The challenge
Event crowds, tiny sidewalks, and bins that overflowed by 9pm — with the district's green reputation on the line.
Project · Downtown
Urban Recycling
Twelve staffed recycling kiosks across the Short North arts district turned gallery-hop weekends from litter problems into diversion showcases.
Client
Short North Alliance
Location
Short North, Columbus
Duration
12 months, ongoing
Overview
Weekend foot traffic overwhelmed the district's few public bins, and recyclables drowned in trash. We installed twelve color-coded kiosk stations, staffed the four busiest during events, and ran nightly collections with full sorting.
Year one diverted 31 tons of glass, aluminum, and cardboard — and gave the Alliance photo-verified reports for every event night.
Our approach
High-visibility stations, volunteer briefings with gallery staff, and nightly truck runs timed to event close.
The outcome
31 tons diverted in year one, zero overflow complaints during Gallery Hop season, renewed for two more years.
