Reducing Food Waste: Stacy Savage Of Zero Waste Strategies On How They Are Helping To Eliminate Food Waste
An Interview With Martita Mestey
Get your ego out of the equation: When you’re first starting out, it’s imperative to surround yourself with those who have “been there, done that”. A good ratio to remember is 80% listening and 20% talking. This way, you don’t get too big for your britches and step on the toes of those who are elders in your niche.
It has been estimated that each year, more than 100 billion pounds of food is wasted in the United States. That equates to more than $160 billion worth of food thrown away each year. At the same time, in many parts of the United States, there is a crisis caused by people having limited access to healthy & affordable food options. The waste of food is not only a waste of money and bad for the environment, but it is also making vulnerable populations even more vulnerable.
Authority Magazine started a new series called “How Restaurants, Grocery Stores, Supermarkets, Hospitality Companies and Food Companies Are Helping To Eliminate Food Waste.” In this interview series, we are talking to leaders and principals of Restaurants, Grocery Stores, Supermarkets, Hospitality Companies, Food Companies, and any business or nonprofit that is helping to eliminate food waste, about the initiatives they are taking to eliminate or reduce food waste.
As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Stacy Savage.
Stacy Savage grew in southeast Texas where her parents worked a collective 75 years at oil and gas refineries. For 9 years, she worked for a nonprofit environmental campaign where she helped pass two key pieces of statewide recycling legislation for computers and televisions and four recycling ordinances at the city level in Austin. Founded in 2013, Zero Waste Strategies has worked with some of the biggest brand names in the world to reduce waste to landfills for increased revenue, employee empowerment, and a green marketing edge.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
It all started while I was in a zoned-out trance, sitting at a stop light in south Austin. That’s when the biggest epiphany of my life struck me like the ultimate “I could’ve had a V8” head-smack moment.
Now, I grew up in the “Golden Triangle” along the Gulf Coast of Texas near the Louisiana border. Not only is this the epicenter of America’s oil and gas industry, but my own parents worked at the local oil refineries for a collective 75 years.
Brownish, hazy skies and rotten egg smells were just part of life, so we didn’t really think anything of it. But, due to the enormous influence big oil and gas has over this area’s economy, there’s a sort of silent agreement between industry, government, and plant workers to not rock the boat when it comes to job security vs. public health and safety.
Once I moved away for college at UT Arlington (Go Mavs!), my horizons expanded greatly. I gained new perspectives and appreciation for my freedoms to work, go to school, and make my own decisions (some admittedly not so great). I finally gained the breakout independence I had been craving since I was a young and stubborn kid from a wild Cajun family. When I was finished with college, I made the move to Austin, and things got, well…weird…but also awesome.
After slingin’ fajitas and margaritas in the service industry, I discovered grassroots community organizing and worked for a nonpartisan environmental organization for 9 years. I knocked on tens of thousands of doors across Texas, Colorado, Michigan, Ohio, Florida, and New Jersey to educate everyday residents on fighting pollution and mobilizing them in active participation in the democratic process.
I developed the skills to engage folks from all walks of life to join our membership, and with our “strength in numbers” strategy, we took on corporate polluters and held government officials accountable to enforcement of public health standards.
Each legislative session, our group worked feverishly to organize our statewide members so we could build a formidable lobbying defense against the continuous onslaught of bad environmental bills circulating the Captiol.
Our group focused on “Producer TakeBack” bills to secure the free and responsible recycling of electronic waste (e-waste), such as computers and televisions.
WE WON! In 2007, we worked with Dell Technologies to pass the Texas Computer TakeBack Law (HB 2714, Bonnen — R). To our astonishment, this bill passed with a unanimous vote in the House and the Senate!
WE WON AGAIN! In 2011, we worked with Thompson and other television manufacturers to pass the Texas TV TakeBack Law (SB 329, Watson-D) with only twelve “no” votes in the House and six in the Senate.
Since then, over 400 million pounds of toxic e-waste have been diverted from Texas landfills, with the financial costs assumed by the manufacturers, not Texas taxpayers.
Our group also helped develop and lobby for local policies in Austin:
- Single-use bag ordinance
- Residential curbside recycling and composting
- Business recycling and food waste reduction
- Construction and demolition debris recycling
After that, I was appointed by the Austin City Council to represent my local district on the Zero Waste Advisory Commission. I served on this all-volunteer board for two years, vetting waste management policies before they were voted on by Council.
This is when I came to a fork in the road, or better yet, that zoned-out-stop-light moment, regarding my career path.
As I was waiting for the light to turn green, that’s when it hit me! I said to myself, “Stacy, you know all the local elected officials. You know tons of state lawmakers. You know the owners of all the local trash, recycling, and compost hauling companies. You know lots of the heavy hitters in the environmental and social justice movements across the state. Soooo…why aren’t you the hub? You need to start your own business”!
And that’s exactly what I did…
The very next day, I went down to the Travis County Courthouse, slapped down my $17, and filed for my DBA certificate. It was the best money I’ve ever spent!
Now, before this, I NEVER envisioned myself as an entrepreneur. I always thought I would just have a J. O. B. and follow someone else’s rules. But starting Zero Waste Strategies and becoming by own boss was the absolute best decision I have ever made for myself and for my family.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began at your company or organization?
Back in 2018, I was contacted by a nun’s convent that was part of the Catholic Archdiocese of Houston. They wanted to contract Zero Waste Strategies to do a site assessment and a waste audit. Apparently, the convent’s administrative team took liberties in changing the purchasing practices around meal prep and service, which forced employees to have to utilize single-use plastics and condiment packets, as well as Styrofoam trays for serving all meals. This enraged the Sisters as they viewed this change as bad for the environment and it was hindering them in keeping their sacred vows to protect God’s creation.
When we did the waste audit, we had 80–90-year-old Sisters jumping in and getting up to their elbows in waste to help us sort, categorize, weigh, track, and catalog all the materials in their trash, recycling, and food waste streams. We later delivered a data analytics report that showed the waste and recycling percentages, provided observations on their current waste management systems, and gave key recommendations for improvements to be implemented. This report was then shared with all the Catholic churches within the Houston Archdiocese so they could mirror our tactics, observations, and solutions.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I had a hard time switching my mentality around what I should be paid for my services. Within 1 year, I went from an underpaid nonprofit door-to-door canvasser and rabble rouser to a professional contractor working with global clients. I was short selling myself and all the years it took to build up my expertise by not charging clients what my hard-earned experience was worth.
I was scared to raise my prices, but I did it anyway. To my surprise, clients were still contracting me for my services because their waste headaches were big enough to where they’d pay almost any price to alleviate them. And let’s face it, nobody likes to think about trash. It just goes “away” somewhere, right? But, where is “away” when we live on a circular planet with finite resources. There’s no such place.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
In my mind, leadership means sticking your neck out for something you believe in. If you trust your intuition, use your influence for good, and focus on gaining buy-in from everyone involved, there is a common vision and goal that can be achieved to level-up a project or outcome. This is especially helpful in the consulting industry where at times, you must stand firm in addressing a business client’s concerns about or distrust of your process. You’re the expert in your field and you know it will work, so leadership can be used to quell client fears and anxiety around the unknowns and the results will prove you right.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Well-behaved women seldom make history.” — Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
This quote is extremely relevant in my life. As an environmental activist in my previous career, I would organize protest demonstrations, rallies, and marches to call out big corporate polluters and the bought-and-paid-for elected officials who wouldn’t enforce environmental laws to protect public health. We would also knock on doors across Texas to educate and empower residents in taking action to hold businesses and government accountable. Building the organization’s paid membership base allowed us to put pressure on lawmakers and City Council to pass policies that would benefit the public.
As a business owner of 11 years, I understand the historical impacts of the archaic 120-year old waste industry. As with most business industries, the waste and recycling field is male dominated. It takes a certain kind of passion and dogged determination as a #WomanInWaste to not feel intimidated or have imposter syndrome.
Can you help articulate a few of the main causes of food waste?
For food-permitted businesses, food waste is caused by over purchasing ingredients, not being mindful of expiration or spoilage dates, and changing consumer expectations.
First, predicting exact customer demand can be very challenging, which can cause businesses to stock more food than needed. Next, inadequate inventory rotation, improper storage conditions, and a lack of monitoring food quality can lead to tossing out foods that could have been saved had these issues been addressed in time. Finally, customer rejection of uneaten food on their plate at a restaurant or slightly blemished fruits and vegetables at the grocery store can add significantly to the food waste problem.
What are a few of the obstacles that companies and organizations face when it comes to distributing extra or excess food? What can be done to overcome those barriers?
It’s a common misconception among US food-permitted business owners that if you donate foods to feed hungry people in the community, then the company could be held liable if someone got sick from consuming that food.
Thanks to the 1996 Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act, all food businesses in the US are legally protected when donating foods. There are FDA health guidelines that must be followed regarding proper food temperatures and using registered food redistribution groups, such as food banks, but overall, it’s easy once you have your workers trained and the agreements in place with partnering organizations.
Also, if the food that a business is donating is no longer consumable by humans, but still consumable by animals, working with local farmers and ranchers can be an excellent way to get rid of excess foods. Farmers can use these donations as part of their compost heap, which will then be spread on crops to create more nutritious produce for our families. Ranchers can use these donations to offset on their own animal feed expenses by collecting food waste from businesses and keeping their livestock fed.
Can you describe a few of the ways that you or your organization are helping to reduce food waste?
Zero Waste Strategies provides in-person site assessments where we look at internal operations to understand the volume of foods coming into the business, how those foods are used inside the business, and what goes out to the dumpster.
We also perform waste audits where we sort a sample of a client’s waste stream to categorize, weigh, track, and catalog all the materials to determine the volume of their waste generation and the percentages of trash, recycling, and food waste.
Once we complete these steps, we’ll develop a data analytics report that shows the company’s baseline measurements regarding its full waste stream and waste diversion activities and then provide recommendations, industry examples, and implementation strategies for improvement. These recommendations will include the “highest and best use” protocols of the EPA’s Wasted Food Scale, which provides national guidance for all food-permitted operations on food waste reduction, repurposing, reuse, donations, composting, biofuels, and finally, disposal.
As a final step, we can administer the TRUE Zero Waste Facility Certification process. As a counterpart to LEED standards for energy, water, and green building, TRUE specifically targets waste reduction by 90% or more.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help address the root of this problem?
Wasted foods account for almost 40% of the entire US waste stream. Most of this wasted food is rotting away in landfills and releasing huge amounts of methane and carbon dioxide into our atmosphere. It’s no wonder why landfills are one of the top 5 climate gas emitters, globally.
Communities:
Advocates can partner with local environmental groups and/or seek grant funding to launch public education campaigns that encourage businesses and individuals to donate surplus food to local food banks or shelters to fight hunger in their communities. These campaigns can focus on the importance of reducing food waste, how food waste contributes immensely to the climate crisis, and include home tips on meal planning, proper storage, and creative ways to use leftovers.
Governments:
Local elected officials and department heads are leading the charge against food waste and climate change issues. They have the power to research, develop, codify, and enforce policy standards that will work for their residents and businesses. Introducing regulations that require businesses to track and minimize food waste or mandate the composting of organic waste will aid in all local businesses doing their part to divert excess foods from landfills.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why.
- Business education: When I first started my business, I had the idea of how things SHOULD go, but that’s not what happened. For example, I thought business would be banging down my door to get our advice on zero waste, but most businesses didn’t even have the term “zero waste” in their vocabulary. It was an alien concept to them that they could reduce waste and save money. Usually, the trash bill is seen as an unavoidable cost that must be part of the budget and it was difficult to convince them that waste reduction was a viable way to save on the bottom line.
- Always say YES!: When I landed my first corporate client, I felt overwhelmed and intimidated that I wouldn’t be able to deliver upon my promises when agreeing to take on their contract for our services. That didn’t stop me from building out a team of subcontracting consultants who were already well versed in site visits, waste audits, employee training, and report development. Although I was leading the project on paper, I got on-the-job training behind the scenes that built my confidence.
- Get your ego out of the equation: When you’re first starting out, it’s imperative to surround yourself with those who have “been there, done that”. A good ratio to remember is 80% listening and 20% talking. This way, you don’t get too big for your britches and step on the toes of those who are elders in your niche.
- Remember your taxes: In the first couple of years of business, Zero Waste Strategies was listed as a DBA and since I couldn’t afford an accountant, I was responsible for filing our personal and business taxes with the IRS. It was always so shocking how much I owed at the end of the year because I was not saving the right amount in the previous months. Also, once we switched from an LLC to an S-Corp, our business tax burden went down quite a bit and our assets we far more protected from any legal action.
- Never compromise or convince: Your standards in business ownership are very high for a reason. They’re based on your integrity and commitment to customer service. Never let a prospective client whittle down your standards or try to get something for nothing. If they’re demonstrating these characteristics during your interactions, they’re not serious about working with you. Don’t waste your time trying to convince them that what you do is valuable and is what their company needs. They won’t see it the way you do and you’ll experience burnout.
Are there other leaders or organizations who have done good work to address food waste? Can you tell us what they have done? What specifically impresses you about their work? Perhaps we can reach out to them to include them in this series.
Yes! My wonderful friend, Jasmine Crowe-Houston, owns a company in Atlanta called Goodr. They collect food donations across the city and connect them to receiving organizations. The donations are tracked on a blockchain ledger and when the delivery is accepted, the donating business gets the information they need to file for an IRS tax refund based on what was donated.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
With my influence as a 22-year zero waste expert, I would inspire a business revolution where all enterprises understood the impacts of their operations and the importance of protecting our natural resources for future generations to come. If you deplete our natural resources, then you have no business. The economy must go hand-in-hand with the environment. Mother Nature doesn’t need us, we need her.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
Jane Fonda would be a dream come true. She has been an advocate on the front lines for over 50 years. Her persistence and sheer determination have changed hearts and minds of millions and has inspired young people to take the torch.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacysavage/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/texas-zero-waste-strategies/
https://www.instagram.com/zerowastestrategies/
https://twitter.com/txzerowaste
https://www.facebook.com/ZeroWasteStrategies
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbIFKNLlAp0hIZQK0dYfYUA
This was very meaningful, thank you so much, and we wish you only continued success.
Thanks, y’all!!
Reducing Food Waste: Stacy Savage Of Zero Waste Strategies On How They Are Helping To Eliminate… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.