Downtown Columbus in the summer is festive, fun and full of options and that’s exactly when waste piles up fastest. Joe and Hanna sit down with Ashley Myers, Director of Columbus Commons, to talk about what it takes to run a park that hosts 250-plus events yearly and still finds ways to make sustainability feel easy instead of preachy. From Picnic with the Pops to big concert nights, we get into how great experiences and smart waste diversion can live side by side.

Plus, we have BIG news! The first downtown Columbus food scrap drop-off program is launching at Columbus Commons with four MetroSTOR smart bins. These compost drop-off units use sensor technology to signal when they’re full, collect data to measure impact, and use app access to keep it all clean. It’s free to use, built for downtown residents and visitors, and designed to make composting in Columbus more accessible than ever.

We also dig into the practical stuff that actually changes behavior: bin placement near food and having staff ready at events to answer the most common question, “Can I put this in here?” Joe and Hanna also share what they learned from last year’s composting pilot at a major show and what SWACO is improving next.

If you care about recycling, composting, food waste reduction, and making public spaces greener without making life harder, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share this with a friend who loves downtown events, and leave a review so more people can find WastED.