SRP’s ‘Green Team’ Promotes Office Composting
Wednesday is ‘National Learn About Composting Day’
WHAT:
The saying, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” is being revised this week to, “our kitchen waste can make gardens grow.”
Wednesday, May 29 is “National Learn About Composting Day.” SRP’s Green Team is encouraging people to do their part to conserve natural resources and reduce their environmental footprint.
SRP’s Green Team is a group of volunteer employees that promotes sustainability efforts and a culture that “rethinks waste” within the nation’s third-largest public power utility.
In 2017 and 2018, SRP launched food and paper towel composting at six of its largest buildings in Tempe. The program is part of SRP’s ongoing “ReEnvision Waste” campaign to help reach its 2035 goal of diverting 75 percent of office waste from landfills.
SRP also is expanding its composting program to other facilities. With the continued help of its employees, SRP hopes to have zero waste by 2050.
“Before we started our composting program, we threw away an average of 90 pounds of paper towels at our Tempe headquarters every day,” said SRP’s Associate General Manager of Sustainability, Kelly Barr. “Our employees are the key to our success. SRP’s Green Team has advocated for increased composting and gotten the word out within the company.”
SRP’s Green Team is comprised of 170 volunteer employees that represent almost all SRP facilities across the state, including power plants.
DETAILS:
Compost is organic matter that has decomposed. It is made from kitchen scraps, lawn clippings, newspapers, leaves, wood chips, coffee grinds and any non-processed foods. Compost is an environmentally safe fertilizer that helps save water, energy, fuel and money. It also keeps harmful toxins from getting into run-off and groundwater by avoiding chemical-based fertilizers.
Ways to Celebrate Composting Day
- Sign up for residential or commercial composting through RecycledCity.com
- Start a backyard composting pile or bin
- Talk to friends and neighbors about the benefits of composting
- Make a garden where compost can be used
- Visit a farmers market
SRP is a community-based, not-for-profit public power utility and the largest provider of electricity in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, serving more than 1 million customers. SRP also is the metropolitan area’s largest supplier of water, delivering about 800,000 acre-feet annually to municipal, urban and agricultural water users.