Resource Synergy

Climate Action vs. Climate Adaptation

What's the difference, and why it matters for your Tribe.

Many Tribal Nations have been doing adaptation work for years: protecting homes, health, fisheries, and cultural resources from impacts already being felt. That work is essential and is only half of the picture!

A Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP) plans from the opposite angles: how a community can reduce its own contribution to climate change while building energy savings, efficiency, and qualify for or build new funding opportunities, all on the Tribe's own terms.

Through our partnership with the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, Resource Synergy collaborates with member Tribes to develop customized CCАPs, fully funded through ATNI's EPA Climate Pollution Reduction Grant. We guide each Tribe through the planning process, bringing the technical expertise, data analysis, and structured framework needed to build a plan around their priorities, their knowledge, and their vision for the future.

Seats are limited. If your Tribe is interested in learning more, let's talk!

Contact: [email protected] or [email protected]

The Washington Department of Ecology hosted a great summit on Wednesday, discussing the state's Organic Management Law.

What a difference one year makes!

One participant in the room described the difference as an evolution from "overwhelmed" to "problem-solving."

We are fortunate to have such a great organic team at Ecology, and such wonderful partners here in the state's east region.

The biggest recurring theme that we heard was the need for more technical assistance dollars!

Helping businesses turn compliance into action is a big part of our work.

Recently, our team was in SeaTac supporting the City’s implementation of Washington’s 2022 Organics Management Law by working directly with local restaurants. That included outreach, setting sites up with compost bins, training staff, and monitoring both contamination and the amount of food waste being composted.

These photos show one example of that work in action. Successful implementation takes more than a new bin. It takes education, follow-through, and support that helps businesses build lasting habits.

Please join us in congratulating Jack Hines on two big milestones this week.

1) Jack has officially transitioned to our delivery team as a Project Associate, where he’ll be supporting both waste and carbon projects.

and

2) He has celebrated his three-year anniversary with Resource Synergy.

Jack’s journey with Resource Synergy has come full circle. He started on the project team, helping deploy Portland’s dumpster monitoring program and traveling across Washington for cart tagging and recycling audits. After moving into an Office Administrator role in 2023, he became a key part of our operations—onboarding team members, coordinating retreats, and keeping everything running behind the scenes.

Through it all, Jack has always been ready to jump back into the field when needed. We’re excited to see what he accomplishes in this next chapter.

Congratulations, Jack.

For facilities, small changes can lead to big savings.

Through tools like dumpster monitoring, waste audits, right-sizing, and recycling and food waste program implementation, we help organizations uncover opportunities that are often hiding in plain sight.

Our systems provide visibility into waste volume and service performance, allowing issues to be addressed before they become complaints.

The result is lower costs, fewer disruptions, and waste programs that keep improving over time.

While most school districts contract with a 3rd party waste hauler, or are served by a local municipality, Loudoun County (VA) schools hauls their own. This presents unique opportunities to optimize routes; utilizing monitoring technology to deliver operational savings.

Last month, our team was on the west side installing sensors, implementing composting programs, and conducting site visits for clients including Issaquah School District, Western Washington University, and the City of SeaTac.

By pairing on-the-ground context with real-time data, we help clients right-size service, catch missed pickups, and reduce unnecessary collections before they become problems.

The result is lower costs, fewer disruptions, and waste systems that keep improving over time, without adding more work for already busy teams.

Erik met with the school district of Philadelphia this week.

He was fascinated to learn all about the nuances, challenges, and opportunities of managing waste services in this historic city.

The Resource Synergy team is thrilled with the work that the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and Green Schools National Network, Ten Strands, and others are doing to advance sustainability in schools.

Why?

Sustainability in school districts is more than just greening buildings.

In fact, there is no higher point of leverage to achieving our company's mission of being a catalyst for positive change that creates a healthier environment, economy, and community.

Not only is sustainability education impacting the decisions that this current generation of kids make when they grow up, but it’s also been shown to impact the decisions of today’s adults.

How is this?

It’s called the trickle-up effect, and it’s one of the few social change tactics that works in nearly every culture of the world. Specifically, if you teach something to kids in schools, they will take the knowledge home and pressure their parents. Parents are more likely to listen to their kids than to any form of media or public service announcement.

This works with recycling, gardening, energy/water efficiency, and nearly every other form of social change.

We are committed to advancing sustainability in schools andare currently exploring new ways to support the great work that these organizations are doing.

Photo credit and thanks to Picture Bakery.