Home to the New York Islanders, UBS Arena is happily celebrating its second anniversary, and with the celebration comes the announcement of a new, formal sustainability agenda. This sustainability agenda will look to advance the venue’s commitment to environmental impact and its surrounding community.

The agenda, aptly named “Sustainable Brillance & Community Resilience,” was established with the aim of offering an innovative and forward-looking framework for UBS Arena’s sustainability initiatives. The core of the message of the agenda encapsulates the area’s vision: “Rooted in community and environmental impact, our beautiful home in an inspiring example of how values become actions.”

"Our organization's commitments are deeply rooted in making a difference," said Kim Stone, President of UBS Arena. "This bold sustainability framework gives us an even greater opportunity to make further strides in those promises. It's important that we don't just talk about these values, but how we are committed to actions."

"After setting and achieving many sustainability goals in just two years of operations, UBS Arena's future focus will not only deepen operational efforts but will also drive positive impact outside of the walls of their Arena," said Kristen Fulmer, Head of Sustainability for Oak View Group. "Together, we crafted goals that were focused on the needs of today while addressing the need for adaptation in the changing climate."

UBS Arena’s sustainability agenda stands on three core pillars, which are the keys to reaching the venue’s set goals.

COLUMBIA, Md.--RouteSmart Technologies announced that RouteSmart Online is now available for waste collection route planning. The solution has been designed to allow for faster, more efficient optimization of residential and commercial waste collection routes. RouteSmart Online, which is comprised of technology that has been tested and proven for decades by industry leaders, solves some of the most complex route planning challenges and provides reliable results and real value.

RouteSmart Online, the intuitive web application, is designed to be integrated with waste management firms’ existing client-side systems. It can balance daily workloads by time or volume and account for historical traffic patterns to give waste management organizations the most efficient route plans based on the time of day or day of the week.

“This action signifies a major milestone in our commitment to providing solutions that cater to the evolving needs of waste management organizations,” Vice President Chris Walz said. “By offering comprehensive residential and commercial service route planning, we are equipping organizations with a powerful tool to solve ‘collections chaos’ and achieve greater operational efficiency across the board."

Whether managing curbside residential pickups or servicing commercial clients with unique scheduling needs, RouteSmart Online offers tailored solutions that adapt to the nuances of different service types. This flexibility ensures optimal route planning for various scenarios.

By integrating residential and commercial service planning into a single, comprehensive platform, RouteSmart Online empowers organizations to enhance overall operational efficiency. This streamlined approach enables organizations to manage their entire service portfolio seamlessly.

Baltimore City, long impacted by heavily littered streets and waterways, polluted air, and contaminated soils, is bit by bit cleaning up and rejuvenating its community.  Baltimore has banned single-use plastic checkout bags and polystyrene foam food containers. It’s set up a food scrap drop-off program, and it’s rolled out curbside recycling throughout the city, improving on a service that was woefully lagging through the years. Now the city plans to commission a solar-powered composting facility that will divert 12,000 tons of organics a year, with $4 million in federal funding.

Still, there’s plenty more work to do, and several grassroots groups have stepped up to tackle some of it.  Each has its own focus. A small but growing compost operation goes door to door collecting food scraps on e-bikes, founded by a homegrown West Baltimorean. A neighboring start up is forming cooperatives to transition underserved communities to a zero-waste management structure while creating jobs. And an innovative reuse program has sprung from the ground, run by a veteran environmentalist with help from Johns Hopkins University students.

These and other climate activists each have their own, separate projects, but they all align on one focal point, which drives their work: fighting Baltimore’s waste combustion facility.

Dante Swinton launched nonprofit Our Zero Waste Future after spending eight years pushing to shutter the mass burn facility, owned by WIN Waste (formerly Wheelabrator). He still plays a role in trying to bring the job to the finish line. WIN’s contract runs through 2031, though the city can end it sooner if it chooses.

But the birth of Our Zero Waste Future marks an expanded focus for Swinton: educating communities on the benefits of a zero-waste economy and developing local cooperatives to capitalize on material recovery.