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About Brenda Platt

Brenda Platt is the Co-Director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and heads up its Sustainable Plastics and Composting Makes $en$e projects.

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Pay Dirt Cover Photo Final
Featured Article, Resource filed under Composting, Waste to Wealth | Written by Brenda Platt | No Comments | Updated on May 8, 2013

Composting Supports Jobs and Healthy Watersheds, Say New ILSR Reports

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/paydirt/

Two new reports from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s Composting Makes $en$e Project document the importance of expanded composting and compost use to enhance soils, protect watersheds, reduce waste, and create green jobs and a new made-in-America industrial sector. For press release, click here. With compostable material making up almost one-half of municipal solid waste, there… Continue reading

Pay Dirt Cover Photo Final
ILSR Press Room filed under Composting, Deconstruction, Stop Incineration, Waste to Wealth, Young Activist Club, Zero Waste & Economic Development | Written by Brenda Platt | No Comments | Updated on May 8, 2013

Press Release: Composting is Key to New Business Sector and Green Jobs, Says New Report

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/composting-key-new-business-green-jobs/

Contact: Brenda Platt Phone:  202-898-1610 x 230 Email: bplatt@ilsr.org Washington, DC – Composting is a major job creator, according to a new report released by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance nonprofit think tank in Washington, DC, in conjunction with International Compost Awareness Week.  According to the report, Pay Dirt: Composting in Maryland to Reduce Waste,… Continue reading

1.MCS Compost Blanket
Resource filed under Composting, Waste to Wealth, Zero Waste & Economic Development | Written by Brenda Platt | No Comments | Updated on May 8, 2013

Composting Makes $en$e: Jobs through Composting & Compost Use

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/composting-sense-tables/

Recycling is an economic development tool as well as an environmental tool. Reuse, recycling, and waste reduction offer direct development opportunities for communities. When collected with skill and care, and upgraded with quality in mind, discarded materials are a local resource that can contribute to local revenue, job creation, business expansion, and the local economic base. Continue reading

Compost Hands closeup
Resource filed under Composting, Waste to Wealth | Written by Brenda Platt | No Comments | Updated on May 8, 2013

The Benefits of Composting & Compost Use

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/benefits-composting-compost/

Composting and compost use have numerous benefits in addition to green job creation and reducing the amount of waste destined for landfills and incinerators. At the same time we throw away tons of food scraps and yard trimmings, our soils are eroding and losing nutrients, while damaging receiving waters. Excess fertilizers from farms and suburban… Continue reading

YAC Earth Day Festival April 2013
Article filed under Waste to Wealth, Young Activist Club | Written by Brenda Platt | No Comments | Updated on Apr 24, 2013

On Earth Day, Young Activist Club Gathers Petitions to Send to Board Superintendent Starr

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/earth-day-young-activist-club-gathers-petitions-send-board-superintendent-starr/

The Young Activist Club worked a booth at the Takoma Park Earth Day Festival, educating citizens on the health problems with polystyrene #76 plastics and gathering petitions to send to Montgomery County (MD) Schools Superintendent Starr requesting permission to pilot a durable lunch tray washing project.  Petition is available online too. Click here. Continue reading

Article filed under Waste to Wealth, Young Activist Club | Written by Brenda Platt | No Comments | Updated on Apr 24, 2013

Young Activist Club teams up with Washington Nationals to Celebrate Earth Day!

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/young-activist-club-teams-washington-nationals-celebrate-earth-day/

ILSR’s Brenda Platt co-leads the Young Activist Club of Takoma Park, Maryland.  On Earth Day, April 22, the Washington Nationals baseball team honored the Club by inviting 9 members to be the Starting 9 for the Nats’ game against the Cardinals. After the first pitch by EPA acting administrator Bob Perciasepe, members of the Young… Continue reading

Howard County ribbon cutting
Article, ILSR Press Room filed under Composting, Waste to Wealth | Written by Brenda Platt | No Comments | Updated on Apr 22, 2013

Howard County’s Expanded Composting Facility Opens on Earth Day

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/alpha-ridge-facility-opens/

Columbia Patch, April 22, 2013 It’s easy to think nothing of throwing carrot or potato peels into the trash or down the garbage disposal. They quickly decompose. But Howard County announced on Monday that residents can participate in an expanded pilot program that composts food scrap and yard waste. A new composting facility at the… Continue reading

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Article, ILSR Press Room filed under Composting, Waste to Wealth | Written by Brenda Platt | No Comments | Updated on Mar 11, 2013

Coming to a curb near you: Compost collection

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/curbside-compost-collection-coming/

Washington Post, March 11, 2013 Richard Vitullo has seen the future of trash, and it is moldering under his kitchen sink. Eggshell by eggshell, the Takoma Park architect is training himself to bypass the garbage pail and drop food scraps into the new screw-top bucket squeezed in beside the dish soap and sponges. Once a… Continue reading

Watershed Picture from BMP Flyer
Featured Article filed under Composting, Waste to Wealth | Written by Brenda Platt | No Comments | Updated on Feb 5, 2013

MD Seminar on Compost BMPs for Watershed Protection

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/md-seminar-compost-bmps-watershed-protection/

Tools exist that can remove up to 96% of stormwater pollutants. Are you interested? Attend this FREE seminar on March 5, 2013, to learn how compost-based BMPs can dramatically reduce sediment and targeted pollutants entering the Chesapeake Bay. ILSR has partnered with local watershed and organizations to sponsor this event. Scientists from Filtrexx International and… Continue reading