In July of 2018, after working closely with the ecosystems of his own property, Colin Sternagel had a big idea - What if we created a composting system that reduced local waste and supported the local agricultural community? Colin came across Impact Bioenergy’s ‘Horse’ Anaerobic Biodigester through the Seattle Zero Waste Facebook Page and was hooked. Colin quickly sent the video and shared the idea with friend Jason Lundgren who was serving as a Leavenworth City Council member. With a personal goal of lessening the City’s waste, Jason was quickly on board and got the City Council to take note and invite Impact Bioenergy to a City Council meeting in October of 2018. The timing was right and the City Council members were interested in re-thinking waste in the community. Colin’s wife, Ariahna Jones, quickly stepped into a leadership role to help move the conversation forward by meeting with council members and the City Administrator, Joel Walinski in the fall of 2018. As a scientist by heart and teacher by trade, Ariahna knew that one of the first steps in addressing the waste and resource issue was to first better understand the challenge through data collection and research. The City of Leavenworth partnered with Waste Loop and another consultant to conduct a waste characterization study of the commercial waste stream. Not surprisingly, the study showed that organic waste made up approximately 50% of the commercial waste stream by weight and glass made up close to 18% of the waste stream by weight - that’s a diversion opportunity up to 68%!!

With the additional support and encouragement of founding board members such as Molly Hemler from Huney Jun that was looking for ways to recycle their glass and David Morgan that had helped start the Leavenworth Recycles community group, Waste Loop began building out recycling and educational programming.

Waste Loop gained 501c3 status soon after incorporation in April 2019 and quickly hit the ground running to develop partnerships within the community. As initial funding allowed, Ariahna transitioned from the board president into the first staff member as Executive Director.

The Waste Loop team and board of directors have grown to meet the increasing and evolving needs of the organization. Waste Loop’s vision has remained the same over the years, working towards a supportive and thriving community where the concept of ‘waste’ no longer exists and resources are valued through their lifecycle.

Waste Loop now works throughout the Wenatchee Valley to inspire innovative solutions to local waste and recycling challenges. We work with school districts, classroom teachers, student clubs, businesses, City government, event organizers and community members to rethink our relationship with resources and move towards a more sustainable future.