After a year of gearing up for the second phase of an effort to improve waste management in Southeast Ohio, Rural Action joined other global environmental leaders in New York City at the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting in September.
The meeting was led by former President Bill Clinton and honored Rural Action for leading its current project, the Appalachian Ohio Zero Waste Initiative.
Kyle O’Keefe, the waste-stream development organizer for the Appalachian Ohio Zero Waste Initiative, said Rural Action was honored specifically for identifying and helping existing businesses use recycled materials while also developing a business model for the region.
The program receives funding from the Sugarbush Foundation and partners with the Voinovich School for Leadership and Public Affairs, said Michelle Decker, executive director of Rural Action who attended the Clinton Global Initiative meeting.
“We made a Commitment to Action, the hallmark of CGI, where groups, businesses, unions and governments create a concrete plan to address a major global challenge that CGI has identified,” Decker said in an email.
O’Keefe said the goal of the initiative is to add value to discarded materials by processing them locally and creating new products in the region. “Waste can be a liability or an asset,” O’Keefe said. “This project looks at how to turn these liabilities into assets.”
Decker said the meeting included the attendance of key leaders such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and even President Barack Obama, who gave a short speech at the event.
Also in attendance were singers K’naan and Sting, Decker said. “The singing was nice,” Decker said.
“But that wasn’t the goal. The goal was to engage people to give and make change.”
The Clinton Global Initiative meeting also included small group sessions that offered feedback from other global organizations and leaders in attendance.
Decker said the connections made at the conference provided her with a global perspective on local issues and reminded her that there is much to be accomplished.
“The feedback and support was very positive,” Decker said. “But we have a lot to do to educate people even in the U.S. that Appalachia is a place of strength, beauty and possibility.”
sg409809@ohiou.edu
