Planet, People, Profit: Business As Usual Mary Lou Van Deventer Operations Manager GRRN Zero-Waste Conference, Devens, MA October 2009

Planet First. Our Non-Virtual Business Prevents Landfilling. We salvage at the City of Berkeley Solid Waste Transfer station. We receive discards people bring us, 360 days a year. (We buy some – rewards modify behavior.) We pick up unwanted things after we screen the materials on the phone.

Salvaging

Receiving

Sometimes We Buy Rewards modify behavior. Works like a charm.

We Pick Up

We Sell

And Sell

What We Can’t Sell, We Recycle

People Next - Staff Income sharing - 9.5% of gross income plus $15/ton salvaged and picked up, split equally among all staff according to hours worked average incentive is $3.85 per hour. This incentive increases teamwork and peer pressure to work hard and honestly. Stealing from the company steals from all. Working together raises everyone’s income equally.

People Next - Staff Profit sharing 2 times yearly. Paid vacations, liberal unpaid time off. Fully paid health coverage for staff and all dependents. Reimbursement of copays for doctors’ visits. Dental and vision coverage. 50% discount on purchases.

People Next - Staff Respect for physical labor and knowledge. Efficient, enriching, healthy.

People Next - Community Liberal donations of materials and money to environmental and social- service organizations – Earth Island, Humane Society, schools, theater groups, many others. Speaking and tours to classes and for community groups of all kinds. Free facility redesign for hometown.

People Next - Community Public-service advertising supports local publications while raising awareness and the public tone.

Advertising Environmental magazine asked us to identify this as a paid ad. Could be mistaken for their content.

People Next - Industry Support and work for organizations that share our views. NCRA GRRN CRRA Political activism fighting incinerators, landfills, land use practices that hurt recycling.

People Next - Industry Concepts that Reposition our Industry in the Marketplace of Ideas This is wasting language

Resource Language Empowers DISCARDS WASTE Burn and/or Bury RECYCLE

Who Has Power? Nobody - waste just happens. The chooser has power.

Who Has Responsibility? Nobody - waste just happens. Recycling is a miracle. The chooser has responsibility. Recycling is business.

Income Follows, and Maybe Profit We don’t know the upper limit. When we started, conventional wisdom was that this couldn’t be done.

Income in a Construction Cycle

Our Prosperity Builds Community Prosperity Purchases for resale in 2008 put $135,000 in cash and $24,400 in trade credit into the hands of regular folks. Sales taxes in 2008 put $193,000 into the State treasury. Property taxes in 2008 put $57,000 into the County treasury.

The End 900 Murray St. Berkeley, CA phone SAVE Mary Lou Van Deventer