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Name
Christopher Slafter
Title
Resource Conservation Specialist II, Waste Reduction, San Mateo County, Office of Sustainability
Bio
Chris Slafter is a Resource Conservation Specialist on the Waste Reduction team of San Mateo County's Office of Sustainability where he is primarily responsible for bringing the County's department facilities into compliance with the County food ware ordinance. Formerly, Chris implemented California Clean Water Action's ReThink Disposable program and has experience working with the local restaurant community. Chris holds a bachelor's degree in Philosophy from San Jose State University and a master's degree in Environmental Management from University of San Francisco where he conducted an extensive and thorough survey of single-use food ware ordinances of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Establishing a Methodology for Berkeley's Foodware Ordinance and How Other Municipalities Can Benefit From This Approach
City of Berkeley's food ware ordinance has served as a model for other Bay Area municipalities because it bans single-use plastic food ware items and accessories, requires alternate materials to be compostable and free of fluorinated chemicals, requires the use of reusable food ware items for on-site dining, and charges customers a fee for taking single-use disposable cups to go. Chris will be discussing the survey methodology that Berkeley used to incorporate business feedback into the ordinance writing process. Chris has managed survey projects to support single-use food ware ordinances in Berkeley, San Francisco, and San Mateo County.
Moreover, replacing single-use food ware items with compostable alternatives or reusable food ware items can be challenging and Chris will be discussing his experience providing technical assistance to restaurants through Clean Water Action's ReThink Disposable program. ReThink Disposable provides micro-grants to cover the cost of reusable food ware items and expertise to help businesses integrate reusable items into their existing operations. Clean Water Action's data collection demonstrates that, typically, businesses which replace single-use items with reusable items save money, reduce waste, and provide an alternative to the petrochemical industry driven market for a single-use consumer lifestyle.
Lastly, Chris will discuss the leadership role that County of San Mateo has taken by adopting a county-wide ordinance, providing incentives to the County's many municipalities to encourage them to either adopt the County ordinance or to pass an ordinance that goes further, and to mandate their own department facilities to comply with the ordinance.
Establishing a Methodology for Berkeley's Foodware Ordinance and How Other Municipalities Can Benefit From This Approach
City of Berkeley's food ware ordinance has served as a model for other Bay Area municipalities because it bans single-use plastic food ware items and accessories, requires alternate materials to be compostable and free of fluorinated chemicals, requires the use of reusable food ware items for on-site dining, and charges customers a fee for taking single-use disposable cups to go. Chris will be discussing the survey methodology that Berkeley used to incorporate business feedback into the ordinance writing process. Chris has managed survey projects to support single-use food ware ordinances in Berkeley, San Francisco, and San Mateo County.
Moreover, replacing single-use food ware items with compostable alternatives or reusable food ware items can be challenging and Chris will be discussing his experience providing technical assistance to restaurants through Clean Water Action's ReThink Disposable program. ReThink Disposable provides micro-grants to cover the cost of reusable food ware items and expertise to help businesses integrate reusable items into their existing operations. Clean Water Action's data collection demonstrates that, typically, businesses which replace single-use items with reusable items save money, reduce waste, and provide an alternative to the petrochemical industry driven market for a single-use consumer lifestyle.
Lastly, Chris will discuss the leadership role that County of San Mateo has taken by adopting a county-wide ordinance, providing incentives to the County's many municipalities to encourage them to either adopt the County ordinance or to pass an ordinance that goes further, and to mandate their own department facilities to comply with the ordinance.
