Annually on October 27, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) and its partners celebrate Zero Waste Day. The event aims to raise awareness about waste in Tennessee and educate citizens on actions they can take to reduce it. TDEC and several local and regional partners are challenging Tennesseans to improve their waste habits.

In 2018, Tennesseans produced 8.1 million tons of waste, which amounted to 6.56 pounds of waste generated per person each day. This is 31.7% more waste generated per person each day than the national average of 4.51 pounds of waste per person per day.

On Zero Waste Day, TDEC and its partners are encouraging citizens to take actions that support zero waste.

https://www.tn.gov/environment/stewardship/programs/zwtn/zwday.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7V0ZVYo5BQ

Five Waste Reduction Actions

• Re-Think – adjust your behavior as a consumer and make purchasing choices that limit your impact on the environment
• Reduce – be mindful of unnecessary and wasteful items and learn to live without them
• Reuse – give possessions a second life through creative reuse, repurposing, or donation
• Recycle – use existing products to create new ones and reduce dependence on virgin materials and associated natural resource impacts
• Re-Earth – compost your organics to divert the single largest waste stream from landfills