Our Environment
The
Green Side Forget about pink and purple; the hottest color at Pride this year is green. Pittsburgh Pride is partnering with Zero Waste Pittsburgh for a second year of good clean fun at Pride in the Streets and PrideFest. And a new sponsor waves the rainbow flag, but emphasizes the green. What does that mean for the estimated 50,000 out and proud attendees at this year’s events? Not much more than a little extra thought about what gets tossed into the trash — and a lot of extra love for the earth. Zero Waste Pittsburgh, a project of the local environmental non-profit Pennsylvania Resources Council, makes it easier for consumers and businesses to reduce the amount of trash that goes into our local landfills each year. Zero waste is not only about recycling, but is also about reducing packaging and disposable goods, and planning smarter. That means seeing plates of leftover french fries as potential compost for local farms and investing in signs that can be reused each year. It isn’t so much about 34 Pittsburgh PrideMag
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creating no waste right off the bat, as much as it is about committing to a process of getting to zero — where everything thrown away becomes a resource for someone else. Zero Waste Pittsburgh’s Kyle Winkler says, “Doing better is always the goal.”
Americans may be getting better at acknowledging gay, lesbian, and trans concerns, but according to Alcoa spokesperson Kevin Lowery, they have a dismal recycling rate: just 57 percent. That’s lower than China, which is recycling at a 99percent rate.
PittsburghPride.org
By Kara Holsopple
Pittsburgh Pride already has green cred. Pittsburgh Pride 2010 got a big gold star — a Gold Level Zero Waste certification — for sending tons of recyclable and compostable materials away from landfills. Pride spokesperson Christine Bryan says that the city requires all large special events to recycle, so organizers enlisted the help of the experts at Zero Waste Pittsburgh. But efforts to “green” Pittsburgh Pride have gone far beyond the city’s requirements, including purchasing recyclable cups made of No. 5 plastic instead of the more common No. 1 variety, which is harder to recycle. While Winkler says Pride’s purpose is and should be getting the word out about LGBT issues, it’s also an opportunity for other kinds of outreach. It may be harder to get revelers to focus on keeping things clean and green while they are getting down and dirty at Pride in the Streets, so most of the education will come later at PrideFest. Look for friendly Zero Waste Pittsburgh staffers near trash receptacles, gently reminding Pride-