- Making sustainable choices that fit your event budget
- Engaging vendors and sponsors in new ways
- Reducing or eliminating single-use materials
- Avoiding last-minute emergency purchases
- Creating a lasting impact towards sustainable solutions in your organization
This event includes a zero-waste lunch from Bliss Cafe for in person attendees.
Mary Ciesinski grew up in San Jose, California and moved to San Luis Obispo directly after college. After a brief move back to the Bay Area, she returned to the Central Coast in 2015 with her husband. She has volunteered with nonprofits for nearly 20 years, gaining experience with volunteer management and event coordination. When not working at ECOSLO, Mary can be found enjoying nature, relaxing at the beach, sharing a backyard bonfire with friends, or caring for her gardens of vegetables, roses and succulents.
Shane Coopersmith, better known as Sustainable Shane, grew up surfing in Carlsbad, California where his love for everything sustainable started at a very young age. He studied Sustainability at UC Berkeley, where he had some serious brain blasts and Sustainable Shane began to evolve. Today, his days are spent in San Diego as a Sustainability Guru. He is an Environmental Influencer and the host of “The Sustainability Show”. He created Sustainable Shane to help spread awareness about sustainability and share tips on how to live a happier, healthier, eco-friendly lifestyle.
Sarah Jackson is a sustainability guru working with top brands from around the globe to bring their experiential experiences and activations to life through sustainable practices at George P. Johnson. Her focus is on carbon neutrality, zero waste and data collection as well as advancing the event industry through development of best practices and peer to peer training. Sarah was one of the early trainees of Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project and continues to volunteer for the organization as well as 5 Gyers and the San Mateo County Surfriders Association. On the weekend you can find Sarah cheering on her boys at a youth baseball game or hiking one of the many trails in her backyard along the San Mateo County coastline.
Liz Murphy, chef & founder at Santosha Nutrition, has a passion for plant-based cuisine, regenerative agriculture and fighting food waste. After working in the hospitality industry for 10 years, it became clear that Liz needed to become part of the solution instead of the problem. Santosha provides zero-waste cooking classes, farm-to-table experiences and community events that promote support for local farms, sustainable cooking and composting. In 2021, Liz founded Sustainability is Sexy, a nonprofit organization focused on providing education and resources for businesses and the community. Through zero-waste events, SIS the podcast and local projects, Sustainability is creating space for brands and individuals to lower their impact on climate change.
Anastasia Nicole is a Zero Waste Specialist currently working for Cal Poly in the Energy, Utilities and Sustainability Department. She has been certified by the US Zero Waste Business Council as a TRUE Zero Waste certified professional. She is also a passionate gardener, gleaner, Master composter, permaculturist and soil builder, and has taught a wide variety of classes on Green living.