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.

Your summer can be full of pool days, cookouts, and road trips without turning into a season of extra trash and extra clutter. Hanna and Joe talk us through realistic sustainable summer tips that work for busy families, hosts, and anyone trying to reduce waste without giving up the fun. Along the way, we share a few favorite local experiences that make great gifts and even better memories, from museums to escape rooms to kayaking.

They're joined by Amy Densborn, SWACO Program Manager, and Leah Cordier, SWACO Communications Administrator, to swap practical ideas you can use right away. Think: packing a low-waste beach bag with a reusable water bottle and reusable snack containers and finding refilleries for personal care items like sunscreen. Plus, grilling with less waste using tools like reusable grill baskets and cedar planks instead of aluminum foil.

We also answer a common summer question: what to do with empty propane tanks, including exchange programs and when it makes sense to bring a tank to SWACO’s Household Hazardous Waste site for recycling.

Then we get into one of the biggest wins of the season: reducing food waste. We share simple leftover rules for hot weather, freezer strategies, and planning tips for everything from a family cookout to a big party. You’ll also hear about SWACO’s free resources like our Sign Maker Tool and an 'estimator' to help you buy the right amount of food. If you like practical sustainability, recycling, composting, and smart local living, this one’s for you.

Subscribe to WastED, share with a friend who hosts cookouts, and share your best summer sustainable fun!

Seventy-six percent of what we bury in the landfill could have been reused, recycled, or composted and that single number changes how you look at “trash.” Hanna and Joe sit down with Jonathan McCracken, SWACO’s Director of Sustainability and Operations, to unpack Greenprint, our roadmap for building a stronger, more convenient, more practical waste reduction system.

We talk through the real-world problem first: landfill tonnage stays relatively flat while the region grows, and more than a million tons of material still head to the landfill each year. From there, we get specific about solutions, starting with the new Class II composting facility at the City of Columbus convenience center on Alum Creek Road. Jonathan explains how an in-vessel composting unit processes food scraps and how the eventual compost supports community gardens.

Partnerships show up everywhere, from expanding recycling convenience centers with municipalities like Worthington to making it easier to drop off the hard stuff like batteries, styrofoam, and electronics. We also share updates on pilot programs to reshape landfill diversion, including a textile and clothing recycling effort that recovered 26,000 pounds of clothing! Along the way, Jonathan connects his lessons from Capitol Hill and USDA rural development work to local sustainability and the circular economy.

If you care about composting, recycling, waste reduction, and practical sustainability in Franklin County and beyond, hit play, then subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.