ZWYC 2016
4th Annual Zero Waste Youth Convergence
March 26, 2016 | San Francisco, CA
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Keynote Speaker:
John Wick of the Marin Carbon Project talked about how compost can enhance ecosystem functions and reverse climate change through carbon farming! Check out his project website: www.marincarbonproject.org
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Morning Speakers:
Food Waste Reduction & Composting
Green Careers & Education:
Environmental Entrepreneurship
Product Life Cycle
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WORKSHOPS:
Afternoon Speakers Student-Led Projects
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Speaker Bios:
Lauren Weiner is the Executive Director of All One Ocean. Her work covers youth-designed Ocean-themed art, beach cleanup stations, ocean advocacy and zero waste education. Lauren presents in the Tiny Pollutants session.
Shelly Ericksen of Surfrider and Sunshine Swinford from the Department of the Environment will talk about their "Hold on to Your Butt" cigarette litter prevention program where they are working towards a zero waste solution for cigarette filters. Shelly and Sunshine present in the Tiny Pollutants session.
Leo Kenny from Planet Singular has over 15 years of experience working for Intel in the upstream and downstream effects of manufacturing electronics we all use and how green chemistry is the solution to this toxic pollution issue. Leo presents in the Product Life Cycle session.
Julia Au from the San Mateo County Pollution Prevention Program works on the County's Reusable Bag Ordinance, Household Hazardous Waste Program and extended producer responsibility programs like the Safe Medicine Disposal Ordinance. Julia presents in the Product Life Cycle session.
Jackie Nunez of the Last Plastic Straw. Her presentation aims to provide information, tools and help empower people to take action in their communities and refuse single use plastic straws as a catalyst for change. Jackie presents in the Tiny Pollutants session.
Meghan Kelly is founder and principal of Green Motivate, which helps environmental organizations design, implement, and evaluate programs with a goal of behavior change. Previously, she was an environmental projects specialist for the City of Oakland, where she served as project manager for Oakland Earth Day and lead the Adopt a Spot program for parks. Meghan has a Masters degree in Natural Resources and Environment from the University of Michigan, where her focus was on Behavior, Education, and Communication. Meghan presents in the Environmental Entrepreneurship session.
Tami Stolzenthaler has been a community and school based waste reduction crusader for 27 years. The City of Watsonville Public Works Conservation Academy offers community and campus events and field programs at 26 campuses. Tami presents in the Students Taking Action Workshop.
Paul Tasner - After a 35-year career in supply chain management, Paul Tasner and his colleague, Elena Olivari, founded PulpWorks, Inc., designers and manufacturers of sustainable packaging for the consumer products industry. PulpWorks is completely plastic-free; all of their packages are created using only paper waste or agricultural waste with molded fiber technology. PulpWorks’ flagship design is the Karta-Pack™, a safe and compostable alternative to plastic blister packaging. Paul presents in the Environmental Entrepreneurship session.
Captain Jim “Homer” Holm is a Santa Cruz local, as a child in the 50’s he played on Castle Beach and explored the lagoon that was to become the Santa Cruz harbor. On a 2008 educational voyage, after transiting Panama Canal he anchored among the San Blas Islands to wait for bad weather. Here plastic of every imaginable size and shape covered the tiny sandbar island nearby, the crew was stunned. This was our trash, western civilizations legacy that will last for centuries. Upon return home this led to “Clean Oceans International” and a search for “Practical Solutions to Plastic Pollution”. Jim presents in the Product Life Cycle session.
Chris Kane - As a Campus Coordinator with the Post Landfill Action Network, Chris support students and staff all across the country implementing waste reduction initiatives on their campuses, through one-on-one advising and program trainings. Chris first attended the Convergence as a student employee of the Zero Waste Team in UC Santa Cruz's Sustainability Office. Along with another PLAN employee, he will be speaking to the innovative ways in which the Zero Waste Movement that is manifesting itself on college and university campuses.
Genna DeGroot - Freshly sprung from the liberal arts womb of Wesleyan University, Genna is the creative mastermind behind all of PLAN's program resources, from best-practice manuals and guides to the organizations' social media memes. Along with another PLAN employee, she will be speaking to the innovative ways in which the Zero Waste Movement is manifesting itself on college and university campuses. Chris and Genna present in the Zero Waste Campus workshop.
Kathryn Kellogg writes a zero waste lifestyle blog that focuses on seasonal recipes, DIY beauty, organic cleaning, and tips for living with less waste. All of her trash for the past year fits in an 8 oz mason jar. At her workshop, you'll hear her story and learn to make chapstick. Kathryn presents in the DIY product workshop.
Janeen Singer started her business, Holy Sponge!, in 2011 after making the switch from using disposable menstruation products (tampons) to sea sponges, which are sustainably harvested, compostable, and comfortable. Utterly amazed by sponges, Janeen wanted to share them with every bleeding person she knew. She has a background in marketing and social work and her partner,
Daniela Fernadez has a theater and counseling background. Daniela teaches Menstrual (Re)Education Workshops around the Bay Area and together they make a dynamic bloody team. Janeen and Daniela present in the Environmental Entrepreneurship session.
Brennen Jensen serves as Director/Principal of Emerging Ecologies, a local woman-owned small business established in 2012 with a mission to create sustainable, engaged and resilient communities inspired by nature. A background in government, private and non-profit organizations, Brennen has cooperative facilitative approach that seeks to find creative solutions to complex problems, while expanding localized opportunities for waste, energy and emissions reduction throughout California and beyond. Brennen presents in the Product Life Cycle session.
Andrea Deleon and Radisha Millbrook are employees of Cascadia Consulting group. They provide waste reduction technical assistance and education around the Bay Area. They are currently performing outreach and technical assistance to multifamily properties in Oakland as part of the "Oakland Recycles Zero Waste Campaign". Radisha and Andrea present in the Food Waste Reduction and Composting session.
Allie Lalor and Celine Chen are part of the Cal dining sustainability team. A small team working for UC Berkeley dining services that aims to reduce waste in the dining halls and retail locations on campus. A notable program set up by the team is "Chews to Reuse", a campus program which allows students to purchase re-usable containers to bring into the dining halls for meals to-go, and drop them off after use to be cleaned. Allie and Celine present in the Food Waste Reduction and Composting session.
Josie Dominguez-Chand, Environmental Education Associate, at the Department of the Environment inspires and motivates students to take action to protect our city and planet. Her goal is to provide technical support to help school communities improve and increase their diversion rates through waste assessments to decrease landfill bins/carts/dumpsters, staff training, Compost Monitor Training, and engaging outreach. Josie presents in the Green Careers and Education session.
Robin Freeman is Co-Director of the David R. Brower, Ronald V. Dellums Institute for Sustainable Policy Studies and Chair, emeritus of the Merritt College Environmental Management and Technology Program on Oakland. He has served on public and non-profit Boards and Commissions and has raised substantial funding for innovative urban environmental and social projects including Urban Forestry and Urban Lumber, Watershed, Creek and Wildfire Management, and Sustainable Urban Planning. Robin presents in the Green Careers and Education session.
Maybo AuYeung is the Zero Waste Coordinator of Zero Waste Palo Alto, an Environmental Services program for the City of Palo Alto. She has more than 5 years experience in outreach and technical assistance in the business sector and in local community. Her presentation will focus on Outreach Ideas and Community Engagement on Food Waste Reduction. Maybo presents in the Food Waste Reduction and Composting session.
Joe Lampe: Mango Materials is a green biotech company that transforms waste methane gas into biopolymers that can be used as a biodegradable plastic-alternative. As a Research Assistant at Mango Materials, Joe Lampe leads the lab-scale bioreactor team and coordinates the laboratory optimization of microbial processes. Joe presents in the Environmental Entrepreneurship session.
Genevieve Abedon, Californians Against Waste, works with plastic pollution. She believes that source reduction is the first step to zero waste (refusal), then reduction and reuse, then recycling. Part of this of course incorporates the zero waste philosophy of redesigning our systems and resource use with product life cycles in mind. Genevieve presents in the Tiny Pollutants session.
Scott Silva is a first year student on the University of California, Berkeley. He is pursuing an Environmental Science and Forestry degree and is on the board for the Cal Hiking and Outdoor Society as well as a Zero Waste Research Center Associate with the Student Environmental Resource Center. He works on projects that involves research of plastics recycling, and is attempting to open up a plastics recycling facility in the Richmond Bay Global Campus. This will allow the University to properly manage waste and recycling, close the cradle-to-grave system of plastic waste, and cut down emissions from transportation of waste from one refuse center to the other. Scott presents in the Student Led Projects session.
Sawyer Taylor and Miranda Craig are students at the Marin School of Environmental Leadership. They focus on environmental issues at their high school, in their local community, and the entire state of California. Their goal is to eventually reduce the waste their school produces to zero through education, the upkeep of a recycling system, and the establishment of a compost system. Sawyer and Miranda present in the Student Led Projects session.
William Zhou: Project Enybody is a teen environmental group started and led by teens. Currently sponsored by the City of Palo Alto, their mission is to raise awareness of and help fight climate change. Their experience with zero waste ranges from hosting community events to educate families on how to reduce waste to doing green home renovations and campaigning the school board for the installation of solar panels on roofs. William and his colleagues present in the Student Led Projects session.
Lauren Weiner is the Executive Director of All One Ocean. Her work covers youth-designed Ocean-themed art, beach cleanup stations, ocean advocacy and zero waste education. Lauren presents in the Tiny Pollutants session.
Shelly Ericksen of Surfrider and Sunshine Swinford from the Department of the Environment will talk about their "Hold on to Your Butt" cigarette litter prevention program where they are working towards a zero waste solution for cigarette filters. Shelly and Sunshine present in the Tiny Pollutants session.
Leo Kenny from Planet Singular has over 15 years of experience working for Intel in the upstream and downstream effects of manufacturing electronics we all use and how green chemistry is the solution to this toxic pollution issue. Leo presents in the Product Life Cycle session.
Julia Au from the San Mateo County Pollution Prevention Program works on the County's Reusable Bag Ordinance, Household Hazardous Waste Program and extended producer responsibility programs like the Safe Medicine Disposal Ordinance. Julia presents in the Product Life Cycle session.
Jackie Nunez of the Last Plastic Straw. Her presentation aims to provide information, tools and help empower people to take action in their communities and refuse single use plastic straws as a catalyst for change. Jackie presents in the Tiny Pollutants session.
Meghan Kelly is founder and principal of Green Motivate, which helps environmental organizations design, implement, and evaluate programs with a goal of behavior change. Previously, she was an environmental projects specialist for the City of Oakland, where she served as project manager for Oakland Earth Day and lead the Adopt a Spot program for parks. Meghan has a Masters degree in Natural Resources and Environment from the University of Michigan, where her focus was on Behavior, Education, and Communication. Meghan presents in the Environmental Entrepreneurship session.
Tami Stolzenthaler has been a community and school based waste reduction crusader for 27 years. The City of Watsonville Public Works Conservation Academy offers community and campus events and field programs at 26 campuses. Tami presents in the Students Taking Action Workshop.
Paul Tasner - After a 35-year career in supply chain management, Paul Tasner and his colleague, Elena Olivari, founded PulpWorks, Inc., designers and manufacturers of sustainable packaging for the consumer products industry. PulpWorks is completely plastic-free; all of their packages are created using only paper waste or agricultural waste with molded fiber technology. PulpWorks’ flagship design is the Karta-Pack™, a safe and compostable alternative to plastic blister packaging. Paul presents in the Environmental Entrepreneurship session.
Captain Jim “Homer” Holm is a Santa Cruz local, as a child in the 50’s he played on Castle Beach and explored the lagoon that was to become the Santa Cruz harbor. On a 2008 educational voyage, after transiting Panama Canal he anchored among the San Blas Islands to wait for bad weather. Here plastic of every imaginable size and shape covered the tiny sandbar island nearby, the crew was stunned. This was our trash, western civilizations legacy that will last for centuries. Upon return home this led to “Clean Oceans International” and a search for “Practical Solutions to Plastic Pollution”. Jim presents in the Product Life Cycle session.
Chris Kane - As a Campus Coordinator with the Post Landfill Action Network, Chris support students and staff all across the country implementing waste reduction initiatives on their campuses, through one-on-one advising and program trainings. Chris first attended the Convergence as a student employee of the Zero Waste Team in UC Santa Cruz's Sustainability Office. Along with another PLAN employee, he will be speaking to the innovative ways in which the Zero Waste Movement that is manifesting itself on college and university campuses.
Genna DeGroot - Freshly sprung from the liberal arts womb of Wesleyan University, Genna is the creative mastermind behind all of PLAN's program resources, from best-practice manuals and guides to the organizations' social media memes. Along with another PLAN employee, she will be speaking to the innovative ways in which the Zero Waste Movement is manifesting itself on college and university campuses. Chris and Genna present in the Zero Waste Campus workshop.
Kathryn Kellogg writes a zero waste lifestyle blog that focuses on seasonal recipes, DIY beauty, organic cleaning, and tips for living with less waste. All of her trash for the past year fits in an 8 oz mason jar. At her workshop, you'll hear her story and learn to make chapstick. Kathryn presents in the DIY product workshop.
Janeen Singer started her business, Holy Sponge!, in 2011 after making the switch from using disposable menstruation products (tampons) to sea sponges, which are sustainably harvested, compostable, and comfortable. Utterly amazed by sponges, Janeen wanted to share them with every bleeding person she knew. She has a background in marketing and social work and her partner,
Daniela Fernadez has a theater and counseling background. Daniela teaches Menstrual (Re)Education Workshops around the Bay Area and together they make a dynamic bloody team. Janeen and Daniela present in the Environmental Entrepreneurship session.
Brennen Jensen serves as Director/Principal of Emerging Ecologies, a local woman-owned small business established in 2012 with a mission to create sustainable, engaged and resilient communities inspired by nature. A background in government, private and non-profit organizations, Brennen has cooperative facilitative approach that seeks to find creative solutions to complex problems, while expanding localized opportunities for waste, energy and emissions reduction throughout California and beyond. Brennen presents in the Product Life Cycle session.
Andrea Deleon and Radisha Millbrook are employees of Cascadia Consulting group. They provide waste reduction technical assistance and education around the Bay Area. They are currently performing outreach and technical assistance to multifamily properties in Oakland as part of the "Oakland Recycles Zero Waste Campaign". Radisha and Andrea present in the Food Waste Reduction and Composting session.
Allie Lalor and Celine Chen are part of the Cal dining sustainability team. A small team working for UC Berkeley dining services that aims to reduce waste in the dining halls and retail locations on campus. A notable program set up by the team is "Chews to Reuse", a campus program which allows students to purchase re-usable containers to bring into the dining halls for meals to-go, and drop them off after use to be cleaned. Allie and Celine present in the Food Waste Reduction and Composting session.
Josie Dominguez-Chand, Environmental Education Associate, at the Department of the Environment inspires and motivates students to take action to protect our city and planet. Her goal is to provide technical support to help school communities improve and increase their diversion rates through waste assessments to decrease landfill bins/carts/dumpsters, staff training, Compost Monitor Training, and engaging outreach. Josie presents in the Green Careers and Education session.
Robin Freeman is Co-Director of the David R. Brower, Ronald V. Dellums Institute for Sustainable Policy Studies and Chair, emeritus of the Merritt College Environmental Management and Technology Program on Oakland. He has served on public and non-profit Boards and Commissions and has raised substantial funding for innovative urban environmental and social projects including Urban Forestry and Urban Lumber, Watershed, Creek and Wildfire Management, and Sustainable Urban Planning. Robin presents in the Green Careers and Education session.
Maybo AuYeung is the Zero Waste Coordinator of Zero Waste Palo Alto, an Environmental Services program for the City of Palo Alto. She has more than 5 years experience in outreach and technical assistance in the business sector and in local community. Her presentation will focus on Outreach Ideas and Community Engagement on Food Waste Reduction. Maybo presents in the Food Waste Reduction and Composting session.
Joe Lampe: Mango Materials is a green biotech company that transforms waste methane gas into biopolymers that can be used as a biodegradable plastic-alternative. As a Research Assistant at Mango Materials, Joe Lampe leads the lab-scale bioreactor team and coordinates the laboratory optimization of microbial processes. Joe presents in the Environmental Entrepreneurship session.
Genevieve Abedon, Californians Against Waste, works with plastic pollution. She believes that source reduction is the first step to zero waste (refusal), then reduction and reuse, then recycling. Part of this of course incorporates the zero waste philosophy of redesigning our systems and resource use with product life cycles in mind. Genevieve presents in the Tiny Pollutants session.
Scott Silva is a first year student on the University of California, Berkeley. He is pursuing an Environmental Science and Forestry degree and is on the board for the Cal Hiking and Outdoor Society as well as a Zero Waste Research Center Associate with the Student Environmental Resource Center. He works on projects that involves research of plastics recycling, and is attempting to open up a plastics recycling facility in the Richmond Bay Global Campus. This will allow the University to properly manage waste and recycling, close the cradle-to-grave system of plastic waste, and cut down emissions from transportation of waste from one refuse center to the other. Scott presents in the Student Led Projects session.
Sawyer Taylor and Miranda Craig are students at the Marin School of Environmental Leadership. They focus on environmental issues at their high school, in their local community, and the entire state of California. Their goal is to eventually reduce the waste their school produces to zero through education, the upkeep of a recycling system, and the establishment of a compost system. Sawyer and Miranda present in the Student Led Projects session.
William Zhou: Project Enybody is a teen environmental group started and led by teens. Currently sponsored by the City of Palo Alto, their mission is to raise awareness of and help fight climate change. Their experience with zero waste ranges from hosting community events to educate families on how to reduce waste to doing green home renovations and campaigning the school board for the installation of solar panels on roofs. William and his colleagues present in the Student Led Projects session.
