Community and Climate Conversations at the Austin Sustainability Professionals Holiday Mixer

December 10, 2025 No Comments

Wrapping Up the Year with Sustainability Conversations

On December 10, 2025, I attended and volunteered at the Austin Sustainability Professionals (ASP) 2026 Briefing + Holiday Mixer, held at Palm Venture Studios in Austin. The event brought together sustainability professionals, entrepreneurs, policy experts, and community members for an evening focused on reflecting on the year behind us and looking ahead to what 2026 might bring.

ASP events often blend professional insight with community connection, and this gathering was no exception. The evening included a panel discussion featuring leaders working across sustainability, technology, and economic development, followed by a networking reception that gave attendees a chance to reconnect and build new relationships.

As a volunteer supporting the event and capturing photos throughout the evening, I had the chance to see firsthand how engaged and collaborative Austin’s sustainability community has become.

General, Personal Projects, Texas

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, 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

Green Skills Go Mainstream: Key Trends from LinkedIn’s 2025 Green Skills Report

November 20, 2025 No Comments

Each year, LinkedIn’s Green Skills Report offers one of the clearest snapshots we have of the global green workforce: who’s getting hired, where the demand is growing, and how quickly our workforce is adapting to an economy shaped by climate action, electrification, and AI. The 2025 report shows a market in motion (not just expanding, but transforming) and many job seekers are missing the signal buried beneath the noise.

This year, the insights capture a decisive moment where ambition gives way to execution, where climate targets meet real-world constraints, and where the workforce begins to reorganize around a green-skills-driven economy. What’s more, these patterns strongly foreshadow how 2026 will unfold, especially for workers navigating a career transition into sustainability.

Below is a breakdown of what the 2025 report reveals, how it aligns with expert commentary across the climate-talent ecosystem, and what it really means for anyone looking to contribute to climate solutions in 2026.

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, Space

From Disaster Relief to Space Retreat: How Resilient Design Is Inspiring Galactic Glamping

November 9, 2025 No Comments

When I attended the Disasters Expo USA + Resilient City Expo in Houston earlier in November, I expected to walk away with a better understanding of how communities prepare for and recover from natural disasters. What I didn’t expect was how many of the innovations showcased there could directly influence the infrastructure and design philosophy behind my Space Colony Glamping concept — a sustainability-driven, space-themed, eco-hospitality experience.

As I explored the exhibition floor, the overlap between disaster resilience technologies and off-grid hospitality systems became increasingly clear. The same products designed to support recovery and adaptability in the wake of climate challenges could easily be reimagined for immersive, sustainable tourism — the kind that teaches, inspires, and reconnects people to both the planet and the possibilities beyond it.