Green Team Academy

Composting rocks! Tune in for my interview with Tara Tull, one of the coordinators of the 2019 Denver Compost Challenge. Hear how she and other partners are encouraging Denver residents to compost more, any way they can! 

Visit the Green Team Academy website for complete show notes and photos. 

In January 2019, Tara joined the Green Team Accelerator Lab, an initiative led by Joan to mentor 20 teams across Metro Denver. Tara had an idea of a neighborhood-to-neighborhood waste diversion challenge. She brought it to the Accelerator Lab meetings. Other neighborhoods quickly hopped on board. Tara met with Taylor Moellers, of Denver Sustainable Neighborhoods and Tay Dunklee with Denver Recycles, and both programs agreed to partner.

Sponsored by Denver Recycles, Denver Sustainable Neighborhoods and the Green Team Academy, the Denver Compost Challenge kicked off in April 2019 to continue through November 2019. 

About half of the materials picked up from Denver residents bound for the landfill could instead be composted. Now, all addresses in Denver's service area (residences up to 7 dwellings) have access to the Denver Composts! program, but only about 10% have signed up for the weekly pick-up of the green composting cart. 

• Increase the number of residents composting through the Denver Composts program or other option
• Decrease contamination in compost (and recycling)
• Build community and neighborhood connectedness

For more resources, visit www.GreenTeamAcademy.com 

For more information about Denver's composting program and the Denver Compost Challenge, visit www.Denvergov.org/Composts 

Tune in to hear my interview with the founder of the Sierra Leone School Green Club. We talk about how and why he started the club, what they've been doing to make a difference and their plans for the upcoming September 20, 2019 School Strike for the Climate. 

Alhassan Sesay's personal motto is, "If not us, who? If not now, when?" 

Sierra Leone is one of the poorest countries in the world and is already experiencing the impacts of climate change. In 2013, the United Nations warned that the country was particularly vulnerable to increasing frequency and severity of droughts, floods and severe storms. 

In 2015, Alhassan Sesay founded the Sierra Leone School Green Club. In 2016, he attended a training in Ghana as part of YALI, the Young African Leaders Initiative. 

Since then, the SLSGC has organized multiple workshops, training and advocacy events, including the first #FridaysforFuture in Sierra Leone. They also participated in the May 2019 School Strike for the Climate and are planning an event for the September 2019 Global Climate Strike. 

See complete show notes and photos.

Get free resources and trainings at www.GreenTeamAcademy.com

If you go into your office every day, it looks pretty similar. But, if you hike the same place throughout the year, it changes dramatically.

Nature is a master at transformative change. Humans forget that it's possible.

The May 2019 Global Assessment from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services says:

“Through ‘transformative change’, nature can still be conserved, restored and used sustainably — this is also key to meeting most other global goals.”

By transformative change, we mean a fundamental, system-wide reorganization across technological, economic and social factors, including paradigms, goals and values.”

This short episode is a reminder to be aware of and embrace transformative change in yourself and the world. 

Get in on my new free Saturday masterclass:

How to Transform Yourself and Our World

Before It's Too Damn Late

...even if you're overwhelmed with grief and fear, and even if you're on the verge of losing hope

>> Register now

More free resources at www.GreenTeamAcademy.com

Green Team Academy Podcast with Joan Gregerson: Episode 57
Tune in to hear my interview with second-grade teacher Anese Forsyth. Learn how Anese started recycling in her 2nd grade bilingual classroom in Reagan Elementary and how it soon spread to become a resource for the entire community.

Visit Green Team Academy for complete show notes and resource links.

Meet Anese!
Anese attributes her passion for nature to her parents. Anese was raised in Pakistan and in Latin America. "It made us appreciate the world as entire planet and how amazing it is." said Anese. "We're not all that different."

Anese has been a teacher for 28 years and previously helped with a garden at her previous school. Anese began working at Reagan Elementary with Ector County Independent School District in Odessa, TX in 2016. Anese teaches in a bilingual second-grade class. The kids in the classroom are Spanish speakers, mostly from rural areas.

FREE MASTERCLASS WITH JOAN

Saturday 10 am & 3 pm

How to Transform Yourself & Our World Before It's Too Late

Recycling at Reagan Elementary
Anese started by reading books to her kids, including The Lorax and The Wump World. This set the foundation of why it's important to care for the planet.

Next, Anese helped her kids start recycling plastic bottles, from their school breakfasts. Anese explained to the kids, "This plastic is from fossil fuels, a natural resource that comes from the ground. We live in the Permian basin. This is why many of your parents have a job. We need to conserve this precious natural resource." She then added recycling of cardboard, paper and aluminum in the classroom.

From there, Anese coordinated with her principal, Mr. Wayne Squires, to get approval to expand the recycling program schoolwide. "It's important to have the support of your principal, custodians, teachers and parents."

Anese's journey with recycling follows what many teachers do. She started by buying her own bins for her classroom. From there, she went out and found several partner organizations that each supported the program:

Advice for Others
Asked what advice she would give to a teacher who want to start something similar in the schools in their community, Anese said,

• Have a big idea of what you want to do, but start small with your classroom.
• Change the routine to include recycling, and let the kids cycle through so they all learn how to do it.
• Be able to motivate people and encourage people. rather than pushing people to do something they don't want to do.
• Be ready to support them when they're ready to change.
• Be positive, helpful and patient!
• Use social media to highlight progress and generate interest.
• Remind your students that they are leaders, and that they will take care of the planet going forward.
• Don't give up! Be the light. Be the change.
  Future of Recycling in Odessa

For complete show notes, visit https://www.greenteamacademy.com/podcast/057-anese-forsythe-teacher-recycling-ambassador-in-odessa-tx/

Free Masterclass: bit.ly/eco-revolution-mc
More Resources: www.GreenTeamAcademy.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/GreenTeamAcademy
Twitter: Twitter.co

Tune in to find out how a Denver, Colorado entrepreneur is putting some zing into residential and commercial composting pick-up!

Vann Fussell is the founder and chief officer of Compost Colorado, a unique compost service based in Denver. Compost Colorado swaps members' full compost buckets each week with new, clean buckets filled with eco-friendly samples and products. Compost Colorado is like compost collection service meets sustainable subscription box service.

Click here for full show notes.

More free resources at Green Team Academy to help you get together, make an impact and feel better!

It's summertime and that means outdoor festivals, food and fun... and more often than not, a ton of waste!

Tune in to this episode to hear from long-time event coordinator, Becky Migas of B Green Events about how to plan and execute epic zero waste events!

Don't freak out...

Your first step is to try it. Learn and do better next time!

Becky has years of experience in event coordination, working with the 80/35 Music Festival and a historic theater in Des Moines, Iowa. In 2014, Becky moved to Denver and began working with an event coordination company, helping with hundreds of events each year across the country. 

Seeing the amount of waste generated by events was so unsettling, Becky decided to make a change. She started her own company, B Green Events, to help people hold events that were good for people and for the planet. 

One issue is that people during events are so distracted, the last thing on their minds are what to do with your trash. Some events now use "bioplastics", that is, plastic materials that are made from corn, sugarcane or other plant. Because bioplastic cups and forks look and feel like plastic, people often think they can't be compostable. If they can be composted, it will say "compostable" on the cup. 

Sometimes the compost Becky says, "I'm the party planner that's a party pooper, some days."

One of the big mistakes is waiting until the end of the event. If you just come in at the end, many of the important decisions will already have been made. 

"A lot of people come in two days before their event and want to divert their waste. It tends to be an afterthought, rather than forethought," said Becky.

You can have the biggest impact through decisions made in the planning stage. The first thing is to work with food vendors. Ensure that all vendors are using compostable-compliant materials. Confirm that they are certified by Biodegradable Products Institute and Manufacturers Compost Alliance. Don't get caught by greenwashing. Ensure that the products you choose can actually break down in industrial composting facilities.

Water bottles are another big source of waste. Look at alternatives such as water stations with compostable cups. 

With other beverages, again, look at compostable cups or using cans instead. 

Composting is still a single-use approach, so it's better to eliminate the products entirely wherever possible. 

How do you handle pushback when you recommend that people stop selling water bottles, that might be a good moneymaker? 

Yes, we need to incorporate event sustainability, in the same way that we now have Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). 

There are companies out there that want to support events that are sustainable. So, even if there is an additional cost, it may be offset because a sustainable festival can attract more sponsors. It can also create savings streams when you can reuse things year to year. 

Other ideas from Joan from Youth of the Earth Festival:

• Purchase used t-shirts from the thrift store
• Purchase reusable water bottles from the thrift store
• Coordinated with Boulder Food Rescue to use rescued food, served on real plates

What is the price difference going to compostable products compared to the ubiquitous "red plastic cups"? 

The prices are coming down as compostable products are now starting to be available in grocery stores, Costco, and directly from suppliers such as Eco-Products or World-Centric.

In addition to sponsors, you can also look at grants, such as:

• Can'd Aid, Oskar Blues Foundation
• S

More resources at www.GreenTeamAcademy.com

Some communities have loads of grocery stores and Farmers Markets options, while others have little to none. Rose Thomas noticed the lack of options in her community of Green Valley Ranch in Denver, Colorado. Without any background in this, Rose dove in and founded the Green Valley Ranch Farmers Market. Tune in to discover the challenges and joys of starting a Farmers Market!

Green Valley Ranch is in the "Far Northeast" area of Denver, Colorado, just west of Denver International Airport. Rose Thomas has lived in this area with her husband for 20 years, from the time it was mostly fields and farms. Green Valley Ranch is now home to 30,000 people and yet has a single grocery store. Not just a "food desert", with plenty of non-nutritious options such as convenience stores, liquor stores and fast food, some refer to such areas as a "food swamp". 

Ironically, the area was quite recently agricultural area of farms and fields, so it was the source of fresh, local food. But there was also no Farmers Market. After years of discussing the issue with friends and neighbors and hoping things would change, Rose made the decision in April 2016 to go ahead and start the Green Valley Ranch Farmers Market as a resource for Green Valley Ranch and other communities in the Far Northeast Region.  

The Green Valley Ranch Farmers Market is now in its fourth year. The Market is operated under the Green Valley Ranch South Homeowners Association. Rose is the founder and chair of the Market. 

That first year was rough. Most of the farmers had committed to other markets in January or February. And of the 10 vendors that committed, only three showed up to the first market day.

"Those three vendors had some of their highest selling days of any market!" said Rose. Even though it was a disappointing start for the number of vendors, the people that showed up vowed to support the market and expressed their appreciation. This buoyed her to keep going.  They ended the first season with 10 vendors. 

Every year the market has added new features. It now includes:

• Food trucks
• Live music
• Family-friendly activities by the GVR South HOA, and 
• Instrument Petting Zoo by Swallow Hill Music
• Sustainability Themes with different nonprofit and community partners every market

The primary focus of the market is to build community engagement in a fun, healthy way where people of all backgrounds get together and enjoy each other and the environment. 

• Master Homeowners Association for Green Valley Ranch
  Website and Farmers Market Vendor Application
• Green Valley Ranch Farmers Market Facebook Page @gvrfarmersmarket
• Events on Metro Denver Eco Happening Meetup
• Events on NextDoor
• Interest in Volunteering: Contact Rose Thomas, email [email protected] 

• Green Team Accelerator Lab
• Denver Sustai

More resources at www.GreenTeamAcademy.com

As part of Cris Sorency's literacy class at South Lakewood Elementary, students studied the art of persuasion. Then, they put it into action!

Hear from Ben Kerchner, who just graduated from fifth grade at South Lakewood Elementary and how their class, the "Styrofoam Stoppers", worked to get their school to stop using the 2,000 Styrofoam trays per week in the school cafeteria. The school is located in Jefferson County School District in Colorado. 

In the spring of 2018, Mr. Sorency was teaching literacy to his sixth graders. In the persuasion unit, his students read in one of the texts about students who started a petition on Change.org and successfully got Dunkin Donuts to stop using Styrofoam. 

The students then got the idea to use persuasion to get their school to stop using Styrofoam trays in the cafeteria. The "Styrofoam Stoppers" began a petition on Change.org and began doing research. Yet, with only a couple months to work on it before school was out, the 2018 class wasn't able to accomplish their goal. 

So, when the 2019 fifth-grade class began studying persuasion with Mr. Sorency, he informed them of the efforts of the previous year. The 2019 class picked it up. The 25 Styrofoam Stoppers created a board game, a coding game, and put up posters to persuade everyone in the school and the parents to support their initiative. 

In April of 2019, the Styrofoam Stoppers presented their research and ask and gave a performance with puppets and humor to Lakewood Mayor Adam Paul, the city’s sustainability manager Jonathan Wachtel and other community members.

In May 2019, the students heard that the school would be transitioning from Styrofoam trays to reusable plastic trays. The trays that had been in use in prior years were relocated and put to use for three grades before the end of the school year. It's expected that the reusuable trays will be expanded for all classes in the school in the coming year. 

In August 2019, Ben Kerchner and other former Styrofoam Stoppers will head to Creighton Middle School and elsewhere.

My message to those schools: If you're still using Styrofoam or have areas that could be improved, get ready. These kids now know how to make change happen.  It all starts with using the art of persuasion to go for what you believe in. 

"It's better if you do it than being afraid. Not only will it help the cause, but it might help you. If you're scared, you might become less scared. It will be a good thing for you and your community."

- Ben Kerchner

Resources: 

• Mr. Sorency's Class on Twitter: @ssorency
• Styrofoam Stoppers' Petition on Change.org
• School's Styrofoam Stoppers Accomplish Their Mission, Joseph Rios, Lakewood Sentinel (May 1, 2019) 

Sign Joan's Change.org petition to demand that President Donald J. Trump learn the basics about climate change by attending a three-day training program with Al Gore and the Climate Reality Project.

>> Sign the petition

What is the right balance between creativity and control? How can you use both to make a bigger impact and struggle less? 

That's what we're talking about today!

It's so important to be able to take creative risks but we can't do that without relinquishing the idea that we can control the outcome. This is important for making bigger strides for environmental impact and for enjoying every moment of our lives.

Ready to discover and recover your creative self?

Join me for Creativity Unleashed
Working through "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron
June 3 - August 26
Online: Join by zoom or dial in by phone
bit.ly/cusummer2019

Resources:

• Teaching for Artistic Behavior
• ​Colorado Public Radio: Colorado Matters, interview with Jessica Ruby,  Art Teacher (May 30, 2019)

Green Team Academy Podcast with Joan Gregerson
Episode 51: 

In this session, we're looking at how to use the book "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron to be more effective eco-leaders and enjoy life to the fullest by unblocking our creativity. 

My Story
Why Creativity Matters to You
Secret 1 - A System for Unblocking Creativity
Secret 2 - The Two Tools Anyone Can Use to Rediscover Their Creativity
Secret 3 - How to Stay on Task and Actually Work The Program

Join me for Creativity Unleashed: 
June 3 - August 26, 2019
Early Bird Pricing
bit.ly/cusummer2019

1. Register to save your spot.
2. Purchase your copy of "The Artist's Way"
3. Save Mondays 6:30 - 8:30 pm MST on your calendar
4. Get ready to transform your life!

More resources at www.GreenTeamAcademy.com