FUSE Executive Fellow for Dekalb County, Georgia | Sustainability and ESG Advisor for Super District 6 DeKalb County | Minister | Creating Regenerative Ecosystems
MOMS GOING GREEN Joanna Kobylivker explains how she is not a scientist but she saw the need to do her part in helping to be a caretaker of the earth. She organized with moms across the community in a wide range of initiatives to make the city more sustainable. AdamahGeorgia Interfaith Power & LightTed Terry
What we're framing here is a world House of different individuals, different backgrounds, different faiths and religions. And so Joanna. From the Jewish community, how can you know we connect with you all and what are some of the work we're doing? Because we're all in this world house where all of this community, we all have a role to play to make this a more green and equitable and sustainable place. So what is some of the work we can do and how can people join with you in that work? Absolutely. Thank you. It's worth noting just that the two second background of why I'm on this stage. I am not a rabbi, I'm not a climate scientist. I'm not a farmer. I'm really, I'm a person, I'm a mom and I like a lot of people in this room. I sort of saw something I didn't like in this world and I I turned to faith and tried to make sense of a world that was just not the world that I wanted it to be. And so my journey. Really started in a public school. I live in Fulton County. My kids were at Atlanta Public Schools and I noticed they were using Styrofoam trays all day every day, twice a day. And I thought, huh, that's interesting. It's 2019. Why are and so I connected with other moms and I actually connected with a mom in De Kalb County and learned that they convince their school board to get rid of Styrofoam. And umm, so. I just started building community and connecting with fellow parents. We attended board meetings and we learned that in a single year, Atlanta public school throws away 8. 4 million Styrofoam trays, which is, if anyone doesn't know, Styrofoam is the worst. It's really bad. If it comes apart. It leeches polystyrene in our water and our soil. Our children are eating it on the hot food that they are served breakfast and lunch. Terrible. So I just sort of, you know, looked around what, what else can we do?
