Zero Waste & Architecture

Presenters: Renee Crowley of The NYC Compost Project hosted by LES Ecology Center & Juliette Spertus, Co-founder of ClosedLoops LLC

Overview: Familiarize yourself with the City of New York’s goal of sending zero waste to landfills by 2030 and learn how design can play a major role in achieving and sustaining zero waste. 

Renee Crowley is a community planner with a commitment to reducing waste and building strong communities. Over the last decade she has worked in advancing community-based zero waste initiatives. Her experiences run the gamut from backyard composting, leading composting efforts at her community garden and currently managing the programs and operations for The NYC Compost Project hosted by LES Ecology Center. She holds an MS in City & Regional Planning from the Pratt Institute and a BA in Environmental Studies from Hamline University.

Juliette Spertus was trained as an architect and worked as a designer in Boston and New York before shifting her attention to infrastructure. After creating the Fast Trash exhibit she teamed up with Benjamin Miller to lead a series of research projects on the future of waste in New York City. In 2014, they founded ClosedLoops to develop innovative waste and freight infrastructure projects that would not be built otherwise. Juliette and her partner Ben led the collection and urban design part of the AIANY Zero Waste Design Guidelines, and were co-authors.

This lecture is accredited for 2 LU/HSW credits through the American Institute of Architects.