Equity Through Multi-family Recycling
Track
Diversity & Environmental Justice
Session Description
In most cities, some communities have been afforded greater access to resources than others including access to methods and information for reducing and diverting waste. It’s important that residential recycling and waste reduction education and outreach programs plan for methods that address multi-family properties that have unique waste challenges and require different approaches that are inclusive of diverse residential communities. Our panel of presenters from the San Francisco Department of Environment, City of San Diego Environmental Services, and The Recycling Partnership address environmental justice and social equity concerns through recent projects that prioritize and allocate zero waste resources to increase greater participation from multifamily residents. Learn about multifamily technical assistance and education and outreach methods that focuses on addressing waste reduction and recycling participation barriers by supporting and working collaboratively with diverse multifamily residents and multifamily property types.
Speakers
Andrea Deleon, City of San Diego Environmental Services Department
Title
Recycling Specialist III
Speaker Abstract
Helping residents recycle right at multi-family properties can be challenging especially during a pandemic. The City of San Diego’s Environmental Services Department partnered with The Recycling Partnership on a multi-family recycling outreach pilot project to improve recycling material quality. City staff tested in-person door-to-door outreach with a bilingual team who distributed multilingual outreach materials and recycle tote bags to residents. The outreach focused in neighborhoods with linguistically diverse residents, properties with high recycling contamination, and communities of concerns as identified by the City’s Climate Equity Index. We believe language barriers may play a factor in some multifamily residents not recycling correctly. Property managers who participated in the study were also supported with recycling technical assistance. The City collected and analyzed data to measure their outreach impact before and after the door-to-door outreach was conducted through waste characterization studies and property bin visual audits. Resident surveys in English and Spanish were also conducted. Learn more about best practices and lessons learned for designing multilingual outreach materials, and how to effectively and safely provide education to multifamily residents.
Freddy Coronado, San Francisco Department of the Environment
Title
Residential Zero Waste Specialist
Speaker Abstract
San Francisco’s Department of the Environment continuously strives to expand, maintain, and ensure equity on its zero waste programs. Implementing zero waste programs in the multifamily sector can be challenging and often low-income and immigrant communities are burdened by the implementation of zero waste programs. San Francisco is home to over 400 affordable housing multi-family dwellings that are closely identified by the Mayor’s Office of Housing. The portfolio includes low-income senior and family housing, single-room occupancy hotels, and housing for the formerly unhoused.
The Residential Zero Waste team in partnership with the Department’s Environmental Justice team have developed special protocols for providing technical assistance and outreach to these sites that put equity and race front and center when aiding property managers, non-profit housing developers, and residents. This presentation will focus on San Francisco’s Department of the Environment’s push to become a more equitable and inclusive government institution that serves all community members.
Asami Tanimoto, The Recycling Partnership
Title
Senior Community Program Manager
Speaker Abstract
Multifamily recycling education is complex for so many reasons. One challenge is that multifamily dwellers tend to be more diverse – racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically. Do your education materials work for everyone? How do you start to communicate with this diverse audience? The Recycling Partnership recently executed multiple multifamily initiatives with diversity, equity, and inclusion components built into the community projects. In Tacoma, Washington outreach materials were developed in multiple different languages and focus groups were conducted in English, Spanish, Russian, and Vietnamese to test the materials. The result was a toolkit available online to property managers and residents with transcreated posters and informational handouts. In Portland, Oregon local community organizations were engaged to reach immigrants and refugees, low-income families, and people who are not proficient in speaking or reading in English. The organizations and their community members created their own outreach to fit the needs of the communities they represent. Attendees will learn tactics these communities and others have used to improve equity in multifamily recycling education and lessons they can take with them to incorporate into their own education and outreach efforts.