2025 ITR Class
DAY 1: Monday, February 3, 9am – 4pm
In-person including a series of San Francisco tours at the
Recology San Francisco‘s
John A. Legnitto Environmental Learning Center (ELC).
and
DAY 2: Tuesday, February 4, 9am – 4pm, via Zoom
Category: Front Page Announcements
2024 BOD Election Results!
Congratulations New Board Members!
- Randy Russell, Incumbent, Zero Waste Planner, WSP
- Sarah Koplowicz, Consultant
R3 Consulting Group, Inc. - Reka Abraham, Recycling and HHW Program Manager
RecycleMore/West Contra Costa Integrated Waste Management Authority - Jack Johnson, Waste Management Supervisor,
City of San Mateo - Christopher Slafter, Senior Sustainability Specialist
County of San Mateo Office of Sustainability
Thank you, Max Wechsler, Shane Magennis and Kristina Bolam for running. We invite you to get more involved at the committee level and with Recycling Update planning, and join the ballot again next year.
Also thanks to the Nominations Committee – Bailey Hall, Alina Bekkerman, Naama Brenner-Abramovitch, Susan Blachman, Xinci Tan and Freddy Coronado, which did a great job recruiting worthy candidates! This was the first year in almost 50 that we held a Meet the Candidates event. It went very well! Next year, it will be held soon after the Candidates are announced.
The 2025 Board will be seated at the January Board Meeting, and officers elected at the February Board Retreat.
Arthur Robinson Boone, Rest In Peace
Obituary By Ruth Abbe, NCRA President, 1996-1999
Visions Require Overtime, Usually Unpaid [1]
Arthur Robinson Boone III was born on March 17, 1938 and died on October 14, 2024 after a short illness. He was 86.
Arthur, ARB or Robin (to his old friends) was an innovator, visionary, and somewhat of a crank. A member of the Northern California Recycling Association (NCRA) since 1984, he served as Board President, Secretary, and Chair of both the Education Committee Chair and Zero Waste Advocacy Committee.
He is best known for his work in recycling research and education. He developed the curriculum and taught NCRA’s Introduction to Recycling Class for over 20 years. He created the innovative format of NCRA’s Recycling Update annual conference, known as “speed dating for recyclers” (nobody speaks for more than 10 minutes).
Robin went to Princeton (Class of 1960 Cum Laude in English), Brown University and Union Theological Seminary. He always posted his diplomas above the sink in the kitchen, as dishwashing keeps you humble. He was an Episcopal priest and parish minister, a civil rights program director, and a recycling program manager and policy advocate.
Arthur Boone’s a2017 NRC Lifetime Achievement Award Acceptance Speech and nomination!
He formed both the Oakland Recycling Association in 1984 (which operated recycling centers in North Oakland and West Oakland) and the Total Recycling Association in 1994 (which dismantled mattresses – a first!).
He continued his research and writing through the Center of Recycling Research and Total Recycling Associates. But his passion project became trees. When the City of Oakland cut its urban forest program in 2009, Robin secured grants from the Sierra Club and CalFire and led the volunteer team to plant over 2,000 trees by 2018. These Oakland street trees were planted in curbstrip spaces cut out of the concrete, watered by volunteers, and will be his living legacy.
In one of his annual letters to family and friends Robin wrote about his long to-do list of self-assigned projects and said: When I’m gone, the regular people will say I took things too seriously, working too hard. My friends will say, “No, he liked to go that way, full speed ahead wherever he could.”
He is survived by his four children, Ella Webster, William Boone, Isabelle Boone George, and Phoebe Boone Green and two grandchildren. He was predeceased by his former spouse Mary Catherine Hoag and his life partner Natalie Peterson.
In Robin’s honor, go out and plant a tree. Donations can also be made to Trees for Oakland.
A memorial service will be held at Robin’s home church, Saint Augustine’s Episcopal Church in Oakland (where he also served twice as interim minister), on Saturday, December 14 at 11am. Contact the office if you would like to be invited.
[1] Attributed by Robin to Princeton University President Shirley M. Tilghman, circa 2007
2024 Board of Directors Elections – Candidate Statements
Nine NCRA members – including 2 incumbents, have been nominated to serve on the 2024-2025 Board of Directors. There are five two-year positions to fill.
Voting opens Wednesday, November 15 and ended Thursday, November 30 at midnight. Due to the holiday the balloting has been extended to December 6 at 11:59pm.
Results will be presented to the board for ratification, then to the candidates via email and later to the membership via the December newsletter.
Early November 15, custom voting links will be emailed to current members. If you do not receive our SimplyVoting email that day, but believe you should – your membership is current as of November 15, 2024, please contact the office.
NCRA BOARD OF DIRECTOR CANDIDATES, 2024
Click each picture for the candidate statement.
North Bay Zero Waste Week Reuse Fair and Clothing Swap, 10/12
In honor of North Bay Zero Waste Week, NCRA is collaborating with Zero Waste Sonoma, Zero Waste Marin, Reuse Alliance, United Cerebral Palsy of the North Bay/Petaluma Recycling Center and Zero Waste Action – Sonoma County, to organize the Rohnert Park Reuse and Repair Fair Clothing Swap. Sloane Pagsl of Zero Waste Sonoma is the lead organizer, joined by NCRA Board Members Alina Bekkerman, Casey Fritz and Xinci Tan as well as ED Portia Sinnott – wearing her Zero Waste Action hat.
The Fair will be held Saturday, October 12, 2-5pm at the Rohnert Park Library. NCRA members and associates are invited to attend. Please consider volunteering. We need help with promotions, setup, monitor and cleanup. Sign-up here.