Who are our Climate Action Team leaders?
Collette Streight- Collette has been a passionate Earth-lover for as long as she can remember and is delighted to be the coordinator of the City of Santa Cruz's Climate Action Teams Program. She has been an active member of the local environmental movement since she arrived to Santa Cruz in 1998 working for the City of Watsonville, Ecology Action, and co-coordinating a year-long Permaculture Design Course at Live Earth Farm. Collette finds the Climate Action Teams Program to be fun, inspiring, and informative. Her favorite carbon reduction strategies include riding her bike and line drying her clothes. The latest idea she is considering is liberating herself from her car completely!
Matthew Marichiba- Matthew has lived in Santa Cruz since 2001 and resides in the Seabright neighborhood with his wife Serina. After making his living as a computer engineer for ten years, he is now studying for a masters of business administration with a focus on how to use business to promote social and environmental sustainability. Matthew has special interests in community building and neighborhood self reliance. When not studying, Matthew spends the rest of his time loving life with his wife, acting with ScripTease Improv and Sketch Comedy, or playing capoeira.
Sheila Peck- Sheila is an environmental consultant living in Santa Cruz with her husband Ralph Maltese and two children, Jesse and Maia. She has been interested in the issue of climate change for several years. Participating in a climate action team has helped her become more aware of how so many of our individual actions contribute to the problem. She also found that it was quite easy to make beneficial changes! Her biggest revelation from the CAT process: that methane is over 20 times more effective in trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide - so reduce that garbage that goes to the landfill (which emits methane.) Sheila's group had a great time being a Climate Action Team, and highly recommends it to others!
Greg Cotten- Greg is local marine biologist who studies water quality issues around the state. Locally he's working on the proposed desalination plant research and CCLEAN (Central Coast Longterm Environmental Network) project that monitors our rivers, the bay, and waste water effluents for pollutants. He realizes that we must act powerfully now and inspire others to do the same if we are to have a viable ecosystem. Greg's most excited about his realization that being a model low-carbon community can have national and global effects. One thing he's currently taking on (and often successful with) is driving the speed limit (like - what the signs say) as a way to increase fuel efficiency and reduce his carbon footprint. He loved being a Climate Action Team Leader and thinks you would enjoy it too!
Gregory Bondi- Nature, beauty and inspiration are three main driving forces in Gregory's life. Without the peace and tranquility of natural surroundings, he feels he would be lost and so Gregory is diligent about living a life that will preserve the magnificence of Earth. A bit radical in his youth, he lived for a time off the grid in rural Alabama and demanded that not an ounce of plastic material be allowed on the land. Many years ago he began the 'long road back to the middle' and strives above anything else for balance. Gregory found the Climate Action Team to be a simple, yet amazingly practical tool for tightening up the loose areas of one's life. It truly is the small things that can make the biggest difference. The grand visions of being an eco-warrior can be alluring, but when it comes down to it, simply examining your habits around washing dishes and driving brings it all home. Gregory feels programs like the City of Santa Cruz's Climate Action Teams Program should be required Citizen-courses! Gregory is a ceramic artist by trade, a trained storyteller, poet, book author: Core Constitution & The Diet For Consciousness, Certified Yoga Instructor and Certified Metabolic Typing Advisor. He is currently working as a case manager for an individual with special needs and has just begun setting up his ceramic studio again after relocating to CA from PA a few years ago.
