HSU alumni Help Anchor Waste Management Forum
By Paul Mann
HSU Now
Five Humboldt State University alumni will join other experts in the waste management field and luncheon presenters Assemblyman Wes Chesbro and Maggie Gainer of Gainer & Associates at a Zero Waste Innovation Forum at noon on Friday, Aug. 19, at Arcata’s D Street Neighborhood Center at 13th & D Streets.
Participating Humboldt State alums include Juliette Bohn (’10), Humboldt Waste Management Authority Program Analyst; Ed Boisson (’91) of RW Beck, a SAIC company; Mark Bowers (’80), Sunnyvale Solid Waste Program Manager; Allison Poklemba (’02), Education Manager at the Arcata Community Recycling Center and Coordinator of the North Coast California Regional Environmental Education Community; and Tedd Ward (’93), Del Norte Solid Waste Management Authority Analyst/Planner.
They will team with keynoters Chesbro, Gainer and Maureen Hart, North Coast Recycling Market Development coordinator, in an afternoon-long discussion of how Humboldt County can benefit from recent innovations in integrated waste management.
The purpose of the forum, sponsored by the City of Arcata, the Humboldt Waste Management Authority and the North Coast Recycling Market Development Zone, is to generate collaborative planning ideas that will help guide the Authority in preparing a state-mandated integrated waste management plan.
Ideas include methods to help more area businesses develop end-use markets for locally-collected materials. Hart will share examples of several local businesses that have already integrated recycled feedstock into making their products.
Forum discussions will air legislative initiatives, business needs, local market development for recyclables, integrated waste management planning, creative reuse systems, new approaches to handling food waste, public recycling behavior, and domestic and international buyers.
“It is critical that Humboldt County’s integrated waste management plan, which is required by the state, is practical and useful,” said Gainer. “This forum will give us ideas for how to develop an authentic and collaborative planning process to guide the Humboldt Waste Management Authority.”
In recent years, other communities have laid considerable groundwork for strategic waste reduction that meets multiple demands—not only resource conservation, but also economic development, state-mandated landfill requirements and the impacts of climate change.
“For many citizens, recycling ends at the curb, but in fact that is only the beginning,” Gainer explained. “It is a worldwide imperative for resource and energy conservation, and it is also an initial step of the manufacturing process. That is where the term ‘recycling’ came from.”
The public is invited to the Aug. 19 forum, but seating is limited. Lunch is $15.00, payable at the door.
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