Bellingham SeaFeast Becomes Whatcom County’s First Festival to Use 100% Reusable Dishware

Thanks to an Innovative Waste Reduction grant from Whatcom County Health and Community Services , a team of local partners — Sustainable Connections, Perennial Zero Waste, and Bellingham SeaFeast — will implement a full-scale reusable dishware system in the festival’s main food court. That means no throwaway plates, no single-use forks, and no compostable “compromises” — just real, washable dishware cycled through a closed-loop system where they will be washed and redistributed on-site.

While the City of Bellingham currently mandates compostable to-go containers, these options are single use, and often end up in landfill due to user confusion and contamination. “We wanted to take it a step further and show what is possible when single-use service ware is eliminated,” said Kevin Forrester Coleman of Bellingham SeaFeast. “This grant gives us the chance to walk the talk on sustainability and test a model that could change the way festivals operate in our region.”

The pilot will provide a service by Perennial Zero Waste that supplies vendors with reusable plates, cups, food boats, and utensils that are washed and re-circulated throughout the day, drastically reducing waste while simplifying compliance for food vendors. SeaFeast draws over 15,000 attendees annually — and festivals of that size often generate thousands of pounds of garbage, much of it from single-use to-go ware, which accounts for up to 70% of food service waste at public events The pilot also aims to reduce overall contamination of the waste streams, and increase food scrap capture for composting.

By contrast, this pilot project aims to prove that reusables are not only possible but scalable — offering cleaner eating, fewer overflowing garbage bins, and a powerful example of waste elimination for other large events.