Itasca County is located in north-central Minnesota, has a population of 42,000 and is known for its forests and scenic waterways. With Beltrami County, it contains the upper watershed of the Mississippi River. Its major industries are timber and tourism. Itasca County government made a commitment to source reduce its waste as much as possible. Secondarily, what they could not reduce they committed themselves to recycle. The project demonstrates functional reduction in practice. It shows that reduction is a realistic goal for county governments and that reduction can be measured on a waste stream by waste stream basis.