Businesses
No matter where you work, there are likely many opportunities to reduce, reuse, recycle — and rethink. The Rethink Waste Project has worked with various sectors over the years to develop best practices around waste, and to figure out the most impactful changes that a workplace can make.
One great example is our pilot project with local breweries and distilleries to create a system to recycle their plastic film!
A note for food service businesses
Dishware and packaging labeled "compostable" are not accepted for composting in Deschutes County and many other communities. Composting facilities across Oregon wrote an open letter explaining why, which you can read here. An Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) study also revealed that some "compostables" have a much higher carbon footprint upstream. For these reasons, we recommend replacing single-use with reusables wherever possible.
This is why we encourage you to use reusables where possible in place of compostables, and if you do still decide to use compostables, please make sure it goes in the landfill and not the compost/yard waste bin.
Help us spread the word and prevent contamination in our compost!
Download our Sustainable Business Guide
A little pre-planning and strategy can save resources and create more efficient, and sustainable workplace procedures. Our guide covers:
- Waste — prevention, reuse, recycling, and toxics
- Energy
- Water
- Building and Remodeling
- Transportation
*Updated guide coming soon!
Schedule a free Rethink Waste presentation
We offer free presentations (in person or virtually) on the following topics, but we can cater to your interests and needs:
- Wasted food issues and prevention
- General waste reduction ideas
- Recycling, its importance and how to do it right
- Current events around waste and what you can do about them
Our full presentation is about an hour long and covers all of the topics above. Visit this page to fill out a request form and we will get back to you as soon as we can!
Set up your workplace for success
Some "low hanging fruit" we recommend starting with are things like offering reusable dishes (for staff and for customers), thrifting your office furniture instead of buying new, and switching to buying office supplies that are made of recycled materials.
Other steps toward sustainability take a bit more planning, but those include things like:
- Setting up a successful recycling program. You can download and print helpful signage for your bins on our Signage page!
- Compost! Commercial compost pick up is available within Bend and Redmond city limits.
Commercial composting
Pick-up service is offered by the garbage and recycling collector in Bend, Redmond, and Sisters.
Learn more about commercial composting and how to contact your hauler from this brochure here!