Food and family often go hand in hand during the holiday season. In a few days, we will launch our new fall Stop Food Waste campaign, with a focus on local families (including some of our very own StopWaste staff). We’ll share stories and tips on StopFoodWaste.org on how to get the most out of your food, holiday food traditions, and cooking hacks to use up leftovers (and please those picky eaters). Be sure to let us know when you see one of our new campaign posters on your next BART ride, and share your family's own food-saving tips on social media with the hashtag #StopFoodWaste.
Agency Update - Fall 2019
Agency Update - Fall 2019
New School Food Share Video Series
New School Food Share Video Series
Following the roll out of a new food share and donation program across Oakland, Livermore, and Fremont Unified School Districts last year, we developed a five-part video series to help other schools and educators better understand the issue of wasted food and set up similar programs at their schools. The videos feature candid student perspectives as well as step-by-step guidance on getting started. You can find the full playlist below, or visit our website to learn more.
Partnering to Build Healthy Soil
Partnering to Build Healthy Soil
StopWaste, in partnership with the Alameda County Resource Conservation District (ACRCD), will soon embark on a new project to test the efficacy of compost application in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, thanks to a new Healthy Soils Grant from the California Department of Food and Agriculture. The project involves 1,600 acres of Agency-owned rangeland in the Altamont area near Livermore, which is grazed year-round and supports wind energy production.
Employee Spotlight
Elese Lebsack
Program Manager
Program Manager
Elese joined StopWaste in the summer of 2013 working on enforcement. Prior to that, she was associate athletic director at Mills College.
What do you do at StopWaste?
I oversee enforcement for the mandatory recycling and reusable bag ordinances, as well as our 939/facility fee ordinance. I primarily work on issuing citations to businesses and multifamily properties that have had repeat violations due to not recycling and composting correctly. Enforcement plays an important role in waste reduction because it holds businesses to a similar environmental standard.
What is your favorite part of working here?
My efforts here feel like they are meaningful, and the teams I work with are supportive and collaborative. I appreciate being part of an agency that has a breadth of programs focused on local, tangible results, and I’m proud to work at a place that is looking upstream to conserve resources and minimize waste. I also love that I live close by and can bike to work.
How has working at StopWaste impacted you?
I was already a pretty big recycler before I joined, but I have started to grow my knowledge and passion for compost and the role that it plays in mitigating climate change. We sheet mulched our yard in the spring, and I went to an extensive compost operator training this year.
What do you do when not working?
Parenting an eight year old with my family is my other full-time job! We enjoy spending time in nature and sharing meals together. I also dance Argentine Tango and like to travel. This summer I was in Berlin for a Queer Tango festival. Meditation and spirituality are also important in my life. And I'm a baseball fan (go A’s!).
What might surprise someone to know about you?
I won two national titles as a rower when I was a student at Mills College. I still enjoy rowing at Briones Reservoir during the Mills Alumnae Row a couple times a year.