After a break around the holidays, we resume our series where we feature members of the community who are striving for waste-free lifestyles or are involved in sustainability initiatives in the region. This month’s Humans of Waste-Free Dayton profile is Natalie G., a lifelong resident of Dayton on a journey to educate herself and make intentional changes, and to educate and inspire others.

With three weeks of the new year behind us, hopefully progress is being made towards your waste-free goals for 2022. In our household, we set several goals to push us further along on our waste-free journey, such as doing more meal planning and doing more homemade staples like bread, and also improving our backyard composting. Since I became involved with Waste-Free Dayton last year, a few people have asked me for tips on changes they can make in their daily lives if they are just starting their journey.

Christmas is less than a week away, so for those who are waiting until the last minute to shop for gifts and make preparations for your holiday get-togethers, I thought I might share some of our strategies to try to be more waste-free this year.

Following Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday has turned into one of the most important days of the year for nonprofit organizations. In 2020, $2.47 billion was given to nonprofits in the US, a number that has increased each year since the first Giving Tuesday in 2012.

When Waste-Free Dayton was established earlier this year as an official nonprofit organization, three focus areas were identified as critical to our mission: Reducing Plastics, Increasing Composting and Decreasing Food Waste, and Community Rejuvenation. It is that third area under which we include our monthly litter cleanup events. Organizing and mobilizing volunteers to get out into our communities is something tangible where we can see an immediate impact. It does not address the root cause of the litter - our education and awareness campaigns will hopefully help in this area - but it certainly helps with working towards healthier and safer communities. Recently, we had our largest cleanup event of the year.

Waste-Free Dayton was started in April 2020 to be an online community where members could share tips, ask questions, learn and help each other grow on our waste-free journeys. The group, and our community as a whole, has many inspiring individuals, so we are excited to launch this new feature, Humans of Waste-Free Dayton. Our first interview is with Darion, certified nature therapy guide and founder of Gem City Wild.