Thursday, November 24, 2011

Zero Waste Golf Course as global community center

Dairy Creek Golf Course is rapidly becoming a community center for environmental recreation and education. We are experiencing a rush of interest from various entities within our county and from afar via internet. ( to see pics of our ribbon cutting ceremony visit http://slocountygolfcourses.blogspot.com/ )We have been approached by numerous educators who want to use the zero waste park for student and public visitation. California Conservation Corps (CCC) has asked to train and provide docents from their corpsmembers. Morro Bay Eco-Rotary club is really ramping up their zero waste event service program in which they spread the word about zero waste and the zero waste park at Dairy Creek by attending local events with their mobile zero waste stations and assisting event goers in proper sorting techniques. Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant's environmental staff visited our park and concluded that they will start composting the food wastes from their mess operations. A local catering company that catered over local 700 events last year is beginning to incorporate zero waste sorting techniques into their customer service protocols.

We're so inundated with questions and requests to participate in the zero waste park's success, that we need to quickly develop a better system for dispensing information and to schedule / organize the opportunities for community involvement and participation. We're thinking about creating a "Zero Waste Task Force" with members from all the various organizations that have interest or assets to offer in furthering zero waste on the Central Coast and afield. We also need to better our web site, http://www.zerowasteconcepts.com/ , which is in development but slow because of a lack of cash.

What we really need to do is further develop our fund raising and grant writing protocols because even though we have built the park on donations and good will, to get to the next level, we need cash. We're hoping that the zero waste task force will help our visibility and outreach.

Zero waste golf is the new paradyme of using a golf course as environmental community center. There is no better way to attract non golfers to the course, with the goal of producing more paying rounds, while rehabilitating golf's dismal environmental reputation and protecting the environment in a sustainable and reproducible fashion. From our perspective so far, zero waste golf is a real win-win-win ....win. Perhaps you will join or help us further zero waste golf locally or globally by joining a virtual "zero waste golf task force" in which we can share strategies, training and enthusiasm for other golf courses to experience the great results that we are enjoying here.

2 comments:

  1. There is absolutely no superior strategy to catch the attention of low golfers towards the program, having the purpose of producing additional paying times, although rehabilitating golf's disappointing enviromentally friendly status as well as guarding the environment in the lasting.Garmin S1

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    1. Thank you, Gsan fast, for your kind words. Our zero waste park is really working beautifully to connect our county municipal golf operations with the public they serve. Interestingly, as a government entity, they have discovered through the zero waste park at a golf course the value of getting more utility out of existing or paid for facilities.

      Our composting facilities are working smoothly. we have reduced the mandatory labor to operate the composting, while managing the kitchen wastes on an every-other day basis. We're spending about 3 or 4 hours a week to fully maintain the zero waste park, which includes doing the composting and caring for the worms. The golf superintendent's staff have taken over operating the compost tea brewing every other Thursday.

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