ANN ARBOR, MI — Ann Arbor’s Trash Talk Tour is back with a goal to educate people about ways to reduce contributions to landfills and shift toward a zero-waste lifestyle.

The second-annual free event takes place Sunday, Sept. 18, starting with an 8:30 a.m. stop at Michigan Stadium, where participants will get a behind-the-scenes look at how the University of Michigan puts zero-waste principles into practice for Wolverines football games.

After the Big House, the self-guided tour includes several other stops around town and participants are free to hit as little or as many of them as they’d like, including 30-minute tours of the city’s newly renovated recycling plant operated by Recycle Ann Arbor from 10 a.m. to noon. Registration is required for some stops on the Trash Talk Tour, including the recycling plant tours.

Inside the plant, residents will get an up-close look at how the materials they put in their recycling bins are processed.

While the Trash Talk Tour overall is billed as an all-ages event, children under 10 are not permitted in the recycling plant for safety reasons, organizers said.

There also will be morning and afternoon bicycle tours led by Environmental Commission Chair Steve Brown departing from Common Cycle and making several stops around town, including heading out to the Kiwanis thrift shop in the afternoon to get a look behind the curtain of the thrift economy.

Those interested can learn more and register at www.trashtalktour.org.

This year’s event is led by nonprofit Live Zero Waste and organized by staff and volunteers from the Washtenaw Zero Waste Coalition, Recycle Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Office of Campus Sustainability and the Kiwanis Club of Ann Arbor.

“We are super excited to be bringing back the Trash Talk Tour this year,” Samuel McMullen, executive director of Live Zero Waste and lead organizer, said in a statement.

“I’m inspired by the participation we have from our community and the commitment from volunteers to make this day happen,” he said. “We hope every participant walks away with newfound knowledge about why or how to lessen their impact on the planet through lifestyle changes, big or small.” 

Ann Arbor is lucky to have such robust zero-waste infrastructure and it’s great to have a chance to celebrate that and see how it all works, McMullen added.

Ann Arbor Public Schools, city and county government, local retailers and nonprofits also are participating in stops from noon to 4 p.m. to talk about how they’re reducing waste. There will be people ready to answer questions at stops.

Funding for this year’s Trash Talk Tour is provided by the Kiwanis Club of Ann Arbor Foundation.

For people interested in learning more about the zero-waste lifestyle, Live Zero Waste has more information and resources, including a zero-waste meal plan, at livezerowaste.org.

In addition to planning this year’s Trash Talk Tour, Live Zero Waste has sponsored several zero-waste challenges over the past year in Ann Arbor and is working on growing and sustaining Ann Arbor’s first returnable takeout container program.