OCTOBER IMPACTOR: Greenco Environmental

Greenco Environmental owners Tim & Melia Lesko are true pioneers in sustainability and the foundation for the national accolades received by the City of Atlanta and the Zero Waste Zones. It took over eighteen months of perseverance and determination for the Leskos to wade through the permitting and zoning requirements necessary to open their state-permitted food composting site in Barnesville, GA , roughly 50 miles south of Atlanta.

Developing an organics collection system for the foodservice industry is no easy feat. The Leskos faced many challenges in their first two years of operations: contamination issues, torrential rains, adequate carbon (yard trimmings, wood chips) necessary for the compost recipe. With creativity and resolve, the Leskos found solutions for the challenges inherent in composting operations and oversee a vibrant business.

Thanks to the Leskos Atlanta has composted over 15,116 tons of food residuals, previously destined for landfills, into valuable compost. These impressive numbers translate into 514 metric tons of methane not released as a Green House Gas, with a carbon equivalent of 10.803 tons (1964 cars off the road for one year).

Greenco is a family business with Russ Lesko, Tim’s brother, invested in the business and serving at the Chief, Jack of All Trades. Melia works with the foodservice operators when she is not busy raising their two lovely daughters.

Join Ei in honoring the Leskos for their dedication and commitment to making the Earth a better place for our children to inherent. THANK YOU.

Visioning Atlanta's Path to Sustainability

Atlanta's first envisioning event for a sustainable Atlanta was a huge success! EnvisionATL sold out with more than 200 participants, representing 32 partner organizations and co-hosting non-profits as well as businesses, academic institutions, concerned citizens and 5 city of Atlanta departments. The energy and excitement around this event is a testament to the potential we have as Atlantans to create a vision for a more sustainable Atlanta and chart a path to realize this vision. EnvisionATL is presented by Sustainable Atlanta in conjunction with Mayor Reed and the City of Atlanta.

EnvisionATL is a forum based on the World Café discussion model designed to foster conversations from diverse constituents around an aspirational and shared vision for a more sustainable Atlanta. The first session was held on October 13, 2010. Anyone interested in helping build an aspirational and shared vision for a more sustainable Atlanta. Participants will represent academic institutions, businesses, faith-based, civic and environmental organizations, governmental agencies and other groups and individuals interested in bringing community resources closer together.

Stay tuned for the draft vision narratives, event photos, a video from Mayor Kasim Reed and a public comment period for air, land, water, and material resources, as well as information about our next event on http://EnvisionATL.org.

Global Soap Project: September IMPACTOR

The Global Soap Project improves and saves lives one bar of soap at a time by sanitizing, melting and remolding used soap into new bars for distribution to African refugee camps.

As an Uganda refugee, GSP founder Derreck Kayongo understands firsthand the living conditions of refugee camps and the unnecessary deaths due to the lack of clean water and sanitary conditions.

With the hospitality industry discarding 2.6 million used bars of soap per day, there is a tremendous supply available to the GSP for their soap production. Derrick’s passion and drive mobilizes the hotel and lodging industry to send used soap to GSP instead of the landfill, a double win!

To date GSP has received over 20 tons of soap from their hotel partners across the nation and has distributed an estimated 20,000 news bars of soap to Haiti, Swaziland, Kenya and Uganda. Currently, 10,000 bars of soap are in production for Ghana.

CALL TO ACTION: Whenever possible, educate those employed at hotels or other lodging facilities about GSP and encourage the property to participate in the double win program. Our collective voice is powerful and the time is NOW to verbalize our sustainability commitment.

Visit the IMPACTOR page to learn more about the importance of delivering soap to refugee camps.

Ei Board and Advisory Council Member, Debby Cannon featured Elemental Impact in her article Shades of Green, Innovations in Foodservice Sustainability published in the September, 2010 issue of Restaurant Forum, The Official Publication of the Georgia Restaurant Association. In the article, Debby validates the foodservice industry's commitment to sustainability by the tremendous response to the Compost:The Quiet Hero session presented by Holly Elmore, Ei CEO,at the May, 2010 National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago.

Ei's focus on soil rejuvenation receives it's media debut in the article. How exciting as several important projects relating to the soil and nutrition are in the planning stages with fall announcements anticipated. Stay tuned and get involved!

Ei Newsletter Archive

Did you miss a prior Ei newsletter send? No problem, you may visit the Ei newsletter archive at this link. To subscribe to the newsletter, visit the Ei Home Page for the formal sign-up or you may e-mail holly@elementalimpact.org with your contact information.

Ei Website Advertising Program

Ei Supporters and Sponsors may market their services the Ei website visitors via the new on-line advertising program. Ads begin at $100 per month, with multiple-month discounts. This fall Ei plans announce the evolution of the ZWZ program along with several new project launches. Benefit from the increased website traffic via the advertising program. Learn more at this link

Garth Peters: August IMPACTOR

Garth Peters, Director of Community Development for The Buckhead Coaltion, is the Elemental Impact August IMPACTOR. At a recent Neighborhood Planning Unit Safety Committee meeting where liquor license renewals, transfers and applications are reviewed, Garth questioned a new license applicant on his recycling practices and ZWZ~Buckhead participation. Although recycling is not required for a liquor license, future applicants can expect questions about their recycling practices in front of the Safety Committee.

To learn more about the meeting and Buckhead’s recycling commitment read the August 13, 2010 Buckhead Reporter article. To learn more about Elemental Impact's IMPACTOR program click this link.

Thank you Garth ~ individuals like you are necessary to drive communities and individuals to adopt sustainable practices in their daily lives. You are a true IMPACTOR!