WastED - A Waste and Recycling Podcast by SWACO
WasteED is a waste and recycling education podcast from SWACO. Hosted monthly by Joe Lombardi and Hanna Greer-Brown, our guests offer insights into regional efforts helping to push sustainability forward as well as sharing their perspective on the next big GREEN thing for central Ohio. Between a few laughs plus genuine and substantive conversation, each episode features takeaways about proper disposal that will have listeners recycling right in no time. Find us on Spotify, Apple Music or wherever you listen!
WastED - A Waste and Recycling Podcast by SWACO
Growing Better, Not Just Bigger with MORPC
What happens when a rapidly growing region adds 700,000 new residents in just 25 years? That's the question at the heart of this fascinating conversation with the leadership of the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC), the organization helping Central Ohio prepare for this growth through 2050. Here at SWACO, we're planning for it too!
Executive Director William Murdock shares MORPC's guiding philosophy that Central Ohio must "grow better as it grows bigger," explaining how strategic investments in sustainability, transportation, and conservation are essential to maintaining quality of life. Director of Sustainability Brandi Whetstone reveals how MORPC's innovative programs—from neighborhood-level air quality sensors to regional water planning—are creating a roadmap for sustainable growth.
The discussion delves into how MORPC has successfully engaged 39 communities in a friendly competition to achieve higher sustainability ratings, driving real progress through collaboration rather than mandate. You'll learn about cutting-edge initiatives addressing looming energy challenges and water resource management. Plus, William and Brandi talk about another topic that we at SWACO absolutely love to promote and discuss — the principles of the circular economy.
Perhaps most compelling is the practical advice both leaders offer: start with one attainable sustainability goal. As Brandi notes, "The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it."
Curious about how Central Ohio is preparing for the future? Don't miss this insightful conversation about the collaborative approach making the region a model for sustainable growth. Visit MORPC's website or attend their upcoming Summit on Sustainability on September 30th to learn more and get involved in shaping Central Ohio's future.
Welcome to Waste Ed a waste and recycling podcast by SWACO.
Speaker 3:Welcome to our September episode of Wasted. There's a major sustainability summit happening at the very end of this month and SWACO is proud to support and participate in it. We'll certainly tell you all about it because our guests today lead the organization that is organizing it, MORPSI, the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission. William Burdock is the Executive Director and Brandy Whetstone is the Director of Sustainability. We are thrilled that you're both here with us and welcome. Thank you, Glad to be here.
Speaker 2:Thank you. Well, our organizations are different, but also have a lot in common. We both bring people and organizations together towards a more vibrant, prosperous and sustainable future. For people who've likely heard your acronym, morpsi, but might not know what you do, help us better understand your mission.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, or MORPSI as we like to say our friends can call us. We work, like you, in Central Ohio to help Central Ohio grow better as we get bigger, and what that means is we work with local governments, so communities, large and small, urban, rural, suburban. We work with regional organizations like SWACO and Metro Parks and others, all with a focus on things that affect everybody's life every day Things like the environment, quality of life, transportation and we help all of those groups plan together and see what we need to do to invest today so we actually can grow better.
Speaker 2:Well, that's awesome. Thank you for sharing that and thanks for all of the work that you're leading on behalf of the region. Tell us a little bit more specifically what you guys do at Morpsey and what the rules are that you fill.
Speaker 4:Sure, I lead our environmental sustainability programming at Morpsey, and so that includes air quality, water and water resources planning, as well as energy, and then we also support our member governments through our programming, which we'll talk a little bit more about. But I couldn't do this without having such a great team at Morpsey lead in these different areas, and I think it's really important that we touch on environmental sustainability throughout the region so that we can have a better quality of life.
Speaker 1:One of our top goals, like you, we say, create an environment for prosperity, and so the environmental initiatives we do those sustainability initiatives. That's really core to that quality of life. We have a good quality of life. We know it can get better because we've all been working on this. So having the professionals at Morpsey and all of that collaboration with our communities, that's really exciting. And beyond environmental initiatives, transportation everything from bike trails to trains to transit, to roads and bridges, and that all plugs into that sustainability equation.
Speaker 3:Now, william, you said it earlier, but I know I hear you say it at any meeting I'm at and I think it's the William Murdoch tagline. That's right, that Morpsey helps Central Ohio grow better as it grows bigger. Yes, sir, can you give us an explanation of how that is done every day at Morpsey?
Speaker 1:Thanks for doing that and yeah, I do say that a lot, so that's fair. Central Ohio is growing and we know that we're going to add about 700,000 people by 2050 to a region of 2.4 million already. So this is a lot of people. And the first question people ask us is will this be a good thing? Will the region actually be the same nice place that we have right now? And that's why we say grow better as we get bigger, because we know that we can do this, because central Ohio is a more sustainable place. It's a great place to live. People are still moving here because of the investments we've made.
Speaker 1:If you look back the last 25 years, we added about the same amount of people, so we're about to do it again. So we need to really double down on how we can make those investments today, things like what SWACO is doing to keep us more sustainable. At Morpsey, we're looking at transportation initiatives that have a lot to do with sustainability, things like improving transit walkability. We organize the Central Ohio Greenways to give people sustainable and fun ways to get around the region. We're also working on things like passenger rail. If you noticed, we don't have it here in Central Ohio. We'd like to add that. And so if you look out 25 years, if you're saying Joe, if you're telling me, hey, did we grow better as we grew bigger? If I look around and I see that we're more sustainable, that we have more parks, that we've conserved more, that we've added passenger rail, I'll know that we've done a good job.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I know I'm asked a lot what keeps you awake at night, and you sort of said it it's the morphing number of the population that's coming, because that's more waste, and so we have to start to think ahead as well on how do we limit the amount of waste that comes to this landfill, because we only have one here in central Ohio and we need to protect it. So I'm glad you're putting perspective of Morpsey doing the same thing when it comes to all other parts of sustainability.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and our community works, our community of professionals and local governments. We're working on things that feed into that too, like housing. We work, and Brandy will talk about it energy, air quality. We even look at policies at the state and federal level. How can we give great examples of good things going on here in the region, so we can do more of that?
Speaker 2:Well as that population grows and there's that potential for more waste being generated. We're certainly preparing for that at SWACO. But one of the things we understand about the landfill is the vast majority of stuff we receive had the potential to be recycled or reused, and that is a real silver lining, because there's a lot of opportunity to increase our sustainability and there are hundreds of jobs in central Ohio that want those materials to create new products. And so, brandy, I know you're certainly familiar with the term a circular economy, with the work that you lead in sustainability, and we like to talk a lot about circular economies on the episodes here at Waste Ed One that's prosperous and seeks to reduce, reuse and recycle precious natural resources and materials. Talk a little bit about how Morpsey views and promotes the circular economy in the work that you do.
Speaker 4:The circular economy, I think, is threaded throughout all of our work.
Speaker 4:Really, when you talk about sustainability, it means keeping materials and products in use, reducing or minimizing waste and pollution, which is really important, and it also helps reduce costs and creates economic opportunities.
Speaker 4:As you said, there is a need for these materials.
Speaker 4:We don't have to use raw materials to make products that we use, and so I think it's a win-win-win for the region because of all of those benefits. That is, by convening our members and our partners across the region to talk about these important topics, feature educational programming, like at the Summit on Sustainability, where we partner with SWACO to host a circular economy breakout session with experts in the room to share their experiences. We also partner with SWACO and EPA, ohio State University and others to host programming and to share available resources and best practices, because really there's a lot of experts out there that can help us figure out how to do this together. And then, finally, at MORPSI, internally we do have a green team, and so we're excited about reducing waste and recycling and composting there as well, and we're always looking for ways that we can improve that, and recently, I think, more than once our team has rolled up our sleeves and dug through trash after meetings to see if we could pull out more recyclables than what we had. So we're all in.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's great.
Speaker 4:It's not a glamorous job, but you know, somebody has to do it.
Speaker 3:That's great. You know, I often wonder all the work that we do, the work that Morpsey's doing, is it making an impact and is it really doing the things that you set out to do? And I believe we're trying to change one heart at a time, you know, and we're in the behavior change business, and so I'll start with you, William. Do you think our region overall is listening, responding and acting on issues related to the circular economy to reduce, reuse and recycle?
Speaker 1:I think the answer is yes. Thank you, and I think SWACO, of course, and your leadership and getting that message out really fits so well with all of the work we're doing at Morpsey and a lot of this we do together, of course. I think a great example of that is we have this program called Sustainable 2050. What is that? So we have 39 communities, 39 communities in central Ohio, that have raised their hand and said let's work together to challenge each other on how we can do better. Part of that is on reuse and recycling. They've got goals on air and health and greenways too, but we have 39 communities who aren't being told to do this, whose residents and community leaders have said this is important to us and they meet regularly, they challenge each other.
Speaker 1:We actually rate them on silver, gold, platinum, and a typical call that Brandy will get will be from a mayor saying well, why are we only silver? What do we got to do to get to gold? And that spirit of not just collaboration but competition to do better. I think that fits right into the circular economy Brandy.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I think we have a lot of really great local champions in this space. If you think about City of Bexley really moving the needle on composting and waste reduction and their mayor is such a champion of those efforts. Communities like Westerville and Hilliard are doing a lot of great things and a lot of it is also thanks to the financial support that SWACO has provided through your grants program. It's really helped a lot of communities expand their recycling and their education efforts and several have opened up the composting drop-off stations around the region so that folks have the option to reduce the food waste that's going to the landfill, which is one of the big challenges that you're trying to tackle in the waste stream. So, yeah, I think folks are listening, I think they're taking action and I think it's really impressive the work that we can get done when we come together.
Speaker 3:Couldn't agree more and appreciate. You know what you guys are doing and, obviously, thanking you for giving us credit for some of the stuff we're trying to do as well. You know the whole region counts on your team for all kinds of data. I know we've used your data before as well. Just one example Morpsey Research is and produces regional sustainability goals that are updated every four years. Let's tick through some of the main ones one by one, and I'll let Hannah start with the first one.
Speaker 2:Sure. Thanks, joe. Air quality impacts on our neighbors, friends and family. Tell us a little bit about the air quality alerts that you guys issue and that I know a lot of residents rely on, and what exactly your program goals are for that section of your work.
Speaker 4:Air quality is really important for quality of life and public health in the region. So when air pollution levels are forecasted to be unhealthy for sensitive groups of people that means folks that have asthma or COPD or heart conditions Morpsey issues an air quality alert to the public so that they can be aware that they need to protect their health, maybe avoid being outside and exercising during the hottest part of the day, and then we put out reports every year so that we can look back and see how we were doing with air quality and what is it that we need to do to improve air quality in the region. We also have small, low-cost air sensors around Franklin County, working in partnership with Franklin County Public Health. So this is a really innovative project that we have nearly 40 air quality sensors measuring particle pollution, and those sensors give us an idea of what air pollution levels look like, neighborhood by neighborhood, so that we can better target solutions that make sense, that can help improve quality of life and health.
Speaker 1:And it's really exciting. I just get so excited about this. If you go to our website, those monitors are on there. You can pull up the map and see what the real-time air quality is, so you can look out the window and see that the sky is blue, but you may check the air quality forecast and say, oh, you know what Particulates are high today. So that's something that we offer that we think is pretty unique nationally.
Speaker 2:Well, am I recalling correctly that sometimes when I'm driving in my car down the freeway I might see an air quality alert on one of those digital ODOT signs? Maybe Do you guys partner with them to put that information out?
Speaker 4:That's right, we do. Odot puts out those alerts on the highway signs. We also partner with Franklin County Emergency Management. They send out text alerts and the National Weather Service also uses our air quality information to put out alerts.
Speaker 2:Is there a way residents can go on your website or some other place to sign up for those alerts if they want to receive a text?
Speaker 4:Absolutely, you can go on your website or some other place to sign up for those alerts. If they want to receive a text, absolutely, you can go on our website at morpseyorg. There's a button to sign up for air quality alerts via email or text.
Speaker 3:How about some of the research you've done on sustainable growth and development?
Speaker 1:Yeah. So we've had an initiative through the years looking at this growing better and called an Insight 2050. And what we did is we looked at all of the drivers of growth, so how you grow, the types of transportation, the types of housing because, depending on how you grow, different ways produce different results and we were able to model for the region. Growing one way means a certain level of potential pollution or damage to agricultural lands or conservation areas. Another way might actually have better results and so we've been able to model that out. And what gets really excited about this is it's not just data for data's sake, it's data for action and for decision makers and for the public. And things like the Link Us initiative in central Ohio that CODA just passed, revolutionizing transit infrastructure $8 billion for better transit, more sidewalks, more trails. That came out of that data saying you know if we make investments differently, and people got excited and they supported that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they did and that was a great victory. I thought you know I wasn't sure, but it was a great victory and I think it's going to be transformational here in central Ohio. It'll be great.
Speaker 1:It starts with data, but you got to tell them why it means something to people right Right.
Speaker 2:Well, I know we just touched upon a couple of your regional sustainability goals. Did you want to add anything else about your other goals around preservation of natural resources or building sustainable and connected communities, or even more climate resilient communities?
Speaker 4:Yeah, I think preservation of natural resources is really a major priority for the region as well, and so thinking about having clean and abundant water resources. It also includes reducing waste to the landfill, because while we're doing that, we're preserving and protecting our natural resources and we're expanding the life of the landfill, as you know, which takes up land area that we can't afford to lose if we're growing. So many important topics are addressed by our sustainability agenda, and we want to make sure that there's something for everyone within that framework, no matter where our communities are starting from.
Speaker 1:What's really neat about all of these goals is, yes, brandy and I talk and we've got our ideas. But that agenda is not created by Brandy sitting in her office. It's by community leaders of all different types, all different political persuasions, nonprofit leaders coming together saying what can we agree on that can push us forward and we're really proud of that effort. So this is something that, when we say this is the region's agenda for sustainability, it really is.
Speaker 2:That's great. It's wonderful to have the input of so many committed community leaders who bring varying perspectives to the table. As I listened to both of you talk today, a couple of things are threading through as main pillars, things like water quality and energy usage. How is Morpsey addressing both of those and, in particular, our regional water quality and supply?
Speaker 1:Gosh Brandy, I'll take water. You want to take energy?
Speaker 4:Let's do it.
Speaker 1:So just earlier this year, working with the Ohio EPA and some other state agencies, we rolled out the Central Ohio Water Advisory Council, which is all 15 counties coming together to talk about water quality, so looking at that future, and it was driven by this Central Ohio Regional Water Study. So we got the council, we got the study, which has, for the first time, produced interactive maps, more data than we've ever seen on where water supply is, where potential gaps are. More data than we've ever seen on where water supply is where potential gaps are, conservation, even things like wellhead protection areas. We really need that information so that, as we're growing, we can help local governments, businesses, make really good decisions on. Well, if we grow in this area, is there enough water? If we grow over here, how do we need to be careful to protect the water that we do have? It is something that living in Ohio and we're in September here it doesn't rain too much but when we say we need to mind our water supply, people sometimes say, well, it's Ohio it rains so much.
Speaker 1:We're growing right and we need to be mindful of that so that we continue to have the water that we need for everyday life, but also the water quality for our streams and the conservation areas that we want.
Speaker 4:Definitely an important topic here, and you want me to touch on energy a little bit. I know, with all of the growth, including major industries, combined with the population growth in the region, we do need to keep an eye on energy use because energy demand is significantly rising. On energy use because energy demand is significantly rising and there's a recent Ohio Business Roundtable report that recommends that there's certain measures that we can take to make sure that our demand doesn't exceed the supply Projecting from the growth. We could have an issue even by the year 2027. But fortunately, folks are thinking about this proactively. In fact, we just hosted a series of forums and discussions about this very topic called Securing Our Energy Future, and we have information online, if you're interested in learning more, on our website. Our most recent forum was held at Ohio State University and we had a panel of experts talking about emerging energy technologies, which can all be part of the solution as we move forward in the region.
Speaker 4:But even broader than the region, this challenge is far-reaching and so we need bigger solutions in place, and something that has recently been passed by the Ohio General Assembly was House Bill 15, a major energy legislation that helps to address the energy demand and also the resilience and reliability challenges of our electric grid. So this legislation would put incentives in place to encourage more energy generation on site, including renewables and battery backup, so that large energy users can generate their own energy and help reduce that strain on our electric grid. And there's a lot of other provisions there, but that's just one that comes to mind that will help us across the state as we face these challenges.
Speaker 3:It seems like every day there's a story about energy and the concerns that we have, and I think you touched on everything we're trying to do here, at least in central Ohio, to make sure that we don't get into that bind where the grid is just completely overbooked and we have blackouts and things of that nature. So we talked a little bit about the Summit on Sustainability which is coming up later this month. Can you give the listeners a little teaser on some of the success stories that you'll be sharing at that?
Speaker 1:And thanks to SWACO for always being a great partner and supporter of that. You're welcome. This is in its 19th year. Wow, About 650, 700 people from all over Central Ohio and beyond come together to share examples of how they are working to improve the environment, learn from experts and to be able to network and really inspire each other, so we're really excited about this year's event. Of course, there are plenary sessions and breakout sessions I mean, this is quite the day-long event but this year our keynote is actually the Nature Conservancy's Director of Fresh Water Outcomes Globally, Nicole Silk, and so you mentioned water earlier. Who better to bring in than a great partner like the Nature Conservancy at the global level saying here's what we're seeing as new innovation, here's what communities around the region or around the country are doing around the world are doing, so that we can inspire the region to do more. I know Brandy's been deep in the planning, though. What else would you add?
Speaker 4:Yeah, I think one of the crowd favorites are the Pecha Kucha talks.
Speaker 3:They're like mini TED talks.
Speaker 4:They're about six minutes long. We have four all-star speakers lined up for that and they're really fast-paced. They're inspirational. Oftentimes you get to hear personal stories through these talks, so really excited to see those and our breakout sessions cover a variety of sustainability topics that we work on across the region, including the circular economy.
Speaker 2:Which I think our team is going to be kind of contributing to and participating in. So thank you for that invitation.
Speaker 3:And I think it's really cool some of the things that you hear at the Sustainability Summit, because it's not just recycling and it's not just water, it's everything. And I think that is really key to that summit is it's not just water, it's it's everything. And I think that is really key to that summit is it's everything. You know, cause sustainability is such a complex term and and I think it's you know how, how can we continue? That's how I look at it. We can't continue doing what we're doing. So how can we, how can we make this place a more sustainable region for the future? So, you know, looking forward to being there and networking and always enjoy it, always enjoy it.
Speaker 2:And the keynote speakers are always so good. They bring so many insights from around the country and the world, things that we can kind of learn from and maybe adopt here. So really looking forward to hearing this year's keynote speaker. Well, here at SWACO, we encourage people and organizations to start their sustainability programs with attainable goals. We like to say start small and grow it. So what's your best advice when you're both out talking to local governments and organizations, whether they're large or small, to move the region forward towards a more sustainable future?
Speaker 1:The simplest advice is to pick one thing and do it.
Speaker 1:Just a quick, personal thing. So it's really exciting for me to be at SWACO because we love the SWACO theme. But what you don't know is when I was in high school, I was part of a group of kids in the early nineties that started Westerville North High School's first recycling effort no kidding, because we wanted to do something about sustainability and we said, well, there's tons of paper, we're going to do that. And literally we recycled tons of paper and after an encounter with the vice principal and the fire marshal at one point we figured out the details, but we were able to make a difference. And so when we're working with communities I think of some of our smaller communities they care about this one trail, or they want to put solar on a city maintenance facility, or they have a citizen group that doesn't know where to start Pick one thing. You'd be surprised at how much impact you can have to do that one thing, and then that could lead to plugging into all of these other bigger efforts, whether in your community or regionally.
Speaker 4:I 100% agree, william. Pick a priority, pick something that you care about and then build off of that. You can also educate others about this work so that you can get more buy-in, because we can't do it alone. It's a collective effort. A quote that stood out to me recently says the greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it. So certainly we have to be in this together. Even if it's one thing, take that one step, spread the word, grow that impact and grow that inspiration into something bigger. And if you can make it fun, even better. Have contests, do something different, something creative, but just pick something and do it. Something that I think helps with organizations is if you have a group of like-minded and passionate folks gathering around sustainability, form a green team and start on something that's important to the green team and to that organization or company. So we're happy to help, we're happy to connect folks with resources to get them started.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and the one thing that I can say, just in the 41 communities that we serve in the one County I know you have multiple counties and multiple communities, um but what I like about what we call central Ohio is that people do want to work together. I just think that's what makes us unique here that people do want to do the right thing and they do want to come together and you have a good working relationship with all your communities, regardless. What makes us unique here? That people do want to do the right thing and they do want to come together and you have a good working relationship with all your communities, regardless of political affiliation or whatever I I think they just really enjoy trying to make this place great, and so that's what makes us keep coming each day and knowing that our communities will help us, you know, get to where we're trying to get to, because we can't do it alone.
Speaker 2:Hear, hear, we agree wholeheartedly. Well, I know we've kind of talked about your website where people can go and get resources and connect with some of the interactive maps and just reach out to you for information to help satisfy their questions. But go ahead and give us the web address one more time where people should go.
Speaker 4:It's morpseyorg and you can also check out our social media. Oh, good idea. Follow us on Facebook, instagram and X. And then also, if you can make it come to our Summit on Sustainability. It's on September 30th this year and you can register on our website at morpseyorg.
Speaker 3:Thank you, William and Brandy and the Morpsey team for being such great leaders and such great partners with us and with others in this region, and thank you for joining our podcast. I know it's not easy to just leave your day job and come and do a podcast, but we appreciate you guys coming down and to our listeners. Thank you as well. If you'd like to know more about what we do, visit our website anytime at swacoorg.
Speaker 2:We also want to hear from you If you have ideas for future podcast episodes. Connect with us on any of our social channels or you can always drop us an email. Until the next time, this is Waste Ed a waste and recycling podcast by Swayco.