Zero Waste is our goal!

The 2011 Bite of Oregon continues to advance toward being a Zero Waste event. By engaging vendors and the public in effective recycling and resource recovery practices we are reducing the festival’s impact on landfills. In 2010, 81% of material discarded at the festival was diverted from landfills. Our goal this year is to surpass last year’s success and achieve Zero Waste.

As a Zero Waste festival, we are launching new initiatives that will help us achieve our goals. We believe our goal is attainable with your participation in implementing these initiatives:

• All Bite vendor restaurants and wineries have been asked to use eco-friendly compostable food and service ware while on site to increase resource recovery and optimization and to minimize the festival’s impact on the environmental.
• All Recycle Stations located throughout the event will include food scraps/compost bins to dispose of all food scraps and food-related materials like napkins, soiled cardboard and beverage cups. Click here for the list of compostable items in Portland.
• All food scrap/compost bins will be sorted behind the scenes to guarantee that all bins are free of contaminants prior to delivery to Nature’s Needs, a subsidiary of Recology Oregon Compost located in Portland.
• All restaurant grease will be captured and collected by Oregon Biofuels to recycle this waste into a biofuel commodity.
• Attendees are encouraged to use public transportation whenever possible via our partnership with Trimet.

We recognize that a sustainable event is a journey and a long-term goal. We ask all festival attendees to support our sustainability initiatives while enjoying your food and beverages at the Bite. With your help in diverting materials to compost and recycling bins we can protect the great state of Oregon for future generations to enjoy.