ZIP Certified Special Events

The open house is an educational event aimed at increasing understanding about the plant's operations, the environment and science behind water treatment for the 83 communities it serves. Alcosan's commitment to the environment extends to all facets of their operations including their open house. For the second year running organizers of the annual open house have worked with Zero Waste Pittsburgh to reduce the waste of the event and educate the public about alternative waste handling options. Through the efforts of Alcosan staff this year's event achieved a diversion rate of over 90%! Read more about their Zero Waste Success

The Student Conservation Association, along with collection containers from Zero Waste Pittsburgh, teamed up with the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank to implement food waste, cooking oil and commingled recyclables diversion at this year's event. The Festival is the Food Bank's largest annual event for raising funds towards programs that feed the hungry in southwestern Pennsylvania. The two day family friendly event features music, food and a Kid Zone with arts, crafts and games.

A crew from Zero Waste Pittsburgh was on site to help this LGBT community event, one of the largest festivals in Pittsburgh, achieve a 70% diversion rate for compostable and recyclable materials.

The organizers of the event took it upon themselves to divert food waste, compostable serviceware as well as educate their students about the environmental benefits of resource conservation. Through their efforts they diverted 86% of their waste by weight. The Annual Strawberry Festival is the first event to be certified outside of the Pittsburgh Region.

For three years running the largest festival in Pittsburgh has worked with the Pennsylvania Resources Council to help implement the zero waste initiative which requires the cooperation of event contractors, vendors and, of course, the participants themselves. The effort did not disappoint this year by diverting from the landfill 83% (by weight) of all materials collected at the 10 day long event.

An event devoted to planting cherry trees throughout Pittsburgh in order to bring beautiful cherry blossoms to the city for the future. After first attempting better waste management practices in 2010 and achieving Bronze, the organizers of this event rocketed ahead to Gold with their second year's implementation of waste reduction and recycling.

At this event, named after former Pittsburgh Mayor Richard S. Caliguiri, more than 4 tons of materials from participants were collected for composting, diverting them from the waste stream. Other efforts undertaken included collecting cardboard and leftover print materials for recycling and printing race applications on recycled paper using soy inks.

The event, attended by 2500 people, featured two 3 hours sessions of music, art, local food and beer tasting. In line with its organizational goal of reducing and/or eliminating landfill, Construction Junction reached a level of 80% diversion.

As part of Pittsburgh hosting World Environment Day for North American, a conference was organized around the theme of water Regional and national leaders gathered at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, and focused on water issues in western Pennsylvania in relationship to national and international challenges for water quality, availability and economic prosperity.

This half-day volunteer event was held to help clean and protect the Panther Hollow watershed. Activities included tree planting, litter collection and invasive plant removal.

In the spirit of Earth Day, the organizers succeeded in minimizing the impact of this educational and stewardship event.

This was the first, officially, Zero Waste Pittsburgh certified event. The Clean Pittsburgh Commission is a network of city government, non-profits, individuals, and community groups working to improve the environmental quality of life of Pittsburgh residents through litter and illegal dumping prevention, and cleanup initiatives.

The event features "sustainable living and innovation in all forms" took place at the Hartwood Acres Amphitheater and featured various environmental organizations, green energy contractors, local artists, music and food. In it's second year running, the event continued with it's efforts of reducing waste and promoting environmental sustainability by working with Zero Waste Pittsburgh.

The evening fund raising event at the Mattress Factory featured an assortment of tastings from Grow Pittsburgh's restaurant partners that purchase locally grown produce as well as music and libations. Zero Waste Pittsburgh provided event recycling services and educational outreach about proper waste sorting with direct interaction with event participants.

This all-day week long camp, sponsored by PA American Water, takes place every July at The Outdoor Classroom in Upper St. Clair, Allegheny County, PA. The camp is an educational, hands-on, fun and thought provoking journey for campers as they learn about watershed through lots of water-related activities, games, art projects, nature hikes and swimming in Chartiers Creek! The educational staff of the Pennsylvania Resources Council educated children about and implemented waste reduction and recycling techniques which earned this event a silver ZIP rating for a second year running.

This event is an end of the year celebration with games, awards and music for students, teachers, parents, family and friends. The event utilized ZWP staff to help provide on site diversion and education regarding recyclables such as bottles and cans and compostables such as food waste, plant based utensils and paper plates.

The Venture Outdoors Festival is a free celebration of outdoor recreation. Kayaking, fishing, hiking, yoga, biking and climbing were some of the opportunities available to event participants. Working with ZWP's event recycling services, organizers were able to provide recycling for the entire event that spanned the land and water sides of Point State Park. Improving on last year's efforts, compostable materials were also diverted from the event's activities which helped the festival achieve Silver

In continuing with their good event stewardship, the United Jewish Federation of Great Pittsburgh again worked with a crew from Zero Waste Pittsburgh during the event at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill to help the event achieve compostable and recyclables diversion. This annual celebration is of the nation of Israel’s declaration of independence in 1948.

Annual open house and holiday party diverted compostable food waste, serviceware and table coverings. The event featured food and beer from local farms, stores and restaurants as well as holiday themed music for all to enjoy.

This event, which brought children, adults, parishioners, and neighbors together for entertainment, food and games, successfully reduced the amount of waste that had been created in years past. The parish also invited staff from Zero Waste Pittsburgh to help educate event attendees about recycling and waste reduction at the event and beyond.

A project of the Pennsylvania Resources Council, Scenic Pittsburgh is an affiliate of Scenic America, a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to removing visual blight and preserving and enhancing the scenic character of America's communities and countryside.

The event was a block-party celebration of the Wilkinsburg community, highlighting project and organizations working to make it a better place.

This annual fundraiser for the Conservancy had Zero Waste Pittsburgh on site to help ensure the diversion of food waste and recyclables.

Art All Night is an annual, volunteer committee produced event that bills itself as free and uncensored. Art from over hundreds of artists was on display and waste from food and beverage served was minimized by event organizers

For every Friday in July and August, weather premiting, local chefs prepared simple dishes for the public to sample from ingredients purchased at the Farmers Market. Northside cultural organizations presented interactive activities. As part of this year's environmental theme, made possible by Alcoa, local environmental organizations gave demonstrations, shared their mission and talked about how one could implement sustainable practices at home. Zero waste stations were set up to capture food waste and compostable serviceware generated during the market.

This annual event took place at the Springdale Highschool in the home town of Rachel Carson. The event featured local chefs, environmental organizations, artists and sustainability minded vendors. Separate collection of compostables, recyclables and trash helped the event achieve a diversion rate of 75%.

Organizers of the the Pittsburgh Irish Festival made the first steps towards zero waste while celebrating the Irish experience in America at this year's Irish Festival. Dance, music, artisans, storytellers, and, of course, food and beer were some of the experiences present at this three day festival. Festival goers were able to recycle their plastic, metal and glass beverage containers, aluminum foil and paper programs. Reusable pint glasses were available for purchase to save on cups and waste oil was collected for use in local bio-fuel energy economy.

This 10-day celebration, spanning six venues and two counties, culminates in two days of racing and car shows at Schenley Park. It was during this time that the event implemented targeted diversion of recyclables such as glass and plastic bottles, aluminum cans and cardboard that would have otherwise gone to a landfill. The event raises funds to help provide residential care, treatment and support for developmentally disabled individuals in the Pittsburgh region.

This festival brought together some of the latest names in music and visual entertainment for a three day festival across Pittsburgh. The event diverted recyclables such as bottles and cans that would have otherwise gone to a landfill.

This event diverted of bottles, cans and cardboard as well as education on resource conservation. The SWPA Household Hazardous Waste Task Force, a project of the PA Resources Council, facilitates the proper collection and disposal of household hazardous waste and minimizes its generation through education in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

At YMCA camp Kon-O-Kwee, students and local environmental professionals interacted and shared watershed related projects and displays created by NW Pennsylvania and SW New York students, grades 6-12.

Allegheny College hosted presentations of watershed related projects created by NW Pennsylvania and SW New York students, grades 6-12, who participated in Creek Connections throughout this past school year.

The organizers of the annual two-day film festival, with outdoor and extreme sports themes, provided recycling for all cans, bottles and cardboard generated during the event.