the event was an overwhelming success.

This was my first try at content and program design of a circularity type workshop, as well as actually hosting and facilitating the event day-of. The months of preparation (especially the countless hours and anxiety that built in the final days before the event) led up to the hour before start time, as the room filled with community partners —many of which I now call friends— and attendees. The room suddenly filled with a buzz of warm energy that quickly soothed my nerves, and I felt myself relax as all the pieces came together in real time. My research and passion in circular economies drove me into this project headfirst, but it wasn’t until hosting my own event and observing the community deeply resonate with our mission of moving towards zero-waste, that I was able to verify our efforts as valuable and desired by the broader community (in other words, we were onto something). As we wrapped up the event and attendees largely shared with the room how the program left them feeling inspired, connected, and hopeful— I was on cloud nine.

​No different than any other project Timothy and I initiated as Circular Earth, this event was built entirely out of collaboration with our mentors and partners. From being trained as Zero-Waste Advisors through the U.S. Green Building Council’s Total Resource Use and Efficiency (TRUE) Certification to mentorship and project management by Ashley Weisman at GreenLight Solutions— community and strategic partnerships started this project and led to its success. The momentum from this event carries forward as four zero-waste audits were actioned to businesses who attended the event to dive deeper into making zero-waste a reality for their facility. Timothy and I plan to strengthen the consulting capacity of Circular Earth conducting these four audits over the next 6-7 months with Olla Olla Crepes, Stardust Building Supplies, Concordia Charter School, and Children’s Museum of Phoenix. The audits will work with each facility to generate a baseline waste assessment and identify opportunities for each facility to cut costs by maximizing waste diversion.

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Kyleigh Brown
Kyleigh Brown is a Legislative Assistant with the Arizona State Senate and a passionate advocate for sustainability and economic justice. She co-founded Circular Earth - One Step Consulting and serves on the Policy Committee for Circular Arizona, while also partnering with BeanChain. An alumna of the College of Global Futures and the School of Politics and Global Studies, Kyleigh combines her policy expertise with a love for coffee and community engagement.