New York Challenged Businesses To Cut Their Waste In Half — It Actually Worked

New Yorkers just got one more thing to brag about.

Over the course of five months, more than 30 major businesses in New York City managed to cut in half the amount of trash they churn out ― making the huge, humming metropolis a little less wasteful.

Businesses participating in Mayor Bill de Blasio’s “Zero Waste Challenge” have diverted over 35,000 tons of garbage away from landfills and trash incinerators since February, according to a release from the mayor’s office on Monday. Most of that trash was composted, and more than 300 tons of food waste were donated to people in need.

The city still has a long way to go toward eliminating waste altogether. It produces 33 million tons of waste each year, much of which is disposed of in neighboring states. Nearly a third of the trash in these landfills is food waste.

De Blasio announced the challenge earlier this year, calling on 31 businesses in New York ― including Whole Foods, Viacom and Anheuser-Busch ― to cut their waste by 50 percent by June. The challenge was part of the administration’s larger effort, called OneNYC, to dramatically reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills over the next two decades.

Read full story: Huffington Post