Yayoi Koizumi is a self-proclaimed news junkie. She would spend hours reading articles and posting rants to her personal Facebook account. Her topic of choice was waste reduction, posting about why she believed things needed to change in regards to how the world handled waste.

“People would say ‘what are you doing to change those things?’ and you just kind of have to be stuck feeling like I have to do something, instead of just ranting and complaining on social media,” she said.

Beyond social media, she also said she feels a personal connection to the issue. Koizumi said she felt bothered by how much waste she and her son would send to the dumpster, all of which would eventually end up in a landfill. Koizumi said her upbringing also affects the way she looks at waste.

“I’m originally from Japan, and I have this collective memory of the ruins of war, and material scarcity,” Koizumi said. “The amount of waste and consumption that we participate in, it feels really bad to me.”

So in 2018 Koizumi decided to do something about it. She founded Zero Waste Ithaca, a community group that is working to create a greener Ithaca by eliminating waste in the area. Its most recent project focuses on reusable containers.

Ithaca Reduces is a program that encourages patrons to bring their own containers to participating restaurants to take their food and drink to go.

Emily Jernigan, Zero Waste Ithaca’s treasurer, said the program was inspired by Canada Reduces, which operates in a similar manner. Koizumi and Jernigan said the group had wanted to focus on reusable containers but tried out multiple ideas, such as providing the containers to restaurants, that were not feasible for the group to handle based on size and funding limitations.

“When we saw this program [Canada Reduces] … we thought it was a great idea,” Koizumi said. “This is small, but certainly helps to raise awareness in the community. I think that’s the first step.”

Ithaca Reduces currently boasts 8 participants in the program. To note their participation local restaurants have a green sticker displayed outside with the words “Bring Your Own Container” and “Ithaca Reduces” printed on them.

Koizumi and Jernigan said it was not an easy process for them to get the Ithaca Reduces program off the ground, mostly because they faced opposition from the Tompkins County Health Department surrounding COVID-19 protocol.

Zero Waste Ithaca sponsored a letter-writing campaign outlining the benefits of the program. They also hosted a webinar with the founders of Canada Reduces. The webinar had around 300 attendees, including close to 100 participants from the Ithaca area.

Once they were finally approved by the health department they began canvassing, just a few weeks ago, explaining the program to businesses and handing out green stickers to anyone who was interested.

“It’s a great way to strike up that conversation to people who are curious about it,” Jernigan said. “They see the sticker and are like, ‘Oh, what is this? Oh, I can bring my own container, that’s cool’ and next time they bring their own container.”

The Ithaca Reduces Program receives funding from Sustainable Tompkins, a citizen-based coalition, through the group’s Neighborhood Mini-Grant. According to Sustainable Tompkins, it provides $625.86 to the program for the stickers as well as other partial costs of campaigning.

Alley Cat Cafe is one of the eight businesses that currently participate in the program. Jeff Lowe and Elanee Norton, baristas at the cafe, said that Alley Cat had already encouraged its patrons to bring their own cups so partnering with Zero Waste Ithaca was a no-brainer.

“The only time we do to-go cups was if someone said specifically they wanted to leave with it or if they’re going into the cat room,” Norton said. “Putting up the sticker raises more awareness and saving the environment is always cool.”

Another one of the participating businesses is Lou’s Street Food located in Center Ithaca. Owner, Lou Cassaniti, said that Center Ithaca already does a good job with recycling and encouraging those who work in the building to bring their own containers to the restaurants.

Cassaniti said that for his business, joining Ithaca Reduces and having people bring their own containers, is beneficial as the cost of the new containers he needs to use following the statewide styrofoam ban are more expensive.

“We would like people to [bring their own containers] because it saves everybody money,” he said.

The containers businesses are now switching to following the styrofoam ban makes the Ithaca Reduces Program critical, said Koizumi and Jernigan.

“A lot of the containers that people are switching to, because of the foam ban is not a step forward, it’s like a step to the side,” Jernigan said. “Bioplastics are really bad, it’s not what it’s hyped up to be.”

Bioplastics, “which are plastics that either: originate from a renewable resource, are biodegradable, or are both,” according to the Plastics Industry Association, can be harmful to the environment, said Koizumi and Jernigan.

“Reuse and refill is the way to go,” Koizumi said. “So, that’s why we are so excited about this program, it’s small, but if everybody started bringing their own containers, I think that helps the business save money, and save the environment.”

Other local businesses can get involved in the Ithaca Reduces program by contacting Zero Waste Ithaca on social media or through email to hang the green sticker on their front door.