WASTE MANAGEMENT

The Garden Club of America recognizes that successful waste management is vital to the health and well-being of our Earth and all who inhabit her. The US is one of the world’s largest generators of waste and is faced with a growing disposal challenge. The GCA advocates for managing waste by using less, reusing, recycling, and composting as much as possible and for choosing sustainable materials that cause less pollution during both production and disposal.

The Garden Club of America supports federal, state, and local legislation, policy, and individual action that address the following:

MATERIALS MANAGEMENT

• Encourage the efficient use of materials and natural resources, with an emphasis on using less.
• Encourage innovation in the design and manufacture of products to minimize packaging and maximize reuse and recycling throughout the product’s life cycle.
• Support the use of biodegradable materials that can break down into non-toxic components.
• Support the recycling of materials to the maximum extent that is both possible and economically feasible.
• Reduce food and organic waste and promote composting.
• Reject single use plastic products.
• Reduce Per-and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) in products with an emphasis on eliminating this toxic plastic.

EDUCATION

• Encourage education at all levels of society to support responsible waste management practices.
• Support training initiatives on personal and community waste reduction practices, including wise consumer choices, recognition of excess and non-recyclable packaging, and safe disposal options for harmful substances, including batteries, electronics, and pharmaceuticals.
• Support improved product labeling to reduce food waste, including standardized expiration date labeling.
• Support composting practices and systems at home and in local communities.
• Educate consumers about health hazards caused by PFAS.

LEGISLATION

• Support “Extended Product Responsibility” (EPR) legislation that decreases packaging and holds the producer financially responsible for the full cost of the complete life cycle of their product.
• Support legislation that requires the manufacturers and processors to minimize pollution during production (including plastics, mining, fossil fuels, batteries, solar panels, etc.).
• Support legislation that establishes a national standard for the safe level of PFAS in our drinking water.
• Establish PFAS as hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act. Establish PFAS as hazardous waste.
• Support bipartisan food waste provisions in the No Time to Waste Act, including in the Senate Farm Bill through the Rural Prosperity and Security Act.
• Support consistent federal date labeling to eliminate consumer confusion which leads to significant waste of wholesome food.
• Support organic waste ban laws and waste recycling laws which divert organic waste from landfills.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

• Reduce the production and use of toxic chemicals in processing waste.
• Safeguard the oceans and waterways against pollution from industrial and post-consumer plastic waste, fertilizer and industrial waste, petroleum spills, and toxic chemicals, including those released during extreme weather events.

ADVOCACY

Advocate for and support:

• Properly lined, safe landfills located safely away from water sources.
• Regulations to control emissions and recycling at waste disposal facilities thereby protecting public health, with attention paid to low-income communities in particular.
• Public and private funding to rehabilitate aging waste disposal infrastructure.
• Control of urban and agricultural runoff produced during manufacturing and farming.
• Safer and cleaner mining practices that support the new green technologies and minimize toxic waste.
• Cities to establish composting programs.
• Healthy food to be redirected to those who need it.
• Farming practices which lead to less produce on the fields.
• Transportation technologies that lead to less waste.