Current Campaigns | Who We Are |
BYO Sticker Program | BYO – US Reduces | Webinars | Partners | Get Involved
Current Campaigns in Focus
RIGHT TO BRING YOUR OWN (BYO)
BYO is a simple, commonsense way to reduce waste—yet New York law still doesn’t clearly allow customers to bring their own containers for restaurant takeout and grocery deli foods. We’re asking legislators to fix this and make reuse easy for everyone.
→ Add your name to support the BYO amendments.
TOXIC PLASTIC TURF
Cornell University already has eight existing turf fields built or under construction—and plans for more. In September 2025, Cornell installed a so-called PFAS-free turf system on Game Farm Road. Independent testing proved otherwise: three labs found PFAS in the materials.
→ See the three independent lab reports.
→ Read our February 11 and November 10, 2025 press releases about our lawsuits over Cornell’s Meinig Fieldhouse and Game Farm Road fields.
As of November 10, 2025, both lawsuits remain active despite misreporting by the Ithaca Voice. The article relied on unnamed “readers” and failed to contact us—the petitioners—for clarification. Two Fieldhouse fields are not enclosed; one is clearly outdoors. Despite 5 written correction requests, the Voicehas neither responded nor corrected the record.
→ Watch our April 2024 webinar on the toxic lifecycle of synthetic turf (300+ registrants, six expert panelists).
Who We Are
Our mission is to promote Zero Waste policies, culture, and environmental justice, working toward prosperity without growth — a thriving community built on care and well-being, not endless consumption.
We combine individual action with systemic change: decentralized, community-led waste prevention as a real climate solution. Our goal is to make Ithaca / Tompkins a true Zero Waste community, aligned with GAIA (Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives)‘s Zero Waste City Masterplan.
We currently focus on four areas:
- Reuse Sticker Program for local businesses
- Opposing toxic synthetic turf projects
- Advocating for local and state zero waste ordinances (BYO and Skip the Stuff, and turf bans)
- Exposing false “sustainable” solutions such as biochar and land spreading of sewage sludge
Beyond policy, we build community through everyday practices—trash pickups, dumpster study, Buy Nothing groups, and food-from-scratch conversations. We are part of the national BYO-US Reduces Network.
As Zero Waste practitioners, we advocate for both individual lifestyle changes and systemic shifts in the way things are produced and consumed. Decentralized, community-led zero waste practices offer a practical and impactful way to address the climate crisis.
We see Zero Waste is not only as a justice goal, but a way to bring people together for the right purposes and foster genuine community.
We are proud to be a grassroots organization rooted in community action. Fill out this form to get involved.
Ithaca Reduces: Reuse Sticker Program
Our flagship initiative encourages local businesses to welcome customers who bring their own containers, cups, and utensils. Participating businesses display our Reduces sticker to show support for reuse.
- Costs nothing to consumers
- Saves businesses money on disposables and trash removal
- Prevents single-use waste at the source
Over 100 businesses and festivals participate as of April 7, 2024. → See the map .
We’re also advocating statewide to make BYO fully legal. → Read “BYO – The Right to Refill” (Susquehanna Sierra Club, March 6, 2023) and Sign Our Petition.
If your business is interested in participating, please email us at info@zerowasteithaca.org.
BYO – US Reduces Network
Zero Waste Ithaca is part of a nation-wide BYO (Bring Your Own) movement.
In February, 2023, together with allies around the country, we launched the BYO – US Reduces Network to build support, friendship and advocacy of the the right to bring your own containers in the United States.
Read our friend and co-founder of BYO-US Reduces, Zero-Waste Chef, on how the network came to the U.S. from Canada: How to Normalize BYO Containers in the US.
Our Webinars
We host occasional webinars when the need arises:
- April 30, 2024: The harms of synthetic turf (co-hosted with Beyond Plastics and Plastic Pollution Coalition). Over 300 registrants; directly contributed to halting a turf plan in Wisconsin.
- January 27, 2022: Single-use plastics, with guests from Toronto, Berkeley, and Silicon Valley.
Partnerships and Network
Zero Waste Ithaca collaborates locally, nationally, and globally with: GAIA, Break Free From Plastic, Plastic Pollution Coalition, Upstream Solutions, The Story of Stuff Project, Safe Healthy Playing Fields, Zero Waste Capital District, Zero Waste New York, Clean Air Action Network of Glens Falls, Seneca Lake Guardian, New York River Watch, Westchester Alliance for Sustainable Solutions, Greentar Co-op, Paddle-n-More , Sustainable Finger Lakes, Finger Lakes ReUse, Ithaca Rotary Club, and many others.
We are part of three global and national zero waste networks: GAIA, Break Free From Plastic, and Upstream Solutions.
GAIA is a global alliance of 800+ grassroots groups in 90 countries.
Break Free from Plastic is worldwide movement of 12,000+ groups ending plastic pollution at the source.
Paddle-N-More, an Ithaca/Finger Lakes outfitter, lets us use their watercraft for trash pickups and teaches youth the value of clean waterways. Photos on our site are courtesy of local farmer-photographer RM.
