SAVE-THESE-DATES!
March 20 – 26: Zero Waste Week 2016
March 22: Recycling Update
March 26: Zero Waste Youth Convergence
Zero Waste Week 2016 will be held March 20 – 26. Our premier event, the 21st annual Recycling Update, will be held March 22 at Freight and Salvage in Berkeley. (One week later than usual.) The 4th Zero Waste Youth Convergence will be held Saturday, March 26. Tours and trainings are being planned. Registration will be available on the NCRA website in late January.
Recycling Update is THE event of the season for Northern California discards management professionals. The day features 25 experts speaking on the spectrum of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rot, as well as networking opportunities, a delicious Zero Waste lunch and plenty of ideas to bring home to your community. Often referred to as conference “speed dating,” speakers have only 10 minutes (plus a few minutes of Q&A) to let you know about the latest and greatest in waste reduction, high diversion and Zero Waste. Attendees include municipal staff, service providers, consultants and activists as well as local, regional and state policy-makers and members of the media covering Sustainability, Zero Waste, Reuse, Recycling, Composting and Product Stewardship.
To pique your interest, here are a few of the speakers the RU Program Committee has lined up:
JARED BLUMENFELD, REGIONAL ADMINISTRATOR, USEPA REGION 9 – PACIFIC SOUTHWEST. Appointed by President Obama in 2009, Mr. Blumenfeld’s priorities at EPA include strong enforcement, environmental justice, protecting and restoring our air, land and waters, building strong federal, state, local and tribal partnerships and taking action on climate change. Before joining the EPA, he was Director of the San Francisco Department of the Environment for eight years. While there he helped initiate many landmark environmental laws including San Francisco’s plastic bag ban, a 2020 Zero Waste goal, LEED Gold building standards and an overarching precautionary principle framework.
DANA FRASZ, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR, FOOD SHIFT. Ms. Frasz has spent over a decade dedicated to cultivating a more just, sustainable and less wasteful world. In 2003, she launched an award-winning program at Sarah Lawrence College to recover and redistribute surplus food from local businesses and the school dining hall. Ms. Franz founded Food Shift of Oakland, CA in 2012 to help strengthen the food recovery infrastructure, provide jobs and improve access to good nutrition. Alameda Kitchen, Food Shift’s newest initiative, raised $30,000 via Indegogo in 30 days and they are now working raising the remaining $90,000 needed to open their doors.
MIGUEL ROBLES, CO-FOUNDER AND PROJECT DIRECTOR, BIOSAFETY ALLIANCE. Artisan, poet, urban farmer and activist, Mr. Robles has founded several organizations and campaigns of great social impact including Justice Begins with Seeds and Soil Not Oil Campaign and International Conference. Well-known throughout the social justice networks, he has spoken at conferences and community events about immigrant rights and environment/al non-GMO advocacy. For years Mr. Robles has hosted a weekly Spanish language program at a commercial Bay Area radio station in which he educates listeners about urban farming, sustainability, environmental issues and food.
For more information, visit NCRA at www.ncrarecycles.org and select Activities, ZWW/Recycling Update. Also check out the NCRA YouTube Channel to see a sample of past RU presentations.