GreenBlue is pleased to announce Alisha Dakon has joined the team as the Information Systems Associate. Alisha has a degree in journalism and is currently pursuing her Master of Arts in Educational Technology Leadership  from George Washington University.

Tell us about your background. Where did you spend your formative years and where did you go to school?

I grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina and, for as long as I can remember, I wanted to be a teacher. I endeavored after this goal by enrolling in the music education program at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina on violin and piano (where I also learned to play the tenor steel drum). Out of curiosity, I joined ASU’s student newspaper and unexpectedly became passionate about journalism.  I soon discovered I was captivated by the variety, stories, photography, graphic design, and creative freedoms of the communications field.  Eventually, I  changed majors and graduated from ASU in 2009 with a Bachelor of Science in Communication, Journalism with a minor in music. After graduating, I moved to  Roanoke, Virginia with my husband where we later welcomed our imaginative, spunky, and loving daughter who has rounded out our happy family of three. While living in Roanoke, I was employed at a law firm for five years and then a healthcare provider for two years. In January 2017, I was accepted into the online program for a Master of Arts in Education and Human Development in Education Technology Leadership at George Washington University to focus on instructional design and e-learning. In the summer of 2017, we took a leap and moved to Charlottesville, Virginia for my husband’s job. It has been an easy transition and we absolutely love exploring this new place we call home!

What inspired you to work in the sustainability field?

As with law and healthcare, I do not have any formal background in the area of sustainability but find it fascinating and I am excited to learn more! As a typical consumer, I want to do my part to be responsible and help our environment so future generations, like my daughter, are not burdened with the disregard of how human actions impact our planet. I feel joining GreenBlue is the perfect opportunity to educate myself so I can also set a good example for others.

What do you hope to achieve at GreenBlue?

I hope to support the GreenBlue mission by blazing new trails! In particular, I am thrilled to discover how intensely GreenBlue encourages innovation and collaboration to inspire effective change in the field of sustainability. Specifically, I look forward to building pathways and products that facilitate the sharing of information, implementing emerging technologies to push the envelope of the status quo, and finding ways to make system processes both more efficient and productive so we have more time to do great work. It is an awesome adventure to be a part of!

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I enjoy spending most of my spare time with my husband and daughter. Since moving to Charlottesville, our family has joined a karate studio and we are each  dedicated to earning our black belt at the end of our anticipated three-year journey. After family, I spend a lot of time drinking coffee while studying, exploring, and researching for my graduate degree. As we settle into our new surroundings, we  look forward to learning more about Charlottesville and how we can give back to this great community!

Happiness is…

Playing with my daughter and making her laugh is happiness in a nutshell! After that, my personal philosophy for happiness embodies a quote by Albert Einstein, who said, “I have no special talents. I am only naturally curious.” I definitely look forward to each new day as a chance to openly acknowledge there is so much I don’t know and how very exciting it is to wake up in anticipation of all there is to learn. Last but not least, I also hope for the opportunity to help someone else and it’s an added bonus if I can apply what I’ve learned while doing so!

Food waste has catapulted from a niche concern to a topic of widespread public interest over the past couple of years. These 6 companies have found creative solutions to this pressing issue.

Patagonia’s Clean Color Collection

The latest manifestation of Patagonia’s promise to “build the best product” and “cause no unnecessary harm” has emerged as an experimental line of clothing using plant-based dyes. Patagonia’s Senior Material Research & Innovation Manager Sarah Hayes explains that “Using eco-friendly dyes is a key area of focus right now as, traditionally, dyeing is a water-intensive process can involve chemicals we want to avoid.”
Hayes’ team spent three years testing and developing the dyes before introducing the Clean Color Collection to market. Sourced from 96% renewable materials, the dyes showcase the natural pigments of food waste like pomegranate rinds that produce a rich yellow brown and the peels of bitter oranges that produce a rich brown color, as well as other materials like mulberry leaves, palmetto green, and carmine.
While the collection is still in its early days, Patagonia’s Clean Color Collection has the potential to expand consumer awareness about the limitless applications for food waste.
 

Condiments at Rubies in the Rubble

Started in 2011 by Jenny Dawson Costa, Rubies in the Rubble provides creative chutneys, relish, ketchups, and condiments to a growing customer base they describe as “the chutney champions, the leftover lovers, and the food-waste fighters.”
Offering quirky flavor combinations like Top Banana, as well as Fiery Tomato, the UK-based outfit sells condiments squarely in the $4-6 range and uses perfectly edible, but aesthetically imperfect fruits and vegetables.
Rubies in the Rubble also actively seeks out partners to collaborate on site-specific solutions and flavors. One recent partnership between Rubies in the Rubble and Virgin Trains, a UK-based train company, transformed surplus fruit from trains to apple chutney now served on Virgin Train’s first-class menu. A holiday collaboration with Fortnum & Mason, a 300-year-old foodstuff and home goods store, salvaged wonky pears from local Tendring Fruit Farm to produce a limited edition Pear, Fig & Port spread.
Across their varied product lines, Rubies in the Rubble connects consumers’ purchases to on-the-ground environmental benefits every month. In March, for instance, their website broadcasts that the equivalent of 6,708kg of CO2 has been diverted by repurposing 1,020 curly cucumbers, 5,100 over-ripe tomatoes, and 1,900 pink onions.
 

Toast Ale: Beer Made With Surplus Bread

Founded by Tristram Stuart, mastermind behind renowned British food waste organization FeedBack, Toast Ale capitalizes on the 44% of bread produced in the UK that goes to waste. Bread is combined with malted barley, replacing approximately ⅓ of the grain typically used in a given recipe.
While Toast Ale began by sourcing day-old bread from bakeries across London, they currently partner with Adelie Foods, which produces 3 million sandwiches a week that generate tens of thousands of crust-covered “heels” of leftover sandwich bread. More recent collaborations stay true to their locally-sourced beginnings with operations in Bristol, Devon, Sussex, and London that help local breweries partner with local bakeries to develop interesting beers.
Though the first to bring the concept of bread-based brews to scale, Toast Ale acts far from territorial. In fact, they are intent on provoking a “rev-ale-ution” and have encouraged newcomers to the space including UK-based “Wasted,” a pear farmhouse ale, a US-based brew dubbed “Loaf,” and “Bammetjes Bier” from the Netherlands.
 

Regrained: Eat Beer.

ReGrained founders Daniel Kurzrock and Jordan Schwartz admit that their first foray into home brewing may have had something to do with the fact that they were underage, yet thirsty, students at UCLA. And, while they couldn’t purchase beer, they could purchase the ingredients.
Amazed at the quantity of grain leftover after their first brewing endeavors, Kurzrock and Schwartz decided to bake bread with the byproduct, which has evolved into a full-time business serving as “a go-between the brewing industry and local food systems” and specializing in Supergrain Bars.
Today, their product includes flavors like Honey Cinnamon IPA, Coffee Chocolate Stout, and Honey Almond IPA Bars. Not only is “spent grain” far from spent, the ReGrained team advocates, but “spent grain” is healthier than the original grain since almost all of the grain’s sugar is extracted in brewing, leaving a great source of dietary fiber and plant protein left.
 

Misfit Juicery

Another brain-child of college students, Misfit Juicery came into being when Ann Yang and Philip Wong borrowed a blender and purchased four crates of surplus peaches from a Washington, D.C. farmers market. Yang and Wong discovered that retooling “ugly fruit and vegetables” into cold-pressed juices was an effective way of camouflaging their imperfections while highlighting their greatest attribute: taste.
Permeating the DC market before expanding to New York City and throughout the tri-state area, Misfit Juicery now distributes at more than 50 locations, including the cafe at Dan Barber’s Michelin-starred Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Tarrytown, NY.
Currently, Yang and Wong are fine tuning projections for the discounted rate they can expect from purchasing unaesthetic produce, generally ranging from 25-60% of top-shelf alternatives. Similarly, the duo is experimenting with ways to provide consistent classics like their cold-pressed juice hits Pear to the People, Offbeat, and 24 Carrot Gold, as well as providing seasonal variety.
 

CommonWealth Kitchen’s Mighty Muffin

The Mighty Muffin evolved from a request by Boston Public Schools (BPS) to the local food business incubator for a new breakfast item for students, CommonWealth Kitchen. While participating in the incubator, Meg Crowley developed a recipe that fit the bill of a muffin that was delicious, but also low in sugar, high in fiber, and nutritious. Crowley accomplished this tall order by creating a new use for the by-product from the carrot peels, tomato ends, and celery tops that a Baldor Specialty Food location in Boston generated.
Once dehydrated, these scraps once destined for a landfill could serve as a 25% substitute of the whole wheat flour Crowley used to make the muffins. In further efforts to build nutrition and rescue food, surplus produce like zucchini, apples, squash, and carrots are also incorporated.
With 78% of BPS students qualifying for free or reduced lunch, BPS has participated in a federal program to offer breakfast, lunch, and an after-school meal to every student free of charge. Since this transition in 2013, BPS has searched for more local and regional partners to work with and has inadvertently acted as a catalyst for scalable and replicable food waste solutions.

GreenBlue is pleased to announce that Trina Matta will be joining the team as a Senior Project Manager. Trina will be working on the newly-announced ASTRX project within the Sustainable Packaging Coalition. Trina brings 10 years of experience in recycling, government management, environmental conservation, water resources, and energy policy to the organization. Her most recent position was at Resource Recycling Systems developing solutions to sustainability and recycling challenges for businesses, local governments, and state governments.

Tell us about your background. Where did you spend your formative years and where did you go to school?

I grew up outside of Buffalo, New York and in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. In both cities, we lived in the woods so my parents encouraged me to get outside and play every day. I grew up walking in the woods, looking for wildlife, enjoying being surrounded by trees. My parents stressed the importance of helping others and respecting nature, and those lessons have stuck with me.
I attended UNC-Chapel Hill as an undergraduate student and also got my Master’s in Public Administration, with a concentration in environmental policy, from UNC-Chapel Hill.

What inspired you to work in the sustainability field?

I have always felt drawn to do work that was in the service of the planet or serving other people. After college, I volunteered through the AmeriCorps VISTA program with a nonprofit focused on sustainable food, because at the time I liked cooking. I really enjoyed that work but felt like I needed more practical leadership skills to really be effective, so I pursued a Master’s Degree in Public Administration. While getting my MPA, I interned with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, and I loved that experience. I later worked there full-time and was really inspired by my coworkers who were always so dedicated to the environment. I’ve been able to learn about recycling, energy policy, water quality, water resources, and a variety of other environmental issues. Being in the sustainability field allows me to learn about all of these different topics while also helping the planet and helping others.

What do you hope to achieve at GreenBlue?

I hope to help drive increased recovery of packaging by assessing the barriers and opportunities in the existing system, and then bringing people together to develop messages and tools that enhance the recycling system.

What do you find most inspiring about working in sustainability?

Being around other people who also believe that working together, we can have a positive impact on the lives of our fellow human beings and the environment. And also the fact that there is always more work to be done.
 

Sometimes we need to hear what we don’t want to hear. Such was the case at the 2016  Resource Recycling Conference, when Waste Management CEO David Steiner addressed the realities of recycling. His theme was simple: Waste Management is a for-profit corporation with a responsibility to provide shareholder value, and they cannot invest in recycling activities that do not offer a return. Perhaps this is obvious, but it needed to be said. We’ve heard a lot recently about the greenhouse gas benefits of recycling different materials, how it might make sense to prioritize some materials over others, and how we should question whether it’s the correct approach to maximize recycling for its own sake. Steiner’s message to the conference audience was much more to the point. Waste Management is in the business of solid waste disposal and recovery — not saving the planet — and their directive is one of financial success. When recycling does not lead to financial success, they will not do it. I lost count of the times he said “I won’t offer an apology for what I say.” And he’s right. No apology needed.

Our municipal recycling system is a mostly built on taxpayer-funded contracts handed to for-profit businesses. Steiner reminded us that Waste Management will do anything for their customers in the constraints of the contracts they can negotiate, and they are fully capable of recovering a broad array of materials IF the contracts allow them to do so with economic viability. Glass and organics were the examples du jour. Waste Management can divert these materials from their landfills and send them to beneficial recovery, but it’s expensive, and they cannot do it altruistically. Put simply, someone’s gotta pay.
As much as we hear phrases like “diverting valuable materials from landfills”, it’s important to be reminded that there’s a difference between “valuable” and “profitable”. As a whole, a free market approach to recycling would fail. The costs of processing many types of waste outweigh their value on the commodity market for recycled material, and so municipalities most often use taxpayer money and/or augmented garbage utility fees to bridge the gap. This is not necessarily an alarm or reason to declare recycling a failure. Prior to Steiner’s presentation, Keefe Harrison, executive director of the Recycling Partnership, reminded us that recycling is a quality of life measure that we expect to be provided – no different than clean air and clean water, for which taxpayer dollars are used. For Waste Management, it’s simply a question of how much money the municipality can justify spending.
It’s also important to remember that there are a meaningful number of recyclers who do not operate landfills and therefore don’t have to face the question of whether it is more profitable to send waste to the landfill or the recycling facility. But our largest recycler does face this question and must stay acutely aware of its obligation to its shareholders. The bottom line from Steiner: Waste Management is in the business of making money on waste. They’re happy to save the planet – IF we can help them make it profitable.

This summer, Barbara Fowler joins the GreenBlue team as a senior manager focused on GreenBlue meetings and conferences.  Learn more about Barbara in the interview below.

What do you hope to achieve at GreenBlue?

For the past 10 years I have been working producing events in packaging, paper, biopolymers and other industries where sustainability is embedded in their supply chains. I’ve learned it is all interconnected and I hope the experience gained and the relationships built throughout this time will make GreenBlue stand out for great events with outstanding content and attendee experience and that showcase the many projects happening at the organization and provide worthwhile networking opportunities for our members and companies interested in moving the needle in sustainability. Another goal is to further advance the educational and training opportunities GreenBlue provides and develop new ones as the organization continues to grow.

What inspired you to work in the sustainability field?

After spending so much time talking about sustainability and getting to know all these people that have devoted their lives and energy to it, it became apparent that I needed to do more than just scratch the surface. Events serve as places to gather around purpose and what better purpose than working to preserve the environment, reduce waste, educate the consumer to make better choices and get inspired by such a lofty goal as working to make a significant difference on how we leave this planet for future generations?

What do you find most inspiring about working in sustainability?

I am inspired by the possibilities: there is so much to do. I am inspired by passionate people with goals that go beyond their role or their company and that will have an effect much bigger than just the bottom line or a trend. I am also inspired by science-based sustainability that goes beyond a fad or a feel good story.

What do you find most challenging?

Running into misinformation of what makes an initiative truly sustainable. Quantifying the tradeoffs of one decision over another. Infrastructure and systems challenges. Misconceptions of what renewable really means.

What is the one thing you would like people to know that you do in your personal life to further sustainability?

We try to buy local and reduce food waste at home. We try to use the car just when it’s really needed and walk as often as we can. I’ve been trying to teach my children about water use and how it’s a finite resource (yes, they love to play with water!).

Favorite outdoor activity

Here in Wisconsin we are lucky to have a host of options to spend time outside in beautiful settings such as lakes, national parks and natural reserves. We live very close to the Wisconsin Riverfront so we enjoy going for walks there. We enjoy going to Door County every summer. I was born and raised in Mexico City, so from time to time need a big city fix and truly enjoy walking around admiring the wonderful architecture of Chicago.

Happiness is….

Hearing my kids belly-laugh, seeing them achieve new milestones and becoming great friends. Traveling to discover new and familiar places. Delicious food! Catching up with old friends and picking up like it was just yesterday we saw each other. The New York Times and freshly brewed coffee on a Sunday morning.

This spring, Caroline Cox joins the GreenBlue team as a project associate focused on the How2Recycle program. Caroline comes to GreenBlue from the Hampton Roads, VA area. Learn more about Caroline in the interview below.

Tell us about your background.

As a born and raised Charlottesvillian, I grew up admiring the rolling hills of the Blue Ridge that surrounded me.  Being surrounded by that natural beauty peaked my curiosity and respect for our local ecological resources.. Some of my favorite memories include hiking the Appalachian Trails with college friends, spending lazy summer days at the Blue Hole waterfalls, and tubing on the James River.
In college, I felt the need to satiate several curiosities at once, so I studied psychology and environmental studies at Christopher Newport University, in Virginia. Here, I tried my best to take advantage of many of the opportunities provided to me by being involved with the campus’ sustainability club, studying abroad, and interning on a sustainable farm. I’m currently working on my graduate degree in Natural Resources through which I will be traveling to China in October to study industrialization as it relates to both environmental threats and sustainability. I’m curious and excited to see what lays ahead and couldn’t be more thrilled to start this chapter at Greenblue!

What inspired you to work in the sustainability field?

When I was a senior in high school I signed up for an an environmental science class because I heard it was an “easy A”.  Unfortunately, it was much more difficult than I was lead to believe.  Fortunately, through this class I was able to explore new interests and foster my passion.  That class opened my eyes to the course I wanted my life to follow.  From that moment on, I decided I was going to do whatever I could to be a respectful steward of the environment.   I’ve committed myself to a career that aims to promote sustainability and resilience within our communities and environment. We live in one insanely beautiful and complex planet and I try to tread as lightly as possible.

What is the one thing you would like people to know that you do in your personal life to further sustainability?

I choose to not eat meat because of its frightening carbon footprint.  By being a vegetarian I am not contributing to the industry that produces more greenhouse gasses than all of the cars, planes, trains, and boats combined (!). I also take a plastic bag to pick up trash while I walk my dogs. One thing an education in the environmental field has taught me is that little behavior patterns can have a significant impact!

Favorite outdoor activity

Retreating back to childhood by climbing trees.  Also, running through a grassy field with a trail of pigs stampeding behind you is an incredibly therapeutic experience.

Happiness is….

Within you.  One of my favorite quotes is “live less out of habit and more out of intent.”  It’s easy to aimlessly search for external stimuli that we expect to fulfill us, but that will never truly bring us happiness. By being patient, honest, humble, forgiving, and appreciative happiness is sure to follow. It’s something I’m challenged with constantly, but I believe it’s possible.