Racing to Zero

Thursday, June 16, 2016

Trash. Garbage. Junk. These are words we commonly call the things we throw away. In San Francisco they have a completely different perspective and see “waste” as “resources,” materials that can always be recycled and turned into new things. Dedicated to protecting the environment, they’re aiming to make the city 100% waste free by 2020 and as this film reveals, they’re surprisingly close to doing so. The innovative methods and programs displayed in RACING TO ZER0 provide a blueprint for change that can hopefully be applied to all of America, even here in Westchester County, NY.

 

See the film’s trailer HERE

Thanks to our sponsors:

 

Film Panelists:

Anne Jaffe-Holmes

Director of Education

Greenburgh Nature Center

 

Anne Jaffe Holmes has been a passionate advocate and teacher of recycling and composting since she first took up these practices herself in the 1970s as a college student in the San Francisco Bay area.  Anne is currently Director of Education at the Greenburgh Nature Center where she has worked since 2007 developing sustainability programs, public education campaigns and community dialogue around sustainability practices.

 

George Garland

President, Southern New York State Division

United Nations Association of the USA

George Garland currently serves as president of the Southern New York State Division of the United Nations Association of the USA. In 2000, he began his ongoing affiliation with the organization as full-time executive director for UNA-National Capitol Area. From 2004 to 2008, Dr. Garland served as Executive Director of National Membership. Prior to his affiliation with UNA-USA, he served in the public sector during a 34-year career as Policy Analyst with USEPA in Washington, DC. His work there ranged from writing congressional regulations on hazardous waste issues to developing composting cost strategies for local governments to reporting on cutting edge food recovery and waste reduction issues. Dr. Garland has advanced degrees from Carnegie Mellon and UNC and a doctorate from George Washington University. Recent activities include working with NGOs on improved cook stoves and sustainable fuel in Haiti using both biomass and ethanol; commentary on energy issues, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and climate change policy; and teaching political science at EF International, Tarrytown.

 

Jennifer Sloan

Head of Education on the Science Barge

Groundwork Hudson Valley

Jennifer has worked in the environmental field since her AmeriCorps experience in 2004 as a member of the Catskill Outdoor Education Corps.  After completing her degree, she went to work, first as a naturalist intern, and then as the Intern Coordinator/Environmental Educator at the Greenburgh Nature Center in Scarsdale, NY until 2010.  She has also worked for Sheldrake Environmental Center as an educator and the White Plains Youth Bureau as their summer Greening Project supervisor and after-school programmer.  Her passion for farming began in 2009 while she interned at an organic CSA style farm on Long Island, known as Restoration Farm.  In 2011, she was a full-time apprentice at Keith’s Farm in Port Jervis, NY and sold produce at the Union Square Farmer’s Market.  She has also attended the American Horticultural Society’s 2009 Youth Gardening Symposium as well as the Northeast Organic Farm Association’s 2010 Winter Conference.  The Science Barge became her new, happy home in March 2012 and it allows her to combine her passions of science education, sustainable agriculture, and environmentalism.