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 Board Retreat.
Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the 2024 Board of Directors Election has been extended to Friday, December 6 at 11:59pm.
If your membership was current at the start of the election – on November 15 at 8am, and you have not yet submitted your ballot, please do so ASAP. They were resent on December 3 at 8am to all eligible members that have not voted, with the subject line: 2024 NCRA Board of Directors Election (For 2025-2027 Term).
If you are unsure as to the status of your membership, please review your record before contacting the staff.
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
Application form extended to November 22, 2024. See form below.
NCRA is seeking speakers for the 2025 Recycling Update (RU) to share what is new and different in all aspects of waste reduction and Zero Waste. We especially invite speakers who have not yet presented at this dynamic, fast paced event.
Join over 500 attendees – in-person and on-line, from local government recycling staff, policy makers, consultants, haulers and processors from across Northern California.
All speakers have ***10 minutes*** for their presentation plus 2 minutes for questions. One advantage is that everyone in attendance will hear your ideas – no breakouts or tracks.
We run a pretty tight ship, so it’s important that each speaker be well prepared, and stay within their allotted time.
All presentations must reflect NCRA’s commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Please make a conscious effort to address these issues as you prepare your submissions, both in textual and graphic elements. In addition, the selection committee encourages proposals focused on SB 1383 implementation and Reuse & Repair.
Speakers receive free registration as well as an optional one year of membership. For additional information, please use the form to ask questions.
Congratulations New Board Members!
