Zero Landfill Days

MAINE INTERIOR DESIGN ASSOCIATION’S ZERO LANDFILL DAYS

Starting a career in any field is often a less straightforward path than it initially seems. When I entered design school, I didn’t have the slightest clue about all the different directions a design degree and the profession could take someone. The possibilities expanded greatly, however, when I saw a documentary about Interface’s founder, Ray Anderson, I knew immediately that my design career could give me a real purpose. He had just turned Interface upside down by creating a company mission to eliminate his publicly traded, global company’s negative impact on the environment by 2020, an ambitious goal that many believed was not possible. But to a design student, he was inspiring. His mission showed me the power of our profession to guide our clients to make sustainable choices for their projects, create healthy environments for the people Jill Albers serves as the Secretary of the MIDA Board of Directors, and is an Account Executive for Interface, Inc. – ME, VT, NH.

within the spaces, as well as protect the sacred planet we live on.

Sustainability became a guiding concept for me, and as I grew in my profession and drilled down into products to understand their impact, I appreciated Interface’s mission even more. Twelve years later, I moved my family to Maine and started working as the local Interface rep for Northern New England. I now get to spend my days talking about climate change, embodied carbon, carbon sequestering, and flooring (of course). in the state. Inspired by an idea that arose when Interface started rethinking how things were done, I proposed a Zero-Landfill project, something that began when a rep in Ohio realized that designers often threw away leftover samples, so every Friday he drove to local

Shortly after arriving in Maine, I joined the Maine Interior Design Association’s (MIDA) Board of Directors, and it’s been wonderful to be part of this design community and work together to further the profession

firms, picked up their unwanted samples, and took them back to his house to break them down and recycle them responsibly. It quickly became more than he could handle, so he formed a group of volunteers and created the first Zero-Landfill event where designers could donate old samples to be repurposed for teachers, artists, and makers. The event took off and is now an annual event in multiple cities across the country. Why not Maine?

In 2019, MIDA quickly began organizing and coming up with solutions to logistical challenges, but we soon realized that there was another local partner we needed to team up with. Ruth’s Reusable Resources (3Rs) is a local nonprofit in Portland that redirects office supplies from the landfill to teachers and students across the state—the first free-store model of its kind in the United States. We reached out to

3Rs to help us better connect with their community of teachers. With a lot of planning and coordination between the two organizations, we scheduled a donation drop-off day, picked up materials, and sorted materials in preparation for the opening shopping day at Ruth’s for the 2019–2020 school year.

MIDA plans to continue Zero-Landfill days in the future and hopes to expand our reach outside of the Portland area. Honestly, the idea of saving the planet can seem pretty daunting, but one fairly simple idea can bring people together to help their community and help the environment. Of course, the pandemic has added extra challenges to all of our lives and plans right now, but we know Mainers are resilient; the design community will rally; and in the end, we will be stronger (and healthier) together.