Aspire to Zero

10/14/2026

I think we learn better when our hands are occupied. And when they’re occupied by the thing we’re learning about, oh the synapses will be a-firin’!! Can’t wait to speak at this innovative event by The Blue Bus Project in LIC, NYC. Hope to see you there 🫶🏽

10/12/2026

Indigenous Peoples Day Indigenous Peoples Day NYC
I came carrying a heavy load but the joy and resistance of the people of the many tribes represented lifted all the spirits. The sacred bond between us and our ancestors and the land was celebrated from the Sunrise Ceremony, To***co Ceremony, to the powerful Water Ceremony. Thank you to the organizers for an incredible day! Happy to be on the Zero Waste volunteer team led by Gil Lopez and TreeBedsNYC

10/08/2026

For a long time now, I’ve known about and even recommended NYC’s Master Composter program to others. I followed the program and saw how frustrating it was that such a wonderful program could not be guaranteed funding year after year from NYC Mayor's Office and New York City Council , keeping many educators, workers, and students/volunteers wondering if they could ever use these skills in the future and be able to count on them in a stable way.

Then one random day, upon Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ‘s encouragement, I signed myself up for it. I am so elated that I did! From the standard coursework (which I did on Zoom) to the incredible hands-on volunteer hour opportunities at the many different locations all over NYC, I feel I have learned so much more than I ever knew from reading about compost! I also deeply appreciate the way the program makes it accessible to visit so many locations and in all 5 boroughs, if you’d like, demonstrating the different challenges and wins with composting in different spaces and sizes.

Big thank you to the program and organizers New York City Council , and to Sky Farm LIC and Big Reuse educators for maintaining a lovely space and providing a fun experience (and workout!). Doing this work shows that low tech, high community engagement, low fossil fuel usage, and high people powered solutions ARE THE FUTURE!!!! ☀️🕶️

Much pride in the windrow we created, affectionately: Doctober McSteamy 🧖🏽‍♂️ (the middle one in the first pic!). I ❤️ 🔄 ❤️NYC

10/06/2026

10/02/2026

Come to our monthly meeting and learn what Climate Families is all about! I’m leading this one around AI and Climate Action because it’s so important to me to teach my kids the cost of convenience. AI can make some tasks easier and faster, but AT WHAT COST? Come discuss this with our amazing community of parents, caretakers, and allies so we can co-create SOLUTIONS! 💚

09/23/2026

09/23/2026

NYC Climate Week is officially kicked off!!! 🌍🌱Plastics & Public Health Symposium NYULH CIEH , year 3 (and Day 1)!! Featuring a moving speech by the Honorable Reverend Lennox Yearwood Jr., Executive Producer, President and CEO of Hip Hop Caucus Hip Hop Caucus as well as Dr. Leo Trasande Plastic Pollution Coalition Outside Lands hannah testa and many more!! People are hearing the message about plastic pollution, and want to act! These folks are given then evidence backed solutions! True win-win 🙌🏽

(And wouldn’t be complete without a protest outside NYU, which I didn’t have time to find out much about)

09/07/2026

As Aspire to Zero, our values around boldly reducing climate change through the low hanging fruit of waste reduction and diversion from the landfill/incineration cuts across everything we do. I am proud to include this disclaimer into the report of my current client. We never have and never will use Artificial (Manipulated Stolen Uncredited) Intelligence in our work.

A friend who believes AI is inevitable watched me struggle through writing some parts of the report and crunch the data asked why I wouldn’t run my spreadsheet through AI. So here are my reasons:
1. My data is nuanced and, in certain ways, complex. I believe I’d have to do more work in the end to ensure the AI had the right results. (It reminds me in coding that it’s often harder to read through someone else’s code to figure out what went wrong than to just write it yourself.)
2. The greenhouse gas emissions. We’ve just been informed by the UN that we’ve surpassed the 1.5 degree Celsius warming threshold to keep climate change consequences within safe(ish) levels. The widespread wildfires, flooding, extreme heat, hurricanes, etc that we’ve experienced these last few decades are in the “safe” zone. Do we really want to use AI that spews so many GHG’s in the atmosphere in a crisis moment when we need to be doing the exact opposite of that??
3. THE STRUGGLE IS THE ENTIRE POINT. After some of the most laborious struggle can be automated (think: washing machine), there needs to be some friction that results in meaning which is what humans crave, not only for a feeling of accomplishment, but as a way of realizing one’s own identity.
4. I don’t want to erode my own critical thinking skills. Only through DOING, even when at times tedious, do we learn and lock the skills in our brains. I’m not giving those skills away for some convenience.
5. Many more reasons including that people aren’t compensated or credited when their work is stolen and fed into AI, that it is increasing the likelihood of a surveillance state, that it’s stealing kids’ futures and presents…and on and on.

AI is not inevitable. 🛑

08/17/2026

I have to share this. This right here is everything I work towards thru this account, my business, Aspire to Zero.
It’s not hard. It’s not overly techy and complicated. It’s not resource intensive.
It saves money. It creates community. It’s a win win win win win win win win!
It proves the saying “we have the solutions, we just need the will!”
❌ Say no or pause on high tech solutions to the climate crisis.
✅ Say yes to low tech, low hanging fruit!
🙌🏽 We’ve done it before, we can do it again!!

Get Repost App • 1 Million Women You know when you’re cleaning your house and you end up with a whole lot of polystyrene, plastic bags, pillows, quilts, coffee cups, electrical appliances, textiles…

Well, if you’re lucky enough to live in Wendy Showyin’s building, you’d have a dedicated space to put it all to be properly disposed of!

Oh, and an entire room full of bits and bobs where you can leave things and take them for free.

It saves $74,000 dollars on service costs for the building, $280 less on rates every year.

As well as the recycling wall and the reuse room, Wendy’s building has a packaging station where people moving in leave their boxes for people moving out, and the cleaners leave the bin room tidy to the point of military precision, because they’re invited to use the reuse room and are embraced as part of the community.

Wendy’s advice for anyone wanting to do the same thing – she says most people want things to be cleaner, more efficient and environmentally friendly! And get talking to your cleaners, they have the best ideas. 💡

07/15/2026

There is a direct line from single use plastics to this heat wave, to forest fires, to shrinking coastlines, to more ticks and mosquitos, and on and on and on. Until we better understand the interconnectedness of our decisions, there will be interconnectedness of consequences. Money can’t protect you that much either. Participating in changing the world for the better can. If you don’t know where to start, try at the hyper-local level, like your block!