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Name
Sophie Hahn
Title
Vice Mayor, City of Berkeley
Bio
Vice-Mayor Sophie Hahn represents Berkeley's 5th District. She authored the recently adopted Single-Use Disposables and Litter Reduction Ordinance, a model approach to reducing throw-away foodware and transitioning to reusables. A deeply committed environmentalist, Hahn authored legislation to legalize/facilitate urban agriculture, implement high green-building standards, and brought 100% renewable energy to Alameda County through establishing East Bay Community Energy. She co-sponsored Berkeley's Climate Emergency Declaration and Electrification Ordinance (electric-only new buildings), chairs the Northern Alameda County Sierra Club, and operates an urban farm/CSA in her North Berkeley backyard. Hahn earned a BA in History (UCBerkeley) and a JD (Stanford Law School).
Collaborative Legislation Efforts to move from Throw-Away to Reusable Foodware
Berkeley has a long history of leadership in sustainability, environmental protections, and Zero Waste. The City pioneered curbside recycling in the 1970s and banned polystyrene in 1988. In 2009, Berkeley adopted an ambitious Climate Action Plan, and goal of achieving Zero Waste by 2020. Elected officials share a vision for Berkeley to be a global environmental leader.
In 2018, responding to the precipitous rise in throw-away foodware, the collapse of global recycling markets, and heightened awareness of plastic's impact on oceans and wildlife, Councilmember Sophie Hahn introduced the nation's first ordinance designed to facilitate a transition from throw-away to reusable foodware, addressing both dining-in and taking-out. Based on a concept led by Berkeley's Ecology Center and aided by zero waste and anti-plastics advocates, the Single-Use Disposables and Litter Reduction Ordinance takes significant steps toward ending Berkeley's reliance on SUD foodware and reducing street litter, ocean pollution, marine/wildlife harm, and greenhouse gas emissions.
How does a community make a breakthrough to fundamentally change its habits around the use of throwaway foodware? The answer: by coming together in a spirit of partnership with advocates, experts, legislators, citizen advisors and city staff, food vendors and the consuming public. Only through collaboration with a range of stakeholders is it possible for an elected official to create legislation and programs that really work, and to lay the groundwork for a dramatic shift from throw-away foodware and plastics toward both a reuse mindset, and creation of a system supporting reuse across the entire community.
Collaborative Legislation Efforts to move from Throw-Away to Reusable Foodware
Berkeley has a long history of leadership in sustainability, environmental protections, and Zero Waste. The City pioneered curbside recycling in the 1970s and banned polystyrene in 1988. In 2009, Berkeley adopted an ambitious Climate Action Plan, and goal of achieving Zero Waste by 2020. Elected officials share a vision for Berkeley to be a global environmental leader.
In 2018, responding to the precipitous rise in throw-away foodware, the collapse of global recycling markets, and heightened awareness of plastic's impact on oceans and wildlife, Councilmember Sophie Hahn introduced the nation's first ordinance designed to facilitate a transition from throw-away to reusable foodware, addressing both dining-in and taking-out. Based on a concept led by Berkeley's Ecology Center and aided by zero waste and anti-plastics advocates, the Single-Use Disposables and Litter Reduction Ordinance takes significant steps toward ending Berkeley's reliance on SUD foodware and reducing street litter, ocean pollution, marine/wildlife harm, and greenhouse gas emissions.
How does a community make a breakthrough to fundamentally change its habits around the use of throwaway foodware? The answer: by coming together in a spirit of partnership with advocates, experts, legislators, citizen advisors and city staff, food vendors and the consuming public. Only through collaboration with a range of stakeholders is it possible for an elected official to create legislation and programs that really work, and to lay the groundwork for a dramatic shift from throw-away foodware and plastics toward both a reuse mindset, and creation of a system supporting reuse across the entire community.
