Green Streets: grass roots social enterprise

Repost of a January 2015 article due to blog technical challenges.

Green Streets film cover

Green Streets - a Citizen Film documentary by Sophie Constantinou - follows 29 year old entrepreneur Tyrone Mullins and his friends as they turn trash into cash in the distressed San Francisco housing projects where they live. Through trial and error, they learn to haul 150,000 gallons of waste per month, creating desperately needed jobs, and establishing recycling where all previous efforts had failed.

With five years of success and a solid business in-place, Green Streets serves as a catalyst for similar programs in urban landscapes. Citizen Film holds work-in-progress Green Streets screenings in the Bay Area on a near-weekly basis, at events ranging from closed-door strategy meetings to public screenings | discussions attended by hundreds.

Green Streets employees
sorting @ an apt. complex.

The frequent screenings to influential public housing, conservation and workforce development stakeholders broadens awareness of Green Streets' powerful impact within under served neighborhoods and the city as a whole. 

Post-screening discussions often result in improved waste management operations. Green Streets is a work-in-progress where setbacks become opportunities to aspire to greater achievements.

More than a business, more than a documentary, Green Streets is a social enterprise with a mission to provide a business service, a social service and an environmental service: a triple bottom line. Within the social service mission, Green Streets is an example of how grass roots enterprises are the catalyst for urban revitalization; under-served populations evolve into well-served, thriving communities.

Green Streets on
the streets

Beyond the screening recognition, Tyrone received the following awards and recognition for Green Streets: an Ashoka Emerging Innovator Award, a fellowship from Stanford University's Project Remade, and a "Champions of Change" Award from the White House.These mainstream high honors validate Green Streets as a prominent leader and recognize the societal implications.

What is social enterprise?  According to the Green Streets FAQ page: A social enterprise operates like a business, but manages its operations in pursuit of human and / or environmental wellbeing. Per Wikipedia: 

A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in human and environmental well-being, rather than maximizing profits for external shareholders.

Green Streets presents social enterprise as the connecting path between the Vicious Cycle - Trauma, Unemployment & Waste - and the Virtuous Cycle - Ownership, Community Restoration & Recycling. The path is two-way or holographic, depending upon perspective.

AMBFF President Penny McPhee
w/ Sophie @ screening

Thanks to the generosity and vision of The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation (AMBFF) Green Streets came to Atlanta for a series of screenings, organized discussions, tours and meetings. 

The Wednesday January 14, 2015 Green Streets Atlanta screening was presented by the AMBFF Film Series and set the stage for a powerful week in Atlanta. The ZWA Blog article, Green Streets Comes to Atlanta!, announces the Atlanta screening and visit.

According to their site, the AMBFF Film Series uses the power of documentary film to address a wide range of societal issues. The Foundation recognizes the documentary medium can concurrently spark imagination, illuminate a subject, challenge conventional thinking, entertain and engage audiences, create awareness and inspire action. 

SUCCESS: The Wednesday Green Streets screening was a complete sell-out with standing room only for late arrivals. After introductions by John Bare, AMBFF vice-president for programs, the audience was enthralled with the 45-minute screening on Green Streets' history, creation, challenges and successes.

Following the screening, Sophie moderated a panel of urban innovators and entrepreneurs from Green Streets and Atlanta consisting of the following individuals:

Panel after screening

• David Mauroff - director of social enterprise at Urban Strategies where he supports the growth and development of Green Streets. In addition, David provides public safety and resident support services assistance to the McCormack Baron portfolio (owner of housing project apartments.)
• Rohit Malhotra - founder & executive director of the Center for Civic Innovation in Atlanta; Rohit's background includes social entrepreneurship, digital communications and community organizing.
• Meaghan Shannon-Vlkovic - vice-president & market leader for Enterprise Community Partner's Sourtheast. Meaghan's responsibilities include strategic planning and capacity building assistance for preservation, new production and transit-oriented development opportunities to affordable housing and community development.
• Tyrone Mullins - co-founder of Green Streets. 

Randolph sharing his
experiences on the panel.

Midway through the discussion, Tyrone called Randolph Lee, fellow Green Streets team member, from the audience to join the panel and provide his perspective and experience.

Elemental Impact (Ei) was honored to co-present the Atlanta January 14 screening along with Green Streets, Urban Strategies, Citizen Film and the Fledgling Fund.

The following day the Center for Civic Innovation hosted the Sustainable Thinking: How Green Leads to Good Jobs & Revitalized Neighborhoods roundtable discussion. Ei Founder Holly Elmore was among the community leaders from the various Atlanta sectors to participate in the roundtable. Participants represented global corporations, local | national non-profits, local government, private enterprise, schools and clergy.  

After an eight-minute Green Streets film and participant introductions, David moderated and Sophie filmed the vibrant discussions.

Tyrone on the screen; Sophie
standing in reverence.

The conversation centered on unique challenges facing urban entrepreneurs; innovative partnerships and business practices are key to creating healthy, prosperous working environments. For instance, Tyrone mentioned the importance of mental health services to Green Streets success. Through therapy employees understand trigger points, heal wounds from emotional | physical trauma and grow as workers and individuals. 

Two staffing agencies who employ ex-convicts, veterans and severely under-employed individuals shared valuable insights on how to segue challenges into successful long-term employment opportunities. In addition, Re-Entry Coalition executive director Bob Jackson was active in roundtable discussions and lunch afterwards.

Ei Partner Novelis, the world's largest aluminum recycler and manufacturer of rolled aluminum, was a strong roundtable participant. Parting conversation included a potential Green Streets screening at Novelis' Atlanta global headquarters. Synergies abound: 

• Novelis is the Atlanta Falcons Recycling Partner. 
• Arthur Blank owns the Atlanta Falcons.

• 

  Green Streets team with
  Novelis associates

• The Georgia Dome, home of the Falcons, is the Sustainable Food Court Initiative (SFCI) Event Venue Pilot.
• Ei works closely with Scott Jenkins, New Falcons Stadium general manager and Green Sports Alliance Chair.
• AMBFF recently committed $15 million to the Westside Neighborhood Prosperity Fund to assist the neighborhoods near the New Falcons Stadium become safer, healthier and more prosperous.
• Ei's Source-Separated Materials Recycling Template Pilot is anchored at the Georgia Dome with tremendous common ground to partner with an Atlanta Green Streets.
• Many new connections were made among the local roundtable participants with commitments to meet in the next weeks to continue the conversation.

Thursday evening the Atlanta University Center Consortium - the largest contiguous consortium of African American private institutions of higher education in the nation - hosted a Green Streets screening at Clark Atlanta University. The enthusiastic crowd was eager to present questions to David, Tyrone and Randolph in the post-screening panel discussion.

Friday morning began with the final Atlanta screening at the Fulton Leadership Academy (FLA) - where young men soar to greater heights. It was an inspirational visit for Tyrone, Randolph and the students; lifelong education was a key message in the post-screening discussions. 

Green Streets team with
Scott Jenkins @ GA Dome

With fortitude, leadership and achievement as core values, the FLA is committed to a rigorous academic environment that empowers young men in grades 6-12 to become productive civic leaders. Within the offered curriculum, there is a focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and a thematic approach that integrates experiences with aviation and aeronautics.

After "soaring" with the young men, the Green Streets team met with Scott Jenkins for an overview of the New Falcons Stadium construction and operations.

WOW: the Georgia Dome marquees were lit up with the following two messages:

• Welcome Green Streets!
• Happy Birthday Tyrone!

Thank you to Scott and the Georgia Dome staff for going the extra yards with the marquee messages. The marquees expressed appreciation at a level not possible with words.

Tyrone with his Happy Birthday sign

What an honor for Tyrone to spend his 30th birthday in Atlanta sharing Green Streets with our grand city. The odds were against Tyrone making it to this life milestone; not only did he survive, Tyrone is THRIVING as a prominent contributor to necessary social consciousness shifts. 

The inaugural Atlanta Green Streets visit planted fertile seeds for future visits to build empowering social enterprise grass roots programs. Discussions segued into food waste composting at created community gardens in distressed neighborhoods. 

The Ei FB album, Green Streets Comes to Atlanta, gives a pictorial recap of the empowering visit.

Atlanta is ripe for social enterprise to build a stable path from a Vicious Cycle to a Virtuous Cycle in our diverse communities... and remember prosperous social sectors have their own Vicious Cycles to transform. 

Thank you Green Streets for your vision, fortitude, leadership and commitment to sharing. Thank you to The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation for bringing Green Streets to Atlanta!

2016 USCC Conference: Soils for a Greener World

In late January industry professionals traveled from across the nation to the 24th Annual U.S. Composting Council (USCC) Conference - Soils for a Greener World - hosted at the Hyatt Regency Riverfront Hotel in Jacksonville, FL. Though a treacherous winter storm kept several speakers and award recipients snow bound in the Northeast, the conference was well attended by those eager to participate in the excellent program.

Pre-conference activities included a wide array of half and full-day workshops ranging from Aerated Static Pile Composting - Applications and Advancements to Best Practices in Community Composting Workshop along with the Annual meeting of the Compostable Plastics Task Force. The day ended with a Grand Opening Reception in the exhibit hall.

The two-day conference program included opening and closing plenary sessions along with a wide array of concurrent sessions throughout each day. Networking is an important conference component. In addition to the opening reception, the program included 45-minute morning & afternoon networking breaks in the exhibit hall and a lunch was provided in the hall on the first day.

With opening keynote speaker Mathy Stanislaus, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Assistant Administrator - Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, snowbound in Washington D.C., closing keynote speaker Mitch Kessler of Kessler Consulting shifted to opening keynote. 

An excellent speaker, Mitch used humor to make important points in his The Critical Role of Organics: Where Are We Heading? presentation. In addition, Joe Lamp'l, Star of "Growing a Greener World" gave a superb, entertaining plenary presentation including points on how to build the compost story.

In the afternoon, Elemental Impact (Ei) hosted a well attended 90-minute panel presentation, Getting to Zero Waste: Composting at Special Events, sponsored by Ei Partner NatureWorks. Moderated by Ei Founder Holly Elmore, the panel showcased the Zero Food Waste Journeys at two prominent Atlanta annual events, Afternoon in the Country (AITC) and RayDay. Both events were hosted by the Inn at Serenbe within the idyllic Serenbe Community, where nature, passion, creativity and community are valued.

Doug presenting

Sustainable Food Court Initiative Co-Chair Doug Kunnemann of NatureWorks took the session leadership role with an Ei overview and an introduction to the Zero Food Waste Journeys supported by the SMAT - Sustainable Materials ACTION Team. 

Ei Partner Ken Fraser with EcoProducts followed with event details, focusing on the extensive pre-planning necessary for success. Beyond site visits, strategy sessions and meetings, SMAT hosted a two-hour Compostable Food & Beverage Packaging Education Session emphasizing the critical role packaging plays in post-consumer food waste composting.

Doug came back to the podium for the event synopses. With beautiful weather, paid Waste Ambassadors and one caterer, the 2015 RayDay event in early October was literally zero food waste via on-site food waste composting at Serenbe. The caterer brought the prep food waste to the event, closing the loop on zero food waste. Due to extensive pre-planning there were minimal lessons learned in the nearly perfect event conditions. 

On the other hand, AITC was riddled with extraordinary challenges on an early November event day. A rainy day, coupled with prior ten straight days straight of rain prior to the event, greeted organizers, participants and guests with tremendous mud during set-up and throughout the festivities.

Ken @ podium

Of the 20 committed volunteers, only four showed up ready-to-work in the extreme conditions. And work they did! Cardboard waste & recycling bins disintegrated into the mud. The farm tractor promised at 11:00 a.m. was finally delivered at 4:00 p.m. as the event closed. Note the tractor was necessary for the compost pile construction. ... and there were 90+ chefs | restaurants participating at AITC!

Next at the podium was Kristen Baskin, Let Us Compost (LUC) owner, who orchestrated the on-site event food waste composting at Serenbe. In her presentation, Kristen gave an overview of the successful on-site composting practices at both events. 

Throughout the events, Kristen kept event staff | volunteers efficient weighing food waste bags as they arrived at the compost area, cleansing the food waste of contaminants and sorting compostable flatware for grinding prior to adding to the compost pile. LUC prepared an impressive 2015 AITC video of the on-site food waste composting practices.

The Ei Team after the panel

As the final panelist, City of Atlanta Zero Waste Manager Boyd Leake spoke on the city policy implications from the zero food waste success at the annual events. In addition, Boyd played an integral role in the Zero Food Waste Journeys under his Community Environmental Management umbrella.

The Zero Waste in ACTION (ZWA) Blog article, Zero Food Waste Journeys: Successes, Challenges & Lessons Learned, gives an in-depth overview of the AITC zero food waste journey; the ZWA Blog article, Simple, easy, proven steps culminate in zero food waste success, chronicles the RayDay zero food waste success. The Ei FB albums, Afternoon in the Country, a zero food waste journey and 2015 RayDay, are event pictorial recounts.

SMAT members Rick Lombardo of NaturBag and Sarah Martell with Innovia Films, who participated in the journeys via product donation, education session presentations and event support, joined the panel audience.

Before segueing into Q&A, Doug announced a formal NatureWorks Zero Food Waste Journeys Global Case Study is in process with an anticipated spring release - EXCITING!

The NaturBag | NaturTec Team
@ their conference booth

Ei Partners were prominent at the conference via exhibit hall booths, as Board Members (USCC: Sarah Martinez with EcoProducts | BPI: Vineet Dalal with NaturTec), panel presenters and meeting with good industry friends.

A conference highlight was Sublime Soil Founder Dean Lavallee's presentation on his impressive vermiculture systems for Park Avenue BBQ & Grille food waste. Dean owns the 28 year strong 8-store restaurant concept. It was inspiring to witness a restaurateur's creative initiative for waste reduction | elimination in the nation's second largest industry.

On the final conference day, the afternoon plenary session opened with the Annual US Composting Council Awards Ceremony; USCC Executive Director Frank Franciosi served as the Master of Ceremonies. Industry icon Dr. Rufus Chaney with the U.S. Department of Agriculture was a focal point from numerous perspectives.

Dr. Chaney congratulates Dr. Das

BioCycle Magazine Editor Nora Goldstein presented the Jerome Goldstein Lifetime Award, the Composting Council’s highest recognition, to Dr. Chaney. The highest honor is named on behalf of Nora's father. Dr. K.C. Das, University of Georgia Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering Professor, received the 2015 Rufus Chaney Award for his extensive industry accomplishments over the past decades. USCC Board Member Dr. Sally Brown with the University of Washington studied under Dr. Chaney and requested a photo with her mentor.

With Mathy still snowbound in D.C., Cheryl Coleman with the EPA pinch hit as the closing plenary keynote for the Composting Council Conference - she was stellar!

Post-conference the USCC hosted the annual Equipment Show & Demonstrations. It is the largest “live” equipment demonstrations for the composting and wood recycling industry in the U.S.  

The Ei FB album, 2016 U.S. Composting Council Conference, gives a conference pictorial recap from Ei's perspective.

Conference attendees departed educated on new technologies, inspired by industry success and eager to follow-up with new friends.

Plastic GYRE Symposium: Artists, Scientists and Activists Respond

On March 26 & 27 nationally renowned scientists, filmmakers, artists and activists converged on Atlanta for The Plastic GYRE Symposium: Artists, Scientists and Activists Respond. Hosted jointly by the Welch Foundation at Georgia State University (GSU), David J. Sencer Museum of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Plastic Pollution Coalition (PPC), the Symposium was an effort to raise awareness and discourse on the global crisis of plastic pollution.

Pamela Longobardi at podium

Distinguished GSU Professor & Drifters Project founder Pamela Longobardi was the empowering force behind the Symposium. In June 2013, Pamela was Lead Artist in the Alaska Gyre Expedition, a project launched by the Alaska Sealife Center and the Anchorage Museum to assess the impact of debris washing onto Alaskan shores from the Pacific Ocean gyres.

National Geographic (NG) adventure filmmaker, producer and director J.J. Kelly joined the gyre team to document the four-year in-the-making expedition. On August 21, 2013 the NG twenty-minute film GYRE: Creating Art from a Plastic Ocean was released on the monumental expedition.

Subsequent to the expedition, Pamela worked collaboratively with Howard Ferren, the GYRE Project originator and Julie Decker, curator of the GYRE exhibition, to form the team of artists aboard the ship, who created art from the foraged plastic debris collected on the expedition. The subsequent exhibition, GYRE: The Plastic Ocean, which then expanded to scores of esteemed global artists working with plastic pollution, is on exhibit at the CDC Museum January 26 - June 19.

When the CDC exhibit scheduled, Pamela spearheaded an amazing team to create The Plastic GYRE Symposium to coincide with the art exhibit. PPC co-founder, Dianna Cohen provided tremendous support on multiple levels for the empowering Symposium. In addition, Dianna's artwork is included in the GYRE: The Plastic Ocean exhibit.

What is a gyre? Per Pam, "The Gyre is the scientific term for the ocean currents which now propel plastic pollution around the world." Wikipedia gives a more scientific gyre description:

A gyre in oceanography is any large system of rotating ocean currents, particularly those involved with large wind movements. Gyres are caused by the Coriolis effect; planetary vorticity along with horizontal and vertical friction, which determine the circulation patterns from the wind curl (torque). The term gyre can be used to refer to any type of vortex in the air or the sea, even one that is man-made, but it is most commonly used in oceanography to refer to the major ocean systems. There are five most notable gyres:

• Indian Ocean Gyre
• North Atlantic Gyre
• North Pacific Gyre
• South Atlantic Gyre
• South Pacific Gyre

Scott Seydel at the podium

The two-day Symposium included a stellar program that ran the gamut of educating on the horrific facts of the plastic pollution scenario to providing a good news blitz of positive action in-place to explaining the social justice (or injustice) surrounding the gyre & other plastic pollution impacts. Prominent industry experts traveled from across the nation to share their experience, research and call-to-action.

Elemental Impact (Ei) Chair Scott Seydel presented on the Beyond Greenwash: Extended Producer Responsibility panel with a powerful, at times humorous, presentation that emphasized plastic's value in the global economy. Scott focused on the current recycling rates, end uses for the various plastics and how states with bottle bills enjoy significantly higher recycling rates.

In his presentation on the Greenwash panel, John Lanier - the Ray C. Anderson Foundation director - encouraged the audience to move beyond sustainability and aspire to be restorative. Using examples from Interface's exemplary history to more recent endeavors, including a pilot where nets from a small Philippines fishing village were cleaned, processed and woven into new carpet tiles, John substantiated his impactful point. Note John's grandfather Ray Anderson founded Interface, the world's largest designer and maker of carpet tile, and was a leading pioneer in sustainable | restorative business practices.

Laura Turner Seydel, Scott Seydel
& Dianna Cohen between sessions

Executive Director of Data & Strategy for the Algiers Charter School Association in New Orleans, LA Jane Patton gave an excellent presentation on the implications of plastics in school systems, especially in foodservice programs.  

As the largest chartered school district in the state, Algiers serves meals to 4500 children twice per day, five days per week, 36 weeks per year and uses 1.6 million polystyrene trays and plastic forks per year. Jane emphasized her stats are from only one school district in the nation - the total polystyrene | plastic usage in schools is astronomical. 

In her session, Jane spoke of the narrow perception related to "cost."  Administrators tend to focus on product cost without considering hard cost-savings of waste hauling reduction and soft costs associated with the health impact from plastic molecules infiltrating food served to students.

The first-day formal program finished with a screening of the NG film referred to above.

Liz York announcing the
CDC water-savings

On the second day, the Symposium began with a Sustainability Call to Action by Pam and Dianna, followed by a press junket and a GYRE: The Plastic Ocean exhibition viewing. CDC Museum curator Louise Shaw did a superb job orchestrating the exhibit logistics and installation.

CDC Associate Director for Quality and Sustainability Liz York welcomed attendees to the CDC as the start to the afternoon formal program. In her remarks, Liz announced the CDC reduced water consumption by 300% of the prior current average monthly usage - impressive!

GreenLaw executive director Stephanie Benfield was slated to moderate the Social Justice panel. With perfect timing Stephanie was at the Capitol lobbying against the "ban the ban" Georgia House Bill up for the vote - the bill was defeated during the panel! Thanks to up-to-the-second updates, Dianna announced the bill defeat within a minute of the vote. The audience was elated and gave a standing ovation.

Environmental Working Group executive director Heather White stepped forward as the Social Justice panel moderator and infiltrated her presentation within the commentary. Heather brought the plastic pollution scenario close to home. Research of toxins in newborn babies was released as Heather embraced her first child - the stark reality propelled Heather into action, eventually leading to her current prestigious position.

Passionate, PPC co-founder Lisa Boyle presented on the results of living in a throw-away society; cheap products are designed for one-time use and expensive products are designed for replacement. Lisa produced the Tulane Environmental Law Journal, Plastic Pollution and wrote the introduction. Several of the Symposium presenters contributed to the impressive documentation on plastic pollution from an environmental law perspective.

Rashid Nuri at the podium

Former Clinton Advisor on Agriculture Rashid Nuri of Truly Living Well gave a passionate, empowering talk on the role urban agriculture plays in social justice and was the final panelist. In his talk Rashid dispelled the term "food desert" as the residents are no farther from stores with healthy food than affluent neighborhoods; these individuals lack the means to travel to the stores. In addition to its direct health benefits, Rashid linked food grown within an urban environment to significantly reduced plastic packaging.

The Symposium's formal program closed with an eye-opening keynote presentation by Captain Charles Moore, Algalita Marine Research founder and discoverer of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Charles' presentation was grounded in a video documenting his research over the years; the graphic visuals depicted the magnitude of the plastic pollution within the oceans along with its implications.

According to Charles, the tremendous plastic pollution volumes are beyond current capabilities for a massive clean-up. Charles recommends a focus on source reduction to prevent further build-up of the already out-of-control scenario. Per the Algalita website, the plastic reality is:

• 280 million tons of plastic is produced around the world annually. An estimated 5.25 trillion plastic pieces weighing 268,940 tons pollute the global ocean.
• That's at least 700 pieces for every living human being on the planet, or the equivalent to the weight of 24 billion empty single-use water bottles.
• To date, reports show that at least 136 marine species have been impacted by plastic entanglement, and 177 marine species have ingested plastic.

Beyond the overwhelming plastic pollution impact visuals, a serious threat to food safety is the micro-plastics in the flesh of sea life harvested for human consumption. Larger plastics often kill sea life through blockages in the digestive tract, entanglement and starvation. Micro-plastics consumed may fare through the digestive process into the species' flesh & other edible areas.

The audience gives Charles Moore
a standing ovation

A seasoned, effective speaker Charles ended his somber, reality-based presentation on a high note with a lighthearted video of children respecting the earth and sharing the source-reduction message with a cheerful voice. The crowd responded with a standing ovation for Charles' powerful keynote presentation. The Symposium closed with a lovely reception and exhibition viewing.

For a Symposium pictorial recap from Ei's perspective, visit the Ei FB album, The Plastic GYRE Symposium.

The plastic pollution cannot be ignored and its impact extends beyond the oceans to our interior waterways and soils. Though solutions are not yet evident, immediate efforts to stop the tremendous annual added accumulation are a must for human and other species survival. 

Collaborative effort among individuals, governments, research institutes, non-profits and private enterprise with a common goal of first reducing, later eliminating, plastic pollution is necessary. Enlightened solutions will emerge for what seems an insurmountable scenario. It is time to bring the possible out of the impossible! 

________________

The below lists links for the Symposium's first-day sessions at GSU:

• GYRE Intro and Session 1: Communitcating the Issue: Science and Art - 
• GYRE Session 2: Beyond Greenwash: Extended Producer Responsibility 
• GYRE Session 3: Activism Mobilization from the Ground UP 
• GYRE Session 4: Good News Blitz