Model Governance Tools
ELI and NRDC have developed model food waste reduction policies to make it easier for local governments to adopt solutions. Based on extensive best practices research, these models provide legal language as well as background information and alternative approaches—all of which are intended to help guide stakeholders and policymakers in tailoring the policy to their unique circumstances.
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- Model Municipal Zoning Ordinance on Community Composting (June 2024)
- Model Ordinance Establishing a Pay-As-You-Throw Program for Residential Municipal Solid Waste (November 2023)
- Model Executive Order on Municipal Leadership on Food Waste Reduction (July 2023)
- Adopts a suite of actions to reduce the amount of food wasted throughout municipal operations, thereby highlighting the importance of food waste reduction and demonstrating measures that businesses and other entities may replicate.
- Model Ordinance on Mandatory Reporting for Large Food Waste Generators (July 2022)
- Requires reporting by large generators to provide data on food waste generation, increase awareness about food waste, and ultimately reduce disposal of wasted food in favor of prevention, rescue, and recycling.
- Model Compost Procurement Policy (July 2021)
Toolkits and Additional Resources
ELI reduces the transaction costs for resource-strapped municipalities of taking action by providing them with toolkits and resource guides that synthesize legal and policy solutions and compile vetted, science-based resources. ELI also creates slide decks and other hands-on tools for them to use.
More on Toolkits and Additional Resources
Toolkits
Food Waste
- A Toolkit for Implementing Share Tables in Municipal Schools (September 2023)
- Provides background information on share tables, which are designated areas within schools where students can place or return whole or unopened food and drinks they do not want.
- A Toolkit for Incorporating Food Waste in Municipal Climate Action Plans (July 2021)
- Provides background information and a Menu of potential food waste actions.
Plant-Based Proteins
- A Toolkit for Incorporating Plant-Based Protein Measures in Municipal Climate Action Plans (April 2024)
- Provides background information and a Menu of potential actions to increase the availability of plant-based proteins and engage the public on their benefits.
Resource Guides and Compilations
- Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) Resources Compilation (November 2023) *Created with NRDC
- Compiles existing reports, toolkits, and other documents that provide background information on PAYT to help design and implement effective programs.
- Food Waste Prevention Resource Guide Series (August 2023) *Funded by Urban Green Lab with support from the Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh
- Provides ready-to-use resources for classrooms, households, and workplaces on specific food waste prevention strategies, including:
Slide Decks
Food Waste
- Presentation to ICLEI's Sustainable and Circular Public Procurement Cohort on Compost Procurement (June 2024)
- Food Waste Prevention Resource Guide Series (April 2024)
- Provides an overview of ELI's Food Waste Prevention Resource Guide Series.
- Food Waste 101 (April 2024)
- Provides a brief introduction to the issue of food waste and an overview of ELI's Food Waste Initiative and its work in Nashville.
- Model Ordinance Establishing a Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) Program for Residential Municipal Solid Waste (November 2023)
- Provides background information on PAYT and an overview of ELI and NRDC's model ordinance.
- Model Executive Order on Municipal Leadership on Food Waste Reduction (July 2023)
- Provides background information on municipal food waste efforts and an overview of ELI and NRDC's model executive order.
- Model Ordinance on Mandatory Reporting for Large Food Waste Generators (July 2022)
- Provides background information on mandatory reporting and an overview of ELI and NRDC's model ordinance.
- Model Compost Procurement Policy (July 2021)
- Provides background information on compost procurement policies and an overview of ELI and NRDC's model policy.
Plant-Based Proteins
- Presentation to ICLEI's Sustainable and Circular Public Procurement Cohort on Plant-Based Protein Procurement (June 2024)
- A Toolkit for Incorporating Plant-Based Protein Measures in Municipal Climate Action Plans (April 2024)
- Provides background information on the benefits of plant-based proteins and an overview of ELI's toolkit.
Articles
Plant-Based Proteins
- Bans on Manufacture, Sale, and Distribution of Cultivated Meat (July/August 2024)
Research Briefs and Reports
ELI conducts extensive best practice research on a range of topics important to food waste prevention and environmental decision-making and distills the key takeaways into research briefs and reports.
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Research Briefs
- State and City Food Waste Reduction Goals: Context, Best Practices, and Precedents (January 2024)
- An Overview of Hands-on Resources for Hosting Accessible Events (May 2023)
- An Overview of Multilingual Outreach, Translation, and Language Justice Resources (June 2022)
- Social Science Literature Review on Value of Measuring and Reporting on Food Waste (May 2022)
Reports, Articles, and Factsheets
The following materials were developed in ELI’s capacity as the former Project Director for NRDC’s pilot initiative (2015-2021) and Senior Strategic Advisor (with NRDC) to Urban Green Lab’s Nashville Food Waste Initiative.
- Mayor Cooper's Sustainability Advisory Committee Report on Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County's Climate Change Mitigation Action Plan (April 2021)
- Landscape Analysis of Community Composting in Nashville (February 2020)
- Real Benefits Fostering Food Scrap Recycling, The Environmental Forum (May/June 2019)
- Landscape Analysis of Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional Food Scrap Recycling in Nashville (March 2019)
- Food Waste Restaurant Challenge Guide, NRDC Food Matters (January 2019) *contributing author
- Nashville Food Rescue Landscape Analysis (October 2017)
- Packaging Best Practices for Prepared Food Donation (n.d.) *created with NRDC
- Food Donation Guidelines for Licensed Food Facilities (n.d.) *created with NRDC
Presentations and Convenings
ELI presents on waste and climate solutions and convenes municipalities and their constituents to consider and workshop policy and initiatives in their communities.
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Convenings
Nashville Mayor Cooper's Sustainability Advisory Committee provided advice on a range of sustainability issues, including the city’s Climate Action Plan. ELI Senior Attorney Linda Breggin was the co-chair of the Sustainability Advisory Committee in 2021.
- Mayor Cooper's Sustainability Advisory Committee 2021 Report on the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County's Climate Change Mitigation Action Plan (January 2021)
- Overview of Recommended Food Waste Climate Mitigation Actions (March 2021)
Presentations and Webinars
Food Waste
- Removing Municipal Zoning Barriers to Community Composting: Presentation at NRDC Food Matters (August 2024)
- Plant-Based Protein Measures and Model Compost Policies for Municipal Governments and Communities (July 2024)
- Policy That Produces Progress: Model Ordinances and Other Governance Tools to Reduce Food Waste (April 2024)
- A Toolkit for Incorporating Food Waste in Municipal Climate Action Plans (April 2023)
- Food Waste 101: A Roadmap to Achieving 50% Reduction by 2030, DMV Food Recovery Week (October 2022)
- Food Scrap Cooking Demonstration, James Beard Foundation and the Nashville Food Waste Initiative (October 2021)
- Sustainable in the City: Food Waste 101, Urban Green Lab (September 2021)
- Food Scrap Recycling: Opportunities and Realities of Anaerobic Digestion (April 2021)
- Food Life Cycle: Effectiveness of Food Scrap Recycling Mandates & Landfill Bans (February 2021)
- FYI Naturalist: Save Food Waste Less in Nashville (February 2021)
- How to Set Up a Pilot Community Composting Project to Receive Community Food Scraps - Community Composting for Nashville: Webinar Workshop Series, Part 3 (November 2020)
- How to Set Up a Community Compost Demonstration and Education Site - Community Composting for Nashville: Webinar Workshop Series, Part 2 (October 2020)
- What, Why & How to Compost - An Introduction to the Basics & How to Engage - Community Composting for Nashville: Webinar Workshop Series, Part 1 (September 2020)
Plant-Based Proteins
- Plant-Based Protein Measures and Model Compost Policies for Municipal Governments and Communities (July 2024)
- Leveraging the Benefits of Plant-Based Proteins for Municipal Climate Action (April 2024)
- What's for Dinner? Achieving Municipal Climate Mitigation Targets through Alternative Proteins (October 2020)
Climate Action
- Equity-Centered Local Climate Action Planning (May 2022)
- Youth Climate Action: How Local Governments Can Learn from Generation Z (November 2022)
- Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) 101 for Local and Tribal Governments (May 2021)
- Clean Air Act Regulations for Natural Disaster Management
- Cities Race to the Top: Corporate Climate Commitments and Competition for Jobs (November 2020)
- Jumping Through Hoopa: Complicating the Clean Water Act for the States (March 2020)
- Cool Cities (September 2019)
Digital Media
ELI releases podcasts and blogs on today's most important local and state environmental issues.
More on Digital Media
Podcasts
ELI's podcast, People, Places and Planet, has released episodes with insights for local governments looking to advance climate and waste solutions. Check out the following episodes:
- Eat Your T(of)urkey: How to Reduce Food Waste This Thanksgiving (November 2023)
- From Trash to Triumph: The Mount Growmore Initiative (August 2023)
- Water Justice and the Constituent Empowerment Model (September 2022)
- Regional & National Food Waste Awareness & Reduction Efforts, SSDN’s Green Minds (April 2022)
- Climate Change & Food Waste (February 2022)
- Is the U.S. Government Ready for the Climate Crisis? Examining Federal, State, and Local Climate Adaptation (September 2021)
- Groundtruth: State Stories – Passing Environmental Justice Legislation (June 2021)
- The Enforcement Angle: TCEQ’s Toby Baker (April 2021)
- Groundtruth: New Jersey’s Environmental Justice Law (April 2021)
- Plant-Based Proteins (March 2021)
- Remarkable Cities and the Fight Against Climate Change (June 2020)
- Turning a Blind Eye to Small Drinking Water Systems (April 2020)
- Cool Cities: A/C Ordinances—The Hot New Trend in Fighting Extreme Heat? (January 2020)
- Energy Exactions: A New Idea for Local Governments (December 2019)
- Carbon Taxation by Regulation (August 2019)
- Best If Used: Tackling Food Waste in Music City U.S.A. (April 2019)
Blogs
- New Toolkit Helps Cities Leverage Plant-Based Proteins for Climate Action (April 2024)
- Tackling Food Waste: ELI’s New Food Waste Prevention Resource Guide Series (March 2024)
- ELI Encourages EPA to Leverage Model Ordinances and Policies to Reduce Food Waste (February 2024)
- Model PAYT Ordinance Helps Cities Reduce Trash and Increase Recycling (November 2023)
- Mount Trashmore to Mount Growmore (August 2023)
- Model Executive Order Helps Cities Lead by Example to Reduce Food Waste (June 2023)
- New Resource Locator Provides Climate Tools for States (August 2022)
- Model Reporting Ordinance for Food Waste Generators (July 2022)
- Analytical Technologies for Climate Resiliency (March 2022)
- Best Practices in Local Climate Action Planning. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4 (January 2022)
- New Model Policy Bolsters Compost Use and Infrastructure (September 2021)
- Financing Solutions for Small Community Water Systems (August 2021)
- Seven Areas for Taking Action to Reduce Food Waste (April 2021)
- Co-Digestion of Food Waste: A Triple Greenhouse Gas Solution (April 2021)
- Turning a Blind Eye to Drinking Water Risks (April 2020)
- Water Act Rule Poses Challenges for States (January 2020)
- Macbeth Report: Cooperative Federalism Reimagined (March 2019)
- WOTUS Proposal Poses Challenges for States (February 2019)