The City of Denton, in Texas (COD) is leading the way in sustainability and environmental stewardship through forward thinking, research, and partnerships within the state. Their solid waste department has a green purchasing directive which bans the use of single use containers; so that employees use reusable bags, food, and drink containers. In addition, the COD promotes reuse by giving their citizens reusable bags and containers with reuse-friendly messages printed on them. They also offer a Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Reuse Store, an award winning program, where residents can get used and/or surplus household chemicals for free. The items on offer, which include fertilizers, paints, and cleaners, are collected through a curbside pickup program. Alana Presley is the Education Coordinator for the COD’s Sustainable Schools Program and an Advisory Board member of SCRAP Denton (a new creative reuse center which is a satellite of SCRAP in Portland). She is working to raise awareness in the Denton schools and community about the importance of reuse and zero waste. For more information about the City of Denton’s reuse programs, please visit them at www.dentonrecycles.com

Goodwill Industries are social enterprises that utilize the revenue generating capacity of reuse to allow people from all walks of life to feel successful, valuable and dignified by helping people earn a living. Goodwill Industries International (GII) is a 501c3 organization which provides support services to the 165 independent, community-based Goodwill agencies (“affiliates”) throughout its network. Some of the ways GII supports its affiliates is by leveraging buying opportunities through strategic sourcing; contracting opportunities for the employment of those served by Goodwill, acquiring goods and services for more than 2,500 of Goodwill’s retail business, and providing business models for reuse, repurpose, landfill diversion and sustainable consumption for the billions of pounds of donations that enter their donation stream.  For more information about Goodwill Industries International, please visit them at http://www.goodwill.org

NextStep is an electronics reuse organization doing its part to mitigate the e-waste crisis by promoting the reuse/refurbishing of as many of the computer donations received as possible. The environmental benefits accrued when a computer (or any electronic device) is reused are much higher than when recycled. Their “waste-based” nonprofit offers a triple bottom line benefit  (people, planet, profit) locally, nationally and internationally.  Founded in 2002, NextStep meets its mission to provide technology and training to people who have barriers to employment and education and protecting the environment from hazardous waste – all through electronics reuse. To date, NextStep has refurbished over 28,000 computers, offered job and social skills training to over 9000 individuals and placed technology in 47 US states and 21 international rural communities. Click here for more info.