Every year, around Give STL Day, I contemplate what St. Louis Earth Day has meant to me and how it has transformed my life.

Three years ago, while riding my bike through Forest Park on my way to work, I noticed a St. Louis Earth Day sign in the trash. I stopped to take a snarky photo, but I was stopped short by someone exclaiming, “you found my sign!!!” It turned out that John Allen, a longtime Friend of St. Louis Earth Day, had been searching for the missing sign for hours. He explained that at the St. Louis Earth Day Festival, nothing goes in the trash – composting and recycling efforts are assisted by Recycling On the Go, a program of St. Louis Earth Day that specializes in event greening. I was captivated – this whole St. Louis Earth Day thing sounded right up my alley. I was very late to work because of my conversation with John, and when I finally showed up, I spent my first few minutes at my desk applying for a part-time job with Recycling On the Go (ROG). After working for ROG for a few months, the Green Dining Alliance Program Manager position opened up, and I was fortunate enough to land the gig. My work life and personal life have revolved around helping to make St. Louis more sustainable ever since, and I couldn’t feel luckier to be at St. Louis Earth Day.

SLED Staff enjoying our 2018 Recycling Extravaganza!

When I told this story to my partner, Andy, he told me about how St. Louis Earth Day changed his life, too. The St. Louis Earth Day Festival was his first exposure to like-minded people and organizations when he first moved to town. It also helped him quit a nasty habit. He attended the festival in an “I ♥ Clean Air” t-shirt, and was approached by a young father while he smoked a cigarette. The young man pointed at his shirt and said, “oh ya do, do ya?” He quit smoking because of the Earth Day Festival.

I told our Executive Director and Fearless Leader Jen about Andy’s story, and she told me her own:

“Having attended the Festival for several years with my young girls, I came across the Saint Louis University Center for Sustainability’s table under the Muny walkway….got information…applied/accepted into the program….graduated, got hired by St. Louis Earth Day. Now I am master of the universe!”

After my conversations with Andy and Jen, I realized that my coworkers all had serendipitous stories about how St. Louis Earth Day has changed their life or how they got involved with our organization. I decided to ask for their stories to share them with you.

From Bob:

“The only reason I am in St. Louis is because I didn’t know the difference between Montana’s abbreviation (MT) and Missouri’s (MO) decades ago when I was looking to be a part of an environmental education program. I finally achieved that goal here at SLED and I’m not looking back! The power of ignorance!”

From Laura:

“I first met the St. Louis Earth Day staff when I worked for Pure Power and my boss was also the SLED Board President at the time. We shared an office downtown with Cassie (the former Executive Director of St. Louis Earth Day) and Jeanette (The former St. Louis Earth Day Program Manager and founder of the Green Dining Alliance), which turned out to be a total circle of life thing! There are no coincidences!

From Kathy:

“When I first volunteered for the Festival, I had no idea about Recycling On the Go (ROG) and the Green Dining Alliance (GDA) and they are the BEST things about St . Louis Earth Day! I do my best to eat at GDA restaurants whenever I can and it is so awesome the list is expanding to my part of town! ROG rocks the festival scene and helps small events reduce their landfill waste. My son’s wedding was zero-waste with help from ROG!”

From Rachel:

“I was checking out the Zoo newsletter online to see what was happening for Earth Day when I came across “We are hiring” advertisement from ROG.  After investigating what ROG was, I couldn’t believe individuals got paid to go to festivals and recycle. I applied immediately!! SLED has changed my life by becoming a positive daily focus on all things Earthy for our planet.

From Aspen: 

“I REALLY wanted to find a side hustle that I was passionate about and was introduced to Jenn. Right off the bat I grew to love SLED and knew it was an organization I wanted to be a part of for a long time. “

From Ashley:

“OMG I LOVE Bob’s recollection of my first day with ROG. I showed up to the Earth Day Festival for my first shift ever, pretty excited but I really had no idea what I was in for. Bob gave me the rundown then passed me on to get trained and told me to go sort some trash cans with him. According to Bob, the look on my face made him think I’d never come back to work after that day….but here I am in my fourth season!!

 

But really, working with ROG has done nothing but make me incredibly happy, introduce me to amazing people, and teach me all kinds of great things about recycling!!  I’d be a big sad lump without my ROG team.  And now I can’t turn it off, all I do is talk to people about recycling and sort trash cans during off hours!”

This Give STL Day, think about how St. Louis Earth Day has touched your life, and consider donating a few dollars to our tiny-but-mighty nonprofit!

Thank you for your support!

-Jenn DeRose, Program Manager for the Green Dining Alliance.

We love working for St. Louis Earth Day!