When I was a youngin', I remember sorting all of our recyclables at home. At that time, we had to clean them, remove the labels and sort them by cans, glass, and newspaper. (Yes, there was a time we had to sort them into several bins based on the material. Oh my!) I loved being able to help my Mom by running the items out to the garage and giving it my best 3-pointer shot into the correct bin, only to miss every single time. But that didn't matter; taking out the recycling was always a game for me. In addition to recycling, my Dad grew a HUGE garden that got lots of help from the compost pile, of course! In my younger days, the basic ideas of waste diversion began in my head at home.

Plus, check out this Instagram Reel for a behind on the scenes on where it all began! 

It would take me years of (non) wasted time before I figured out it was truly a love of mine.

After attending college at THE Ohio State University (Go Bucks!), I pursued a career in the entertainment industry. I worked in multiple venues, traveled all over the U.S., produced festivals and hung out with some of the nicest musicians. I was having the time of my life, but something was missing. You see, while I was working in entertainment, I quickly saw the mounds and mounds of trash piled up at the end of every event - gross! Naturally, I became fascinated with it. On average, a typical event attendee produces between 2 - 2.5 lbs of trash per event from drinks, food, giveaways, etc. A lot of event trash can be diverted, but back in the ole days of 2010, it wasn't happening yet. Luckily, a professor met with me over lunch when I was getting my Masters (MBA) at Missouri State University. He made the light bulb go on when he recommended I combine my passion for working events and sustainability ... into my thesis. So I did. I wrote about it.

After a few years of moving from one city to another and taking on roles as an event planner, I finally decided to pursue my love for events and sustainability ... for other people and for free. You see where I'm going here?! Always cleanin' up the trash, never the ProTrash Talker!

I supported several festivals, including 80/35 in Des Moines, IA, Sustainable Cannabis Symposium, Five Points Jazz Festival, multiple local events, Youth on Record Block Party, and many others before I began to realize that I was meant for even more trash-talking in my life!

Finally, I opened my own sustainable event business, B.Green Events, in 2018. I steadily built up clientele when the pandemic shut down events for 2 years in 2020. I eventually closed my business to pursue my trash-talking ways through consulting and waste education.

I love to learn and read about the world of recycling and composting to support a system that promotes waste diversion in our society. How can we think about waste in a different way as humans? How can we change our habits to have less waste in our lives? I have helped to pass local Colorado laws to support waste diversion efforts, including the Waste No More Ballot Initiative in 2022.

I now love sharing my excitement for trash with the world and engaging more people in ways to dispose of their waste properly. Even better yet - how can we REFUSE waste before it enters our lives?! Think you have what it takes to be a ProTrash Talker? Test your knowledge and let's TALK TRASH TOGETHER!

I am that trashy friend that will stop everyone at a party to talk about how we shouldn't use those red solo cups (sorry Toby Keith) or pull the cans/bottles from the trash to dispose of them properly. I take pictures of trash cans ... ok WITH trash cans ... all the time. I will break out into any type of trashy conversation when the time is right (aka any time)! Want to be my trash-talking friend?

Non-Trash Fun Facts

Here's a few fun facts about me not related to my trashy journey ....