CASE STUDY: LARGE EVENTS, EVEN GREATER WASTE REDUCTION WITH REUSE SEATTLE’S SPECIAL EVENTS PROGRAM
Seattle Public Utilities piloted the Reuse Seattle Special Events Program, offering an incentive for community events in the Seattle area to offset the costs of reusable dishware services.
Seattle Public Utilities and Cascadia Consulting Group hired Blue Daisi Consulting to help with community engagement as well as project management for events interested in the program. In 2025, we assisted 23 event organizers in incorporating reusable dishware at their events, saving an impressive 34,398 single-use items from the landfill through reuse!
The greatest challenge for the Reuse Seattle Special Events Program was the task of making the switch from single-use items to reusable items feel like a value-add instead of a burden. For long-running events with established systems and high attendance, introducing a new system can be daunting.
To increase event organizer engagement, we did what we do best: listen to our community. We met with event organizers one-on-one to learn what their biggest fears were in trying out the program and addressed them directly, ultimately solving existing problems for event organizers rather than creating new ones.
What makes our outreach so effective is that we understand that no two businesses, events, or problems are the same. See our work in practice at some of the events we helped coordinate in 2025 below.
Equinox Studios Open Houses
Throughout the year, Equinox Studios hosts open houses to showcase the work of the 200+ artists across almost 100,000 square feet of studio space. As part of the Watershed Community Development, Equinox Studios is working to “cultivate long-term community wealth through thoughtful real estate acquisition and development,” serving as a hub for affordable arts and cultural spaces for all. Their annual art events open the doors of these studios to the public, allowing community members to grab a bite to eat from local food trucks while experiencing the vibrant art scene of Georgetown.
Equinox Studios’ primary concern was scale. They wanted to make their events more sustainable, but given the sprawling nature of their facilities, they weren’t sure how to maximize retention rates. We helped Equinox Studios turn their greatest strength, their dedicated community of volunteers, into the solution. Strategically placing return stations throughout the buildings and entrusting volunteers familiar with the space to help guide attendees through the return process made reuse seamless. The result was 5,207 single-use cups diverted from the landfill across three different events.
Soapbox Project
Soapbox Project is a nonprofit focused on transforming climate anxiety into community-led climate action centered around joy. This engaged group of climate cuties gathered weekly in 2025 at Slip Gallery in Belltown to provide a space to build community. This fall, the organization held its first-ever fundraising dinner, Harvest of the Future.
A common worry among event organizers and business owners when making the switch to reuse is ensuring that the dishware's aesthetics elevate the dining experience rather than detract from it. For the Soapbox Project’s annual fundraising dinner, we helped connect them with a reuse service provider, Bold Reuse, to reduce waste without sacrificing dishware quality or appeal. The result was 1,100 pieces of single-use dishware that avoided a trip to the landfill.
When reflecting on the gala, the event organizer, Nivi Achanta, mentioned how featuring reusables at their gala allowed their organization to align their actions with its values: “It was fantastic to be able to do this in the most sustainable possible way and really model the kind of values that we care about and the behaviors that we care about.”
Super 8 Film Festival
2025 marked the 19th annual Super 8 Film Festival, with the event featuring two screenings of over 40 amateur short Super 8 films. The event is the culmination of a 5-month program in which registrants take a Super 8 crash course and rent out a Super 8 camera of their own to shoot their film. What makes the program so special is its emphasis on introducing amateur filmmakers to the format, along with the community and the mentorship it provides.
Of course, no film festival is complete without movie theater snacks! When the Super 8 Film Festival first started exploring reusable options, their biggest obstacle was whether or not they would be able to find the appropriate dishware to house their famous hot potatoes. The hot potato bar is a staple of the Super 8 Film Festival, but given the nature of the event, single-use clamshells have historically been the best choice to allow moviegoers to eat their hot potatoes on the go and in between screenings.
By opting for reusable boat trays, the Super 8 Film Festival was able to add to its attendees' experience. Durable boat trays allowed attendees to load their hot potatoes confidently. In total, 688 cups, trays, and pieces of silverware were saved from the waste stream.