Sorting for Sustainability: Lessons from the Oh What Fun! Holiday Market

December 7, 2025 No Comments

Sustainability Behind the Scenes of a Holiday Market

During the 2025 holiday season, I volunteered to get my hours as part of the City of Austin’s Zero Waste Block Leader Program to help support waste diversion efforts at the inaugural “Oh What Fun!” Holiday Market at Republic Square in downtown Austin.

Holiday markets are vibrant community gatherings filled with food vendors, craft booths, and seasonal celebrations. But events like these can also generate significant waste. Compostable food containers, recyclable packaging, and landfill trash often end up mixed together unless there is active effort to sort and manage it.

That’s where volunteers come in.

Over two weekends, November 29 and December 8, I joined a team of volunteers helping manage the event’s waste stations and ensure that materials were sorted correctly into compost, recycling, and landfill streams.

General, Space, Texas

Third Places and Community Spaces: An Evening at The Boring Bodega

November 28, 2025 No Comments

Discovering a Unique Community Gathering Space

On November 28, 2025 — the day after Thanksgiving — I visited The Boring Bodega, a unique community-focused space in Austin (Bastrop), for a casual community happy hour with family.

The name itself is playful and slightly ironic. Despite the name, there’s nothing particularly boring about the space. The Boring Bodega blends several different community amenities into one location, creating an environment where people can gather, socialize, and spend time together in a relaxed setting.

During my visit, I had the chance to explore the space and see how it functions as a kind of modern “third place” — somewhere that exists outside of home and work where people can connect with others in their community.

General, Texas

Community, Coffee, and Climate Action in Austin

November 25, 2025 No Comments

This past Saturday, I found myself in two very different corners of Austin’s sustainability landscape – one inside Patagonia’s Austin store during their Climate Progress & Pints Happy Hour, and the other hoping around downtown and East Austin with my friend Erin, canvassing local cafés to accept reusable cups as promoted by Austin Reuse Coalition (ARC).

Both moments were focused on small, local, and community-driven efforts – and they reminded me just how much meaningful climate action begins at the neighborhood level.

General, Professional, Texas

Celebrating Austin’s Sustainable Future at the 2025 Austin Green Awards

November 12, 2025 No Comments

Austin’s sustainability and design community gathered on November 12th to celebrate a milestone year for the 10th annual Austin Green Awards—an evening dedicated to recognizing the innovative, resilient, and equitable projects shaping the Austin area. As someone deeply engaged in environmental communications and community outreach, attending this year’s ceremony felt like stepping into a room full of ambition and inspiration, where creative problem-solving and sustainable design come together to reimagine what’s possible for our growing region.

The Austin Green Awards were created to honor exemplary achievements that push beyond conventional design and demonstrate how the built environment can enhance ecosystems, support community wellness, and strengthen resilience. This year’s event not only highlighted the evolution of sustainable thinking in Austin but also showcased two standout projects demonstrating what thoughtful, future-focused design truly looks like.

General, Professional

What I Learned from Completing the Green Pathways Digital Certificate

November 8, 2025 No Comments

Over the past few weeks, I completed the Green Pathways (Green Digital Certificate) — a 130-hour, self-paced professional program developed and delivered by INCO Academy. This global initiative is designed to help professionals build the skills and confidence needed to thrive in the evolving green workforce. The curriculum blends sustainability education, digital literacy, and professional development to prepare participants for careers that make a measurable environmental and social impact.

I initially joined the program seeking a structured way to strengthen my knowledge of sustainability beyond communications and outreach. What I didn’t expect was how comprehensive it would be in connecting climate science, business strategy, and workforce development all through the lens of modern digital transformation.

General, Professional, Texas

Becoming a Zero Waste Block Leader: How Austin Residents Are Driving Change Locally

October 20, 2025 No Comments

I attended the Zero Waste Block Leader Program orientation hosted by Austin Resource Recovery (ARR), and I left feeling both inspired and reconnected to one of my professional passions: waste and resource management.

As Austin continues working toward its ambitious goal of 90% waste diversion by 2040, this program equips residents to play an active role in that mission. The Zero Waste Block Leader Program (ZWBL) trains volunteers to educate their neighbors about recycling, composting, and waste reduction, while also serving as on-the-ground advocates for sustainability. It’s one of those rare opportunities where everyday citizens become part of the city’s environmental strategy – one conversation, one household, and one block at a time.

From Waste Management to Resource Recovery

During my time at Texas Disposal Systems (TDS) (one of Austin Metro’s largest private waste haulers), I developed a strong appreciation for the complex systems that make waste and sustainability work together. Seeing firsthand how recycling streams, compost operations, and landfill logistics function behind the scenes gave me a tangible understanding of what it takes to manage waste at scale.

But what’s always fascinated me most is the communication side of it: how do we take something as unglamorous as trash and turn it into a story that inspires change? That’s exactly where programs like ARR’s Block Leader initiative come in.