Jacquelyn Ottman's Page
http://www.wehatetowaste.com/
At age four, her siblings called her Junkie Jacquie when she dragged home treasures from the neighbor's trash. At age thirty-four, Jacquie pioneered green marketing by founding J. Ottman Consulting, Inc. Her mission: apply her in-depth consumer packaged goods expertise, with a creative bent...
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Jacquelyn Ottman posted a blog post
Community Fridge in Frome UK Reduces Food Waste, Feeds the Needy
I was spurred on to start this project by the global epidemic of food waste — as much as 50% of all food grown worldwide gets wasted before and after it reaches the consumer. Most of the food waste in the UK is avoidable — it could have been eaten had it been better managed. The Community Frid...
April 19, 2017
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Jacquelyn Ottman posted a blog post
Give this NYC Recycling and Zero Waste Champion an Award!
We all know who the recycling champions are. That one person who takes up the charge on his or her own. Often quietly, often without recognition, they nudge the rest of us to drop the cans and bottles in the correct recycling bin, and to gently remind us not to use what we don’t need. They a...
April 19, 2017
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Jacquelyn Ottman posted a blog post
Rebecca Prince-Ruiz Searches for Real Solutions to Ocean Plastic Waste
If you’re like me, you address the issue of ocean plastic waste by participating in ocean beach cleanups. And you carry reusables as a way to cut down on single-use plastics. As much as these steps can help to reduce ocean plastic waste and give us all a good sense of satisfaction and accompli...
April 19, 2017
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Jacquelyn Ottman posted a blog post
Hyperlocal Sharing Can Help Cities Waste Less, Build Community
Tucked into the corner of the laundry room in my 13-story apartment building in New York City is a little free library. It was created fifteen years ago from a bookcase salvaged from a neighbor’s trash. Nearby sits a repurposed plastic container marked ‘Free Stuff’. The library provides a stea...
April 19, 2017
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Jacquelyn Ottman posted a blog post
How To Increase Recycling Collection in Apartment Buildings
Want to get apartment dwellers to recycle more? There’s a lot to learn from voluntary programs that now make it easy for a growing number of New Yorkers to collect organics, electronics, and clothing right in their buildings. Getting Beyond 17% in NYC Representing a key component of New Yor...
April 19, 2017
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Jacquelyn Ottman posted a blog post
Stop ‘N’ Swap Events Help Make NYC More Sustainable
My first step towards swapping for sustainability: establishing a Free Stuff box in my own NYC apartment building’s laundry room. When I put a Free Stuff box in the laundry room of my apartment building on the Upper East Side of New York City, I wasn’t thinking about the larger idea of holdi...
April 19, 2017
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Jacquelyn Ottman posted a blog post
How Toronto’s Tool Library Lets You Share Rather than Own
In March 2013, the first Tool Library in Toronto was born. We were a group of environmental activists jaded with street actions and lectures, and hungry to create something exampling the saner world we imagined. Our goal was to present an easy parallel that would challenge the notion of ‘owne...
October 4, 2016
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Jacquelyn Ottman posted a blog post
Leftovers Pooling: The Most Fun Way Yet to Cut Down on Food Waste
I’ve been toying with the idea for a while now: throw a Leftovers Pooling Party. (Picture a pot luck supper with a food waste twist.) I even came up with a little definition (see below). For my birthday last week, I decided I’d give it a try. My NYC #susty gal pals took to the idea of a Left...
September 9, 2016
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Jacquelyn Ottman posted a blog post
How Recycling Soap Can Empower Women To Help Save Lives
‘What is soap?’ This one question changed my life — and led to my founding the Sundara Fund. I was working in rural Thailand at a school for refugee children from Burma. I went to the restroom and when I came out to wash my hands, there was no soap. I asked the group of students clustered a...
July 27, 2016
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Jacquelyn Ottman posted a blog post
Aiming for Zero Waste at the Portland Airport
My zero waste ethic stems from my mother: she always rinsed and repacked the little resealable bags that held my peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, took 2-minute showers, and brought her own cloth bags to the grocery store. As an adult, I am known in my own house by the hoarded plastic film, ...
July 12, 2016
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Jacquelyn Ottman posted a blog post
How I Started the OLIO Food Waste App
My story as the co-founder of the OLIO, a free app that connects neighbors with each other and with local independent shops so surplus food can be shared, not thrown away, starts some years ago. Growing up as a farmer’s daughter, I experienced first-hand just how much hard work goes into growi...
May 20, 2016
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Jacquelyn Ottman posted a blog post
Bring Back the Clothesline — It’s the Ultimate Solar Machine
In 2009 I read on Wikipedia that the clothesline is banned in communities across the U.S. My response to reading that was ‘There’s a documentary to be made out of this’. Four years later I had a feature film called, “Drying For Freedom” all about line drying on my hands and I had become an acc...
May 9, 2016
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Jacquelyn Ottman posted a blog post
I recently learned about the magic that occurs when consumers are asked to pay a small fee for a shopping bag. Being forced to pay a nickel at checkout counters in Washington DC resulted in a whopping 60% decrease in bag use. (Source: Washington Post). This got me thinking about the power of...
May 9, 2016
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Jacquelyn Ottman posted a blog post
Share, Swap and Borrow Your Way To Zero Waste
People like you and me are working hard to reduce waste in our lives, and to influence others to come along. But composting the scraps, using a refillable coffee cup, or taking the bag don’t necessary appeal to everyone; at least they are habits that are sometimes hard to start. So what can we...
April 12, 2016
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Jacquelyn Ottman posted a blog post
‘April Showers’ Campus Water Saving Competition
Living on the east coast of the United States, it is pretty easy to forget the importance of clean and abundant water. We have plenty of reservoirs, a seemingly constant supply of fresh clean water running essentially free from the tap, and we don’t have water sanctions. It is so easy to take ...
April 12, 2016
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Jacquelyn Ottman posted a blog post
How Farnham UK’s Repair Café Takes a Bite Out of Waste
Have You Heard About Repair Cafés? It’s an international movement launched in the Netherlands. According to the Repair Café Foundation, there are now more than 950 repair cafés worldwide with 18 in the UK. Repair cafés offer individuals with ‘fixing’ expertise to come together to perform a use...
April 12, 2016
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Jacquelyn Ottman posted a blog post
From Mitts to Mixers, Kitchen Consignment Stores Make Good Use of Used Goods
The island city I call home is chock-full of resale stores. When I heard another one was opening, I didn’t exactly jump for joy. Just another dusty shop filled with random clutter, I figured. But I was wrong. An intrepid entrepreneur was opening a crafting consignment store. No time to knit? D...
April 12, 2016
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Jacquelyn Ottman posted a blog post
Not too long ago, things weren’t just thrown away. Plastic wasn’t in everyday use, pre-packaged food wasn’t as prevalent, and things were used over and over. Then, beginning in the 1960’s, the use of plastic exploded and single-use versions of things started appearing everywhere: plates, napki...
April 12, 2016
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Jacquelyn Ottman posted a blog post
5 Ways to Keep Unwanted Stuff Out of Landfills
Got stuff you don’t want but don’t want to see it wind up in a landfill? I’m with you. I’ve always been reluctant to send any item to the trash heap that might have a more appropriate destination. Surely someone can use this bag of marbles/lamp that needs rewiring/collection of old knitting n...
January 6, 2016
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Jacquelyn Ottman posted a blog post
Our Top Ten No-Waste Holiday Tips – 2015 Edition
The holiday season is filled with joy, but it can also be filled with a whole lot of waste. According to the EPA, American household waste jumps 25 percent between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. Make this year’s a no-waste holiday, with the following top ten tips shared by members of our We...
December 4, 2015
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Jacquelyn Ottman posted a blog post
Wearable Collections Lets NYC Apartment Dwellers Recycle Clothes, Shoes, and More
I founded Wearable Collections clothing recycling as a reaction to my best friend being paralyzed when he was hit by a car. My friends and I were constantly thinking of ways to raise funds and awareness for spinal cord research. My light bulb moment? Seeing a garbage bag of clothing left in th...
November 19, 2015
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Jacquelyn Ottman posted a blog post
Sustainable Fashion on a Budget
It’s true. Fashion creates a lot of waste and negatively impacts the planet, and any fashion that doesn’t, often costs more. It’s easy to think (or be pressured into thinking) that the only way to cut down on the waste and impact is to spend more money than you have, or own only 100% organi...
November 19, 2015
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Jacquelyn Ottman posted a blog post
New Tradr App Lets You Buy, Sell, Trade Your Way To Reuse
‘Reuse’ Wasn’t In My Childhood Vocabulary But wastefulness certainly was. We took food with the utmost care – never to the point or purpose of deprivation, but for the sake of appreciation and self-awareness. The principle applied to clothing and sports equipment. My first tie came from one co...
October 28, 2015
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Jacquelyn Ottman posted a blog post
Make Reuse Your Career and a Daily Habit Too
If you ever donated to Goodwill or brought your own mug to Starbucks, you’ve engaged in reuse. Reuse is a great way to save money and resources and get quality things to folks who can use them — it’s also my calling. Thinking about a career in reuse? Want to learn how to integrate more of it i...
October 7, 2015
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Jacquelyn Ottman posted a blog post
Creative Reuse Via Materials for the Arts
I have a very close relationship with buttons. You could call it button love. When I was a kid visiting my grandmother’s house I discovered her button box. Inside, the buttons were like little gems — mother-of-pearl and fabric covered ones that matched the dresses they came off of. Shiny gold ...
October 7, 2015
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Jacquelyn Ottman posted a blog post
Farmer’s Daughter on a Mission to Reduce UK’s Food Waste
Being a farmer’s daughter has made me a particularly passionate advocate for food waste in the UK. Seeing firsthand the effort and resources that go into getting food to our tables has caused me to just get angry, and sad, when I see it going needlessly to waste. I’ve have been working on the ...
August 12, 2015
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Jacquelyn Ottman posted a blog post
How I Went from Normal Dude to Dumpster Diving Across America
Two years ago, I had never been dumpster diving. I had no interest in the activity, and I don’t think I ever even gave it a thought. Never did I think it would become one of my favorite hobbies. Never did I think it would become my primary source of food. Never did I think I’d be taking tho...
August 2, 2015
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Jacquelyn Ottman posted a blog post
Composting On An Urban Terrace
When living in Finland as a child, we always spent the warm summer months in our cottage. The cottage was quite basic with limited facilities. At the end of every summer, my parents had to take the garbage we accumulated from our cottage back into the city to be disposed of. In order to mitiga...
July 29, 2015
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Jacquelyn Ottman posted a blog post
Racing to Zero Waste? Not Without Reduce and Reuse!
Have you seen the documentary ‘Racing To Zero’ yet? It spotlights San Francisco’s efforts to achieve an aggressive Zero Waste goal of diverting 90% of its municipal waste from landfill by 2020. San Francisco leads the country in this endeavor, and in that regard has much to teach the rest of u...
June 29, 2015
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Jacquelyn Ottman posted a blog post
MoveForHunger.org Fights Food Waste on Moving Day
Traveling through India with a ripped bag and worn out shoes was the first time my perception of waste was challenged. I was thrilled to toss away my holey shoes until the handiwork of thrifty street entrepreneurs caught my attention. They presented another option. For a few rupees, I hande...
June 5, 2015
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Jacquelyn Ottman is now a member of Berrett-Koehler Community
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