Current Featured Projects
ReCREATE has a wide range of consulting experience with municipal, commercial and event waste clients. Featured projects are listed below.
City of Palm Springs
For the City of Palm Springs, ReCREATE - in collaboration with Abbe and Associates and Jybe - is implementing one of the first Reusable Foodware Ordinances of its kind in the country. The team visits 100+ food serving businesses in the city to offer education and outreach, recommendations for improving reusable foodware systems and reducing single-use plastics, and implementing organic waste services.
San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments
As part of a partnership with SCS Engineers, ReCREATE and its team of recycling outreach specialists are managing the inspection element of the edible food program requirements of Senate Bill 1383. In 10 participating cities in San Gabriel Valley (Cities of Azusa, Covina, Duarte, Irwindale, La Canada Flintridge, Monrovia, Monterey Park, South Pasadena and Temple City) we are providing Tier 1 commercial edible food generators with technical assistance in implementing edible food programs and monitoring compliance.
City of Glendale
ReCREATE is assisting the City of Glendale with identification of Tier 1 and Tier 2 commercial edible food generators, edible food generator and capacity planning, and developing a program to implement an edible food program communitywide. These efforts are a part of a collaboration with Careit and FoodCycle LA, which brings together some of the most hands-on experience in the food donation industry.
Past Successes
Our team members have both managed and supported zero waste and diversion-related projects in California, Oregon and Colorado. Project involvement includes collaboration with SCS Engineers, Diversion Strategies, Cascadia Consulting Group, Tetra Tech, and during employment with R3 Consulting Group.
Curb Your Food Waste
LA Sanitation’s food scraps recycling pilot includes 18,000 single family homes within the City of Los Angeles. ReCREATE staff provided waste characterization fieldwork and conducted workshops to educate pilot residents about the program.
City of Santa Monica
While with R3 Consulting Group, Co-Owner Natalie Lessa helped to update the city’s Zero Waste Plan setting ambitious diversion goals. Natalie provided an analysis of technical assistance and education and outreach needs by conducting vigorous stakeholder engagement and site visits at commercial properties.
Los Angeles County
The team helped to assist Los Angeles County - in partnership with SCS Engineers - with a waste characterization project by identifying representative commercial candidates and sorting the recyclable waste stream to better understand material composition make-up.
Outer Sofa
In early 2020 the firm conducted a Reyclability Study to the sustainability-minded company Outer Sofa. Research included analyzing the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) options of manufacturing and identifying potential recycling facilities in the area for maximizing diversion at the product’s end-of-life.
FoodCycle LA
The company is currently assisting the LA based food recovery organization FoodCycle LA with a food donation and food prevention pilot program that provides business technical assistance to high volume generators in Los Angeles County with the goal of determining successful strategies in reducing waste generated in commercial kitchens.
City of Redlands
Natalie assisted with the City of Redlands Household Hazardous Waste Financial Feasibility study to assess the community’s response to potential facility closures and/or rate changes. Work included HHW site reviews and stakeholder engagement and surveys.
City of Rancho Cordova
For 3 years Ms. Lessa served as the city’s sole solid waste staff person and Recycling Coordinator, managing over a dozen commercial franchised haulers and a residential contract with Republic Services. She helped to plan for AB 341/1826 roll-outs, revised local policy, and managed all CalRecycle grants, reviews and reporting.
Earth Day Film Festival
For this environmental film festival, ReCREATE served as community liaison and organizer, expanding the reach of the curation internationally. Work performed included client relations, social media content management and strategist.
WasteNaught Events
ReCREATE is providing grant writing assistance to a zero waste event and consulting company that is seeking to acquire and operate a shuttered CRV buyback recycling center.
Alameda County
General Services Agency
The Green Child Care Program included promoting and conducting rollouts at over 20 schools across the diverse landscape of Alameda County. Teachers and janitorial staff received in-depth source separation training and over 1,200 students partook in the curriculum.
Alameda County
StopWaste
For the 2014-2015 school year, Kirk worked as an Environmental Education Associate for StopWaste, Alameda County’s Waste Management Authority. Kirk gave an educational presentation and led tours of transfer station and MRF facilities in San Leandro and Fremont, teaching visiting 4th graders about the 4 R’s - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Rot.