Here’s how we did it.

Members of the Lawrence-Scioto Solid Waste Management District will give a presentation next month at a solid waste conference, explaining how they developed some of their programs and why these programs are successful.

The Appalachia Ohio Zero Waste Initiative (AOZWI) will host the inaugural Waste to Wealth Summit at the Ohio University Inn & Conference Center in Columbus. This event, scheduled for Sept. 13-14, will bring together regional solid waste and recycling stakeholders from Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia to examine how to build rural wealth by increasing resource recovery.

“All of these rural communities share similar challenges capturing recyclable materials from the waste stream,” said Kyle O’Keefe, Zero Waste Initiative coordinator. “The summit will share examples of rural communities who are tackling these challenges, so they can use each other’s knowledge and expertise to find solutions together.”

The summit will encourage communities, haulers, processors, industries, businesses, politicians, philanthropists and others to work together for the benefit of the local economy, the health of its people, and the environment.

Lawrence-Scioto Solid Waste District Director Dan Palmer said his presentation will discuss recycling and litter enforcement. “We’re putting together information about the cases we’ve worked on,” Palmer said. “We believe in enforcement. Some people you meet, they just don’t get it until you cite them to court.”

Neil Seldman, president of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance will give the keynote address. He’s a founding member of the National Recycling Coalition and Grass Roots Recycling Network, and he has pioneered developments in processing, building deconstruction and small scale manufacturing from recycled materials. Earl Gohl, federal co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission, and Karen Luken, Global Solid Waste and Wastewater director for President Clinton’s Climate Initiative, will also speak at the event.