Zero Waste Ithaca mobilized 40 volunteers for their “Trash Paddle Ithaca” on July 12, 2025, spending more than four hours removing an incredible 800 pounds of waste from the Cayuga Inlet. The haul included shopping carts, bikes, tires, Styrofoam, and hundreds of bottles and cans, making a visible difference in the local waterways. Building on the cleanup’s success, the team is advocating for a city and county single-use ordinance to tackle pollution at its source.
Zero Waste Ithaca is a grassroots volunteer group founded in 2018, based in Ithaca, New York, USA, locally advocating for a sustainable Zero Waste society. The group works to advance zero waste policies and culture with a vision of “prosperity without growth,” rethinking consumption and promoting justice for all living beings. They combine policy advocacy with community-building activities like trash pickups, gift economy exchanges, gardening, and sharing zero waste tips, while rejecting industry-backed false solutions to the waste and climate crises. Their flagship program, BYO – Ithaca Reduces, encourages businesses to welcome customer-provided containers through a visible sticker campaign, with over 100 local businesses participating. They are advocating for a statewide BYO law in New York and are part of the broader US Reduces and Canada Reduces networks.
This event was made possible through the collaboration of local partners, including Ithaca College, Team Greene, Paddle-N-More, Recycle Tompkins, GreenStar, Cayuga Lake Watershed Network, Ithaca Dragon Boat Club, Cayuga Outrigger Canoe Club, and Discover Cayuga Lake. It was also supported in part by a 2024 GAIA Microfunds grant, which helped strengthen community-led action for upstream solutions to plastic waste.
(Photos by Rich Mattingly)
