Let’s Work Together for a Sustainable Community.
It is a new year, but our goals are not entirely new. The core of our mission remains consistent: let’s work together to make things better. Join BARC to create a more sustainable community in 2020 by diverting more waste from landfills and learning more about how we truly need one another to pull it off!
Thank you for taking part in 2019’s #greeneryearchallenge. We know the tips we provided will carry through with you in the coming years and we challenge you to keep them as a part of your increasingly greener lifestyle over the next decade. Our Vision for our 2020 Blog Series this year is to highlight the community that it takes to make the world a better place. We are aiming to acknowledge and celebrate what connects us and promote those who champion similar green & community-driven missions. It is clear, it takes a community of people, businesses, and organizations working together to achieve Sustainability goals.
Sustainable People
We believe in YOU
The widely-used inspiring quote “We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly – we need millions of people doing it imperfectly” has become a popular tagline for those with zero-waste goals. We love this saying because its rings true – It is not in the regimented perfection that we will achieve our goals, but in the resolution to make small changes, to inspire a movement of progress, to create a culture for this next decade that will become the new normal.
In 2020, start by being mindful of what you are consuming and what it’s lifespan may be. Think about what you are bringing into your lives and how it may need to be disposed of in the end. If you aren’t sure if you can recycle it, check with us first, we go to great lengths to come up with solutions for hard to recycle items like mattresses, electronics and refrigerators! Our capabilities are constantly changing and we may have added to our waste-diversion stream.
Be a Voice
The Green Movement is made by the vision, the passion and the commitment of the people. Your voice and your small changes, will have a domino effect and your friends at BARC are hopeful to be a part of that journey. Let’s work together for a sustainable community by socializing our successes and even our failures, we may find that others learn from our mistakes. You don’t have to be as vocal as Greta, but talking to your neighbor at the lunch table may start a ripple of changed habits or bring business to a local entity who shares a green vision. Share your journey with us and with your community – you never know who you might inspire!
Sustainable Businesses
United WE Stand
We truly need to work together and support one another to achieve these common objectives of preserving our planet, reversing climate change, and living in a less wasteful society. We are aiming for this year to be inspired by all things “Community”. It takes a village to move these mountains, but we can do it together by supporting one another’s businesses and educating those around us.
We are here for YOU
Look to us in the coming year as your resource that reaches beyond leaf collection, recycling, composting, green-services, and provider of compostable service-ware. Look to BARC to connect you with your community. – Northern Michigan is brimming with other businesses and non-profits that utilize sustainable business practices and support social causes. The entire BARC Community (which includes you) is a resource to Inspire a green lifestyle, a movement of Change and a resource for ways to support one another; to celebrate our common love for our Bay Area Community and and for our planet.
Sustainable Organizations
YAY, TC! #green
In late 2019, our home base, the City of Traverse City launched a City ‘kWh Challenge’ focused on creating a culture shift and increasing staff awareness of opportunities for action by challenging departments to a friendly competition to reduce energy usage. This is just one of the efforts that helped the city become a Gold Certified, MI Green Community for their commitment to sustainability projects (from creative energy financing solutions to improving green infrastructure). Two other Northern Michigan communities received certifications, Petoskey received Silver and Elk Rapids, Bronze!
The BARC Community
BARC partners with Michigan Tech and local philanthropists, businesses, environmental organizations to pioneer a new waste to energy process which will transform recycled plastic into green energy that we hope will helping to power our community within the few years. Recently, we started exploring Re-Construction: Deconstructing building materials which will later be used for construction of new buildings. We were able to divert the construction waste from the landfill and we are excited about the possibilities reusing the materials will bring! The partnerships we have built within our community are everything and we will, together, make things better, for future generations. If you’d like to connect with us about getting involved with these programs, we’d love to hear from you.
All this waste reduction and progress can only happen when concerned citizens like you continue to support the nonprofit mission of BARC. We are working on some pretty lofty goals this year in addition to a down recycling market. If you like what we are doing, please help BARC raise the capital to keep the whole program running. Your gift will help create new ways to reduce waste in our community. You can give a tax deductible donation today by visiting our Make-a-Donation page. Together, we will make our community and our region a sustainable example we can all be proud to call home.
It’s like the classic Let’s Work Together Canned Heat song lyrics say…
“Oh well now, make someone happy, make someone smile,
Let’s all work together and make life worthwhile
Let’s work together, come on, come on
Let’s work together, now now people
Because together we will we stand, every boy, girl, woman and a man”
Here’s to a successful 2020,
Your friends @ BARC
