The 2014 Zero Waste Conference (#ZWC2014) is just five days away, but you can still register to attend this important event. With an impressive line-up of speakers, compelling topics, and lots of opportunities to network and share knowledge, this is a unique opportunity to be at the forefront of a vital issue. Here’s some of the speakers and subjects we’ll be showcasing:
Fans of CBC Radio One may already be familiar with this recent addition to the Zero Waste Conference roster. Fresh from hosting the recently wrapped summer radio series What a Waste, Dr. Torah Kachur will bring her scientific curiosity to bear on ZWC2014 speakers, along with fellow moderators Bridgett Luther – President, Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, Christina Seidel – Executive Director, Recycling Council of Alberta, Lisa Papania – Lecturer, Marketing and Entrepreneurship, SFU Beedie School of Business, and Coro Strandberg – Principal, Strandberg Consulting
Our keynote speakers – Jeremy Rifkin, Tim Brooks, and Markus Laubscher will bring their ‘big-picture’ perspectives regarding the role of business in the vital transition to a less wasteful economic paradigm.
Dayna Baumeister, Co-founder and Keystone of Biomimicry 3.8 will share her expertise in bio-mimicry, highlighting the ways in which we can look to nature for examples of sustainability.
Germain Archambault, President – General Manager, Le Group Lavergne Inc has more than twenty years experience working with plastics and packaging. He’ll tell us how engineering resins with recycled materials can help ‘green’ the automotive and electronics industries.
Plastics are ubiquitous in the modern world and a major issue when it comes to waste. From the promise of bioplastics to the plastic recycling’s capacity for social change,  Toby Reid and David Katz will help us understand what’s at stake if we don’t change our relationship with a material that helped define the 20th century.
Government’s role in waste reduction is a crucial factor on the road to zero waste. We’re proud to have Alexa Kielty, Zero Waste Specialist, San Francisco Environment, City and County of San Francisco on hand to share her knowledge, along with our very own David Hocking – Division Manager, Corporate Communications, Metro Vancouver and Shelley Carroll –Councillor, City of Toronto, Ward 33 Don Valley East. Hosting the event will be two Metro Vancouver mayors, Malcom Brodie from the City of Richmond, and Port Coquitlam’s mayor Greg Moore, both of whom sit on Metro Vancouver’s Board of Directors.
Another vital aspect of zero waste thinking and the ‘circular economy‘ is design. This discipline is well represented on our speaker list. At #ZWC2014 you’ll have an opportunity to hear how Dr. Joseph Chiodo invented ‘Active Disassembly’ (AD) – a technology that employs conventional and smart materials in the design of releasable fasteners and actuators to aid the non-destructive dismantling and selective disassembly of component and product reuse. Rich Gilbert – co-founder of The Agency of Design, will tell us how toothbrushes and toasters played a role in driving his ambition to incorporate sustainability into design. Clothing is a shared global experience and a sphere where speaker Mark Trotzuk – President, Boardroom Eco Apparel has nearly two decades of experience and big ideas about eco-friendly apparel.
These are just a few of the presenters and topics you’ll find at the 2014 Zero Waste Conference. For a full list please visit the speakers page on the conference website.
For more information on the Zero Waste Conference 2014 and to register, please visit our website at www.metrovancouver.org/zwc. We look forward to seeing you at Metro Vancouver’s Zero Waste Conference 2014.