1:45- 2:15 pm Opening Remarks
Paul Nowak, Executive Director, GreenBlue
2:15- 2:45 pm Opening Keynote | Future Worlds: Scaling Innovation to Make the World Work for 100% of Humanity
Recent space missions to Jupiter and Mars, the discovery of thousands of exoplanets, and orbital missions to monitor Spaceship Earth will be highlighted. Humanity will become interplanetary, and is on a journey to Mars. We will return human explorers to the moon this decade and onward to Mars in the 2030s. At the MIT Media Lab we are testing advanced technologies for the next giant leaps of exploration.
However, Mars is not ‘Plan B’. Spaceship Earth, our pale blue dot, is the most magnificent planet to inhabit. Earth is speaking to us – are we listening? The past decades reveal the hottest recorded temperatures on Earth since we began measuring global climate 140 years ago. Hundreds of gigatons of ice have been lost in Greenland and Antarctica, and levels of trapped greenhouse gas have reached over 420 parts per million of carbon dioxide. Earth’s vital signs tell a story of a planet in trouble, threatening sea-level rise, ocean acidity and plastic pollution might have disastrous implications for the health of communities worldwide. Actions and solutions to help regenerate to Earth’s oceans, land and air are highlighted in this talk. The collective actions already underway shine a light on a healthier future between humanity and our home planet.
Dr. Newman will discuss research addressing questions such as: How can we reduce harm to our planet and the future prospects of life on Earth? How can we turn the tide to regenerate Earth’s systems while enabling societies to flourish? The urgent challenge is to supply affordable energy, food, and security for sustained life on Earth—for all living beings—by inventing transformative technologies and adapting human behavior at an unprecedented scale at this critical time in history. At the MIT Media Lab, we uniquely combine interdisciplinary expertise—from oceans to space, genetics to cities—and develop artificial intelligence, machine learning, supercomputer visualizations, and powerful experiences to change human behavior. We’ll create transformative technologies, experiences, and systems that address the dual challenge of climate change and energy. The goal is for society to work for 100% of humanity and for all living beings, so they can thrive—here on Earth and in worlds beyond.
Moderator: Paul Nowak, Executive Director, GreenBlue
Speaker: Dr. Dava Newman, Director, MIT Media Lab and Apollo Professor of Astronautics
Sponsored by Dow
3:15 pm - 3:35 pm Fireside Chat | Massachusetts’s Comprehensive Approach to Shrink Waste
In this fireside chat, John Fischer from MassDEP will share his organization’s work to advance waste reduction, recycling, composting and the latest learnings from the Massachusetts’ Solid Waste Master Plan and the implementation of the waste and organic food waste bans across the state.
Moderator: Paul Nowak, Executive Director, GreenBlue
Speaker: John Fischer, Deputy Division Director for Solid Waste, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP)
3:35 pm - 3:50 pm TED Talk | Building Food Recovery Infrastructure Through Powerful Partnerships
Ashley Stanley and her team at Lovin' Spoonfuls food rescue have been at the forefront of working with food retailers, nonprofits, community groups, elected officials, and more to expand food recovery efforts across Massachusetts. With much of Lovin' Spoonfuls' organizational and operational growth taking place since the onset of the pandemic, leveraging key partnerships has enabled Spoonfuls (New England's largest food rescue) to meet a heightened demand for food while mitigating the effects of wasted food on people and the planet.
Speaker: Ashley Stanley, Executive Director, Lovin’ Spoonfuls
3:50 pm - 4:05 pm TED Talk | Waste Makes Haste: How Addressing Waste is Accelerating the Good Business
In 2019 U.S. businesses generated approximately 50 million tons of surplus food – the equivalent of 80 billion meals, representing a $244 billion loss across the food service, retail, manufacturing, and farm sectors (ReFED). Massachusetts has been at the forefront of effective wasted food policy and strategy. For over a decade, the Center for EcoTechnology (CET) has delivered the RecyclingWorks MA program, a comprehensive commercial recycling assistance program funded by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. Lorenzo Macaluso, Chief Growth Officer of CET, will discuss the environmental, economic, and community impacts of reducing our waste, told through the success stories of Massachusetts businesses.
Speaker: Lorenzo Macaluso, Chief Growth Officer, Center for EcoTechnology
4:05 pm - 4:20 pm TED Talk | Introducing Innovation: Why We All Need to Track Surplus Food
You can’t manage what you don’t measure, and when you’re not measuring, your foodservice organization is likely wasting more than it should be. Historically, waste tracking has been labor intensive and unenforced, leaving a big question mark around not just losses, but true customer preference and organizational profitability. New technological developments, like Phood Solutions, are changing that for the better. In this session, Phood’s VP of Partnerships, Karen Franczyk, will talk about how human-centered technology is driving impact beyond the bottom line with some of the nation’s leading grocers and other prepared food operations. She’ll also look at how best to approach the issue of surplus food in any organization in the most strategic, and mutually beneficial way possible.
Speaker: Karen Franczyk, VP Partnerships, Phood
4:20 pm - 4:35 pm TED Talk | #ClothesArentTrash
Dan Green, co-founder and CEO of Helpsy, traded in his Wall Street career to work in the rag industry when he and two lifelong friends started the company. Dan will talk about what inspired him to start Helpsy, shed light on the giant problem that is textile waste and what we can do to prevent over 85% of clothing from ending up in the trash. This includes everything from the ins and outs of how Helpsy collects and sorts used clothing, what really happens to used clothing once it's collected, what brands and municipalities can do to help prevent textile waste and share insights on recent mechanical and chemical recycling developments.
Speaker: Dan Green, Co-founder and CEO, Helpsy
4:35 pm - 4:40 pm Closing Remarks for the Day
Paul Nowak, Executive Director, GreenBlue
1:45- 2:15 pm Opening Remarks
Paul Nowak, Executive Director, GreenBlue
2:15- 2:45 pm Opening Keynote | Future Worlds: Scaling Innovation to Make the World Work for 100% of Humanity
Recent space missions to Jupiter and Mars, the discovery of thousands of exoplanets, and orbital missions to monitor Spaceship Earth will be highlighted. Humanity will become interplanetary, and is on a journey to Mars. We will return human explorers to the moon this decade and onward to Mars in the 2030s. At the MIT Media Lab we are testing advanced technologies for the next giant leaps of exploration.
However, Mars is not ‘Plan B’. Spaceship Earth, our pale blue dot, is the most magnificent planet to inhabit. Earth is speaking to us – are we listening? The past decades reveal the hottest recorded temperatures on Earth since we began measuring global climate 140 years ago. Hundreds of gigatons of ice have been lost in Greenland and Antarctica, and levels of trapped greenhouse gas have reached over 420 parts per million of carbon dioxide. Earth’s vital signs tell a story of a planet in trouble, threatening sea-level rise, ocean acidity and plastic pollution might have disastrous implications for the health of communities worldwide. Actions and solutions to help regenerate to Earth’s oceans, land and air are highlighted in this talk. The collective actions already underway shine a light on a healthier future between humanity and our home planet.
Dr. Newman will discuss research addressing questions such as: How can we reduce harm to our planet and the future prospects of life on Earth? How can we turn the tide to regenerate Earth’s systems while enabling societies to flourish? The urgent challenge is to supply affordable energy, food, and security for sustained life on Earth—for all living beings—by inventing transformative technologies and adapting human behavior at an unprecedented scale at this critical time in history. At the MIT Media Lab, we uniquely combine interdisciplinary expertise—from oceans to space, genetics to cities—and develop artificial intelligence, machine learning, supercomputer visualizations, and powerful experiences to change human behavior. We’ll create transformative technologies, experiences, and systems that address the dual challenge of climate change and energy. The goal is for society to work for 100% of humanity and for all living beings, so they can thrive—here on Earth and in worlds beyond.
Moderator: Paul Nowak, Executive Director, GreenBlue
Speaker: Dr. Dava Newman, Director, MIT Media Lab and Apollo Professor of Astronautics
Sponsored by Dow
3:15 pm - 3:35 pm Fireside Chat | Massachusetts’s Comprehensive Approach to Shrink Waste
In this fireside chat, John Fischer from MassDEP will share his organization’s work to advance waste reduction, recycling, composting and the latest learnings from the Massachusetts’ Solid Waste Master Plan and the implementation of the waste and organic food waste bans across the state.
Moderator: Paul Nowak, Executive Director, GreenBlue
Speaker: John Fischer, Deputy Division Director for Solid Waste, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP)
3:35 pm - 3:50 pm TED Talk | Building Food Recovery Infrastructure Through Powerful Partnerships
Ashley Stanley and her team at Lovin' Spoonfuls food rescue have been at the forefront of working with food retailers, nonprofits, community groups, elected officials, and more to expand food recovery efforts across Massachusetts. With much of Lovin' Spoonfuls' organizational and operational growth taking place since the onset of the pandemic, leveraging key partnerships has enabled Spoonfuls (New England's largest food rescue) to meet a heightened demand for food while mitigating the effects of wasted food on people and the planet.
Speaker: Ashley Stanley, Executive Director, Lovin’ Spoonfuls
3:50 pm - 4:05 pm TED Talk | Waste Makes Haste: How Addressing Waste is Accelerating the Good Business
In 2019 U.S. businesses generated approximately 50 million tons of surplus food – the equivalent of 80 billion meals, representing a $244 billion loss across the food service, retail, manufacturing, and farm sectors (ReFED). Massachusetts has been at the forefront of effective wasted food policy and strategy. For over a decade, the Center for EcoTechnology (CET) has delivered the RecyclingWorks MA program, a comprehensive commercial recycling assistance program funded by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. Lorenzo Macaluso, Chief Growth Officer of CET, will discuss the environmental, economic, and community impacts of reducing our waste, told through the success stories of Massachusetts businesses.
Speaker: Lorenzo Macaluso, Chief Growth Officer, Center for EcoTechnology
4:05 pm - 4:20 pm TED Talk | Introducing Innovation: Why We All Need to Track Surplus Food
You can’t manage what you don’t measure, and when you’re not measuring, your foodservice organization is likely wasting more than it should be. Historically, waste tracking has been labor intensive and unenforced, leaving a big question mark around not just losses, but true customer preference and organizational profitability. New technological developments, like Phood Solutions, are changing that for the better. In this session, Phood’s VP of Partnerships, Karen Franczyk, will talk about how human-centered technology is driving impact beyond the bottom line with some of the nation’s leading grocers and other prepared food operations. She’ll also look at how best to approach the issue of surplus food in any organization in the most strategic, and mutually beneficial way possible.
Speaker: Karen Franczyk, VP Partnerships, Phood
4:20 pm - 4:35 pm TED Talk | #ClothesArentTrash
Dan Green, co-founder and CEO of Helpsy, traded in his Wall Street career to work in the rag industry when he and two lifelong friends started the company. Dan will talk about what inspired him to start Helpsy, shed light on the giant problem that is textile waste and what we can do to prevent over 85% of clothing from ending up in the trash. This includes everything from the ins and outs of how Helpsy collects and sorts used clothing, what really happens to used clothing once it's collected, what brands and municipalities can do to help prevent textile waste and share insights on recent mechanical and chemical recycling developments.
Speaker: Dan Green, Co-founder and CEO, Helpsy
4:35 pm - 4:40 pm Closing Remarks for the Day
Paul Nowak, Executive Director, GreenBlue
