User:This iz for school/Don't Waste Durham

Founder
Crystal Pham Dreisbach, MPH, RPCV, is the founder and CEO of Don't Waste Durham. Featured in the Women in Circularity series, Dreisbach gives the biographical account of how she grew up in Alaska, and is the daughter of a Vietnamese immigrant. She has lived in Asia, the Pacific islands, Africa, Europe, and the United States; including work for the Peace Corps in central Africa. Her self proclaimed style of activism is "yes we can", a slogan made famous by Barack Obama: Yes We Can (slogan). Dreisbach attended the University of Washington from 1995 to 2000, completing a bachelor's degree in German language and Literature. From 2003-2005 she completed higher education at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, completing a Masters in Public Health with a focus in International development. In 2019, Dreisbach spoke at the Sullivan Foundation's Ignite Retreat describing the efforts Don't Waste Durham has taken in order to reduce the use of single-use plastic. In 2021, Dreisbach was named 'Activist of the Year' by Closed Loop Partners.

The GreentoGo Box
The GreentoGo box is a low-cost subscription service for study plastic to-go boxes. This service allows customers to purchase a yearly subscription through an app. After use, the containers are dropped off at return stations, and are collected back by the company to wash and return to participating restaurants. All of the legwork is done in a sustainable way: the return stations were built from recycled lumber, and the collection service is bike-powered. The GreentoGo boxes have been featured in Fast Company, and PBS NewsHour. GreentoGo's stated mission statement is to encourage a circular economy by disrupting the current system of a "take-and-trash" economy.

The Bull City Boomerang Bag
The Bull City Boomerang Bags are free products, which are volunteer made, out of recycled fabric, structured as a tote bag.

Workshops and Conferences
Don't Waste Durham also offers their services as speakers at workshops and conferences.

The ReCirculation Project
The ReCirculation project focuses on keeping materials in a loop between the public and businesses. Dreisbach's believes that the recycling industry can be restructured to include re-distributing materials back out to the public. This project has been highlighted by Innovate Durham, the EPA's America Recycles Expo, the All Thing's Open conference, the Otronicon Technology Conference, and has been featured on NPR: "Reduce, reuse, recycle is getting a new R: Recirculation".

Partnerships
Don't Waste Durham partnered with the Duke Environmental Law and Policy Clinic to help draft ordinances and legislation that would help cut-down on single-use plastic.

Partnered with Reaching All Minds Academy, Don't Waste Durham implemented the use of new reusable lunch trays and silverware. These trays will be brought to the school, and then picked up and washed by Don't Waste Durham after school every day.

History
2013: Don't Waste Durham, a nonprofit organization, founded by Crystal Dreisbach, launches in Durham, North Carolina on August 23, with the mission to "create solutions that prevent trash".

2015: In 2015, Dreisbach and her team began a Kickstarter campaign, which ended in 2016 raising $26,242, to get enough funds to launch the GreentoGo box with partner Amy Eller , which officially launched in 2017.

2016: Don't Waste Durham first launched it's Food truck certification program at Fullsteam Brewery in Durham, North Carolina. To get certified, the food truck has to pass two requirements: using only 100% compostable or recycled materials, and using composting bins. The first two food trucks that were certified were Caffé Bellezza and Chez Moi Bakery.

2017: First conceptualized by Dreisbach in 2009, Don't Waste Durham officially launched its GreentoGo box subscription service. The program was designed in partnership with the North Carolina state health agency, and is within the state health code. At the start, Don't Waste Durham did not have their own facilities for washing the GreentoGo containers, and relied on collaboration with other partners to get the containers cleaned. During this time, Don't Waste Durham used the dishwasher in a residential voluntary treatment organization partner for substance abuse recovery.

2019: Don't Waste Durham worked in conjunction with the Duke Environmental Law and Policy Clinic to draft an ordinance that would offer rewards to local schools and businesses that voluntarily cut-down on single-use plastic. Participating schools and businesses could be be eligible for a bronze, silver, or gold certification, which would measure their level of waste reduction. In August, the Durham city-county Environmental Affairs Board unanimously endorsed a 10-cent fee on most single use plastic and paper provided by businesses, a project spearheaded by Don't Waste Durham and the Duke Environmental Law and Policy Clinic. Additionally in 2019, Don't Waste Durham launched the ReCirculation project.

2020: Don't Waste Durham partnered with the City of Durham Solid Waste Management and Sonoco Recycling to help continue developing the ReCirculation project. Additionally, Don't Waste Durham launched the Bull City Boomerang Bags.

2021: NPR hosts Dreisbach to discuss Don't Waste Durham. She states that as of then, 29 businesses in Durham have started using GreentoGo, providing the to-go containers to over 800 users. Dreisbach claims that as of then, they have diverted close to 20,000 to-go containers from ending up in a landfill.

2022: In September, Don't Waste Durham, in collaboration with Reaching All Minds Academy, implemented the use of reusable lunch ware.

Awards

 * 2010 Crystal Dreisbach won runner-up in GOOD Magazine's competition for "Extraordinary Solutions to Everyday Problems" with the original idea for GreentoGo boxes.
 * 2018 Accepted into the R!oT Accelerator Program
 * 2018 Semi-finalist for a grant from the NC IDEA foundation
 * 2019 Selected for an Innovate Durham partnership
 * 2021 Crystal Dreisbach awarded activist of the year at The Reusies

Headquarters
Located in Durham, North Carolina

Staff and Volunteers
Founder and CEO: Crystal Dreisbach (She/Her/Hers)

Director of Solutions and Innovation: Derek Alan Rowe (He/Him/His)

Administrative Manager: Molly Fogel (She/Her/Hers)

Senior Program Officer and Grants Manager: Madelyn Vital (She/Her/Hers)

Boomerang Bag Program Manager: Toni Mason (She/Her/Hers)

Staff Writer and Field Engineer: George Stubbs (He/Him/His)

Board of Directors
Wil Weldon, Vandana Dake, Tim Scales, Margaret McNab, Garry Cutright, Reed Frankel

Marketing
The mission of Don't Waste Durham is to "create solutions that prevent trash" using a circular economy model.