In Castro Valley, a less than weekly garbage collection pilot is being conducted in select neighborhoods to determine the effects on recycling, composting and trash rates, as well as customer participation.
Cal earned the Pac-12 Road To Zero Waste Challenge for the second year in a row. At the sold out men's basketball game against USC, the Cal Zero Waste Team partnered with elementary and middle school volunteers from the StopWaste's Ready Set Recycle schools’ program to educate fans about recycling.
The Energy Council was formed in Spring 2013 as a Joint Powers Agency to seek funding on behalf of its member agencies—which now include all Alameda County jurisdictions—to develop and implement local sustainable energy strategies.
Bay Area Multifamily Building Enhancements (“BAMBE”) program helps property owners save water, energy and improve tenant comfort through technical assistance and incentives.
The Energy Council recently convened to update it's priorities for 2016 and beyond.
Eight Alameda County businesses representing a wide range of industries were selected for their leadership in reducing waste and increasing efficiency through waste prevention, recycling and composting, and efficient energy use.
Angelina Vergara is a program manager of the 4Rs Student Action Project. 4Rs stands for Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rot (compost). The goal of this project is to engage students and school communities to take action to reduce waste at home, at school and in their community.
What do you do here?
As part of the 4Rs Student Action Project we help youth to see themselves as change makers, not just for the future, but now. We give students tools to become “garbologists”—or scientists—who identify where waste happens. They then transform themselves into 4Rs Student Action Heroes who make changes in their school communities. After students become experts at school, we then ask them to take action at home and in the larger community. We often think of students as “leaders of the future” but there is urgency to sustainability issues. Students can be leaders now, in the present.
What do you like best about your job?
So many things! I feel fortunate to get to work with a continuum of stakeholders: students, teachers, school staff, cities, communities and families, as well as lead a team of StopWaste Classroom Sustainability Associates (CSAs). We implement a variety of projects in the school community including organics recycling, lawn to garden conversions, and food waste prevention projects. I love to share success stories and to inspire others to innovate solutions in the County and beyond.
What's most exciting about working at StopWaste?
I enjoy working with so many smart and creative people—children, community elders, and experts in the field of education and recycling—to truly make a difference. After implementing waste reduction projects, we share the story. This creates a transformation, a new norm, of stopping waste.
If you had a waste reduction or recycling super power, what would it be?
A ha! I have many superhero aliases depending on the issue at hand. When there is food waste, I become "Food Rescue Mama". When there is gardening to be done, “Compost Woman” comes in for the assist. If recycling is what is needed, “4Rs Action Angelina” swoops in to help. With my league of 4Rs Action Heroes (Classroom Sustainability Associates) we use our recycling superpower COLLABORATION which is the winning ingredient to stop waste.