Heads Up: All facilities will be CLOSED on Monday, Sept 1 for Labor Day. The Organics Recycling Facility will be open for drop-off only. Please plan ahead.
CSWD’s FY24 Waste Reduction Grant Winners
Thanks to CSWD’s Waste Reduction Grants, six amazing local projects are putting sustainability into action. These efforts are helping Chittenden County reduce waste at the source, one reusable cup, compost bin, and textile scrap at a time. Here’s a look at our 2024/2025 grant recipients!
South End Get Down
Waste Reduction Project: Reusable cups
The South End Get Down hosts a weekly block party on Pine Street in Burlington all summer long. The Friday night party boasts food trucks, drinks, music, art vendors, and more. Since they see thousands of people attend their weekly events throughout the summer, they saw an opportunity to reduce waste. Instead of serving drinks in single-use plastic cups, they decided to upgrade to reusable cups in order to make their event more sustainable.
Event attendees who order drinks at the South End Get Down event now receive their drink in a reusable cup and then return the cup into one of the red bins where cups are washed and reused at the next Friday event.
Since implementing their reusable cup initiative two years ago, they have kept an estimated 40,000 single-use plastic cups out of the waste streams.
Fourbital Factory
Waste Reduction Project: Textile shredder
Since Fourbital Factory’s opening in Burlington three years ago, they have made it their mission to ensure that not a single piece of their textile waste ends up in Vermont’s only landfill. With the help of CSWD’s Waste Reduction Grant, they have taken that commitment even further by purchasing a textile shredder that transforms fabric scraps into stuffing for their floor poufs.
They sell their floor poufs at their Pine Street location in Burlington, the UVM bookstore, and have donated them to local preschools, libraries, and the King Street Center, ensuring that their waste reduction mission also benefits the community in a tangible way.
Since recycling textiles is a complex challenge with limited solutions, especially for small manufacturers, this textile shredder will allow Fourbital Factory to utilize their textile scraps in a creative and innovative way. In addition to pouf stuffing, they collaborate with Apparel Impact to downcycle fabric shoddy into rags, insulation, and dog beds.
Vermont Connector
Waste Reduction Project: Baby gear swap event
Vermont Connector runs an program called the Baby Product Exchange, which collects gently used baby items and redistributes them to families in need across the state of Vermont. Not only does this initiative assist low income families, but it also gives a second life to items that may otherwise end up in the landfill. Through donations and gear swap events, they have diverted over 1,000 items from landfills, while supporting local families.
This grant helped the Baby Product Exchange to host a gear swap event that collected and redistributed baby products. Since 2022, they have redistributed 2,596 pieces of equipment and served 664 families.
Champlain Valley Expo
Waste Reduction Project: Recycling bin lids
Recycling at large event venues like Champlain Valley Expo is often tricky with thousands of people coming to attend concerts, festivals, and the annual summertime fair. To help reduce the amount of non-recyclable items that end up in the recycling, Champlain Valley Expo purchased and installed new “Cans & Bottles Only” bin lids to help attendees sort properly and keep their recycling free from contamination.
With this bin upgrade as well as CSWD’s Waste Warrior volunteers helping out at concerts, waste management and reduction at Champlain Valley Expo events have been greatly improving.
Art Evolve
Waste Reduction Project: Compost bins
Art Evolve is a nonprofit committed to fostering cross-disciplinary creative “Artnership” to co-conspire healing through art, culture, and community. In partnership with Spoonful Herbals, they help maintain a vibrant learning herb garden, the Rooted Heart Rising Garden at Rock Point School.
With their Waste Reduction Grant, they added four outdoor compost containers across their garden sites where garden and herbal mentorship interns and apprentices gather to learn, grow, and give back. The new bins provide hands-on experience with the full composting cycle, turning garden scraps into healthy soil while supporting the educational programs rooted in these spaces.
Milton Boy Scout Troop
Waste Reduction Project: DIY compost bin materials
The Boy Scouts Troop 631 based out of Milton applied to CSWD’s Waste Reduction Grant last fall. They put their skills to work by building compost barrels as a fundraiser. The Scouts handled every step of the process including construction, marketing, and delivery. The CSWD grant provided tools and materials to get the Boy Scouts started, helping the troop raise funds while spreading composting solutions throughout the community.