Aryeh Alex - Leveling up from Console to Conservation

[00:00:10] Dominique: Hello. Welcome to another episode of Green Champions.

[00:00:13] Adam: Thanks for joining us in a conversation with real people, making real environmental change in the work that they do. I'm here with Dominique, the sustainability expert.

[00:00:21] Dominique: And I'm so glad to be here alongside Adam, the social enterprise extraordinaire. We bring you guests who saw the potential for impact in their job or community and have done something about it.

[00:00:31] Adam: From entrepreneurs to artists, scientists to activists, this podcast is a platform for green champions to share their stories and plant new ideas.

[00:00:38] Dominique: Whether you're tuning in while walking with your dog or maybe you're just listening, getting ready for work, today, Adam and I are joined by Aryeh Alex. Aryeh is the executive director at Keep Columbus Beautiful, which is an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful. Aryeh is also the sustainability manager for the city of Columbus. Aryeh leads the city of Columbus in their residential recycling, organic waste, waste reduction, community education, and volunteer litter programs for the Department of Public Service.

[00:01:07] Dominique: Aryeh also serves as a sustainability coordinator for the Division of Refuse Collection, leading the Waste Working Group for the city's climate action plan. And if that wasn't enough, Aryeh is also the Commissioner of the Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks. 

[00:01:21] Dominique: Today we're gonna approach sustainability from the side of community-wide initiatives and engagement, and I am so thrilled to have Aryeh as our guest. Thanks for joining us today, Aryeh.

[00:01:30] Aryeh: Thank you guys for having me.

[00:01:31] Adam: Yeah, we're really excited That was quite a long list.

[00:01:34] Dominique: I know. He does a lot.

[00:01:35] Adam: He does a lot. 

[00:01:36] Aryeh: I feel like you just wrote my bio in a short version and I'm totally gonna steal that and use it from here on out.

[00:01:41] Adam: So to kick us off, it seems like you do so much in the world of making our planet clean and beautiful. What got you into this area?

[00:01:49] Aryeh: Well, I, um, was never really into nature. I grew up playing video games and if I could be at home in my basement, like drinking a 2L Mountain Dew, eating pizza with my friends, playing on my Xbox, like that was like the life. My parents at one point when I was younger, they sent me to some nature survival camp and it was traumatizing 'cause it's one of those camps where they give you like a tool and say, "Hey, you're gonna spend three days out in nature and you have to learn how to survive and take care of yourself." And I was like, "Oh no, this is not for me." So I never really got into being out in nature. 

[00:02:20] Aryeh: It wasn't until I was an adult, I was a union organizer on a union campaign. It was a pretty nasty union campaign out in California and I was out there for like six months. And rather than fly home on the weekends, I said, "Ooh, I'll just stay here 'cause it's California. I'm gonna go do cool stuff." And I was like, "Well, let me go drive out to this Yosemite and see what this is about." 

[00:02:44] Aryeh: And I was kind of bummed and burned out and, you know, depressed driving out there. And I got there and there's this point where you kind of like turn into the park and you see all the rock formations and the waterfalls. And I went, "Oh man. This is something that's really magical and awesome and I probably should be out here a little bit more 'cause this is making me feel good." Then I started visiting national parks and getting involved and saying, "Oh, we actually have to protect this. We need to do something because the world's literally on fire and I want to be part of that." And that kind of started driving my career towards sustainability and conservation work.

[00:03:19] Dominique: What a first outdoor experience. First is loose, but.. 

[00:03:23] Aryeh: Of course Yosemite's gonna inspire you to do something. It's like one of the coolest national parks, like Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir were there, you know? And now it's like, " Okay, well if it's good enough for them, it's probably good enough for me," and it kind of awoke something in me, which I think has really thrived as I've continued my career in life.

[00:03:40] Dominique: Okay. So when you were like, I wanna get involved in conservation work, what did you first do? How did you segue into an environmental career?

[00:03:47] Aryeh: So, I've always lived in Ohio. I mean, I've had jobs in other states and kind of temporary lived places, but Ohio's been my home. And when I was in Columbus, I've been here for about 15 years, I said, "I wanna be in some nature that is close to me." So I started checking out our metro parks, which even though I had lived here, I really hadn't been part of them. And I found out there was like a herd of bison in one of the parks and I'm like, 

[00:04:10] Aryeh: "Wait, what? There were bison in national parks and we have bison here? That's pretty sweet." So I started volunteering in those parks and by volunteering in those parks, I really learned a lot from the amazing staff there. And that kind of helped me say, "You don't have to go to a national park to experience something, but there's things that are worth protecting here", especially as a region develops. And I said, "Okay, well I can be at home in nature here and do cool work together." And that was a really cool combination.

[00:04:37] Adam: For listeners who aren't from, Central Ohio, can you explain some of the really cool things about the Metro parks here?

[00:04:44] Aryeh: Yeah, so our Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks, we're a Metropolitan Park district. We are the largest park district in the state of Ohio. We have just under 30,000 acres of land that are protected.

[00:04:53] Adam: 30,000 acres.

[00:04:55] Aryeh: Yeah It's huge. We have a national scenic river that runs through one of our parks, the Darby Creek, Big Darby Creek. It has species of mussels that live there that can be found nowhere else in the world. They're endangered. We also have a greenway bike trails. It is separate from the city park system, which are much more recreation focused and smaller parks. These are much larger areas of land that are designed for conservation, but also the best way to conserve things and protect things are for people to be in them and to see that they're worth protecting. And so they are a wonderful combination of an urban park that is still protected. 

[00:05:31] Aryeh: We get over 11 million people a year that visit those parks. And if you go in those parks, you can be completely alone in them, even though there are millions of people that are visiting them. And I think one of the things that those parks are really doing a wonderful job at is protecting land now as Central Ohio grows in a major way. They're protecting that land. And they're creating green spaces for people, especially as we want more density and we want more affordable housing. We can't do that at the expense of people not being able to get out in nature. And that is something that I think our metro parks do a really, really good job at. And I think 20, 30 years from now, people will really thank us for buying and protecting a lot of land. We're the largest landholder in Franklin County, which is where the city of Columbus is. And I think it's pretty cool.

[00:06:14] Dominique: So you mentioned volunteering being a big segue for you to like get exposure into that space. What were you doing before you were volunteering? What was like the previous career? What did you study?

[00:06:24] Aryeh: Yeah, so I actually dropped out of culinary school. And so I spent a couple years in culinary school. My dad was a cookbook author and caterer, and I was like, "This is gonna be really fun." And I remember watching like Julia Child growing up on PBS and I was like, "This is gonna be fun." And you get to culinary school and then it's just like, "Oh my gosh. This is not the creative adventure that you would expect." It's teaching you the skills to be able to mass produce and to work in large scale kitchens and the business of working in kitchens. And that wasn't the fun that I thought it was going to be. 

[00:06:52] Aryeh: So I went on and studied some political science. I then worked on a bunch of political campaigns, which kind of taught me how to do political engagement and community building. And I got a little burned out on that and said, "Okay, what's the point of electing people if they're not going to do things that I think are actually helping." That got me into union organizing and it was great being able to empower people and give them the tools to do that. Which then also kind of drove me to what that volunteer experience was because it was being with people. 

[00:07:21] Aryeh: And I think I thrive the most when I am with people, giving them the tools or skills that they need to be empowered to make a change. And whether that be organizing a union, planting a tree, picking up a piece of litter, or calling for a policy change, I think people are the lifeblood of our society. And that is a really powerful thing to do and be part of and I think it's a unique skillset that I've been happy to kind of move into the sustainability realm.

[00:07:48] Adam: I love that. And just, acknowledging that, "Yeah, hey, there's so many of us living in our cities and our rural areas everywhere, and the air that we breathe is one of the things that gives us life and vitality. So being able to come together in really beautiful spaces, that's so important. 

[00:08:03] Aryeh: When people are out in nature, I feel like it's really hard to not be happy even when you're having a really bad day and actually when you're really having a bad day, being out in nature is a good thing 'cause you can be out there. And I remember during the pandemic you could walk down a park trail and someone could have a Planned Parenthood shirt on and a person could have a Trump hat on and they could cross their paths on the trail. They could both nod and smile at each other and keep on going. 

[00:08:28] Dominique: A little Midwest hello. 

[00:08:29] Aryeh: Yeah. And it's like people can coexist in nature and it's not divisive. And protecting that space is good for everyone.

[00:08:38] Dominique: I'm curious how has your background in political science and policy and that side of things educated you to be a better advocate of our planet? Or how do you lean on things you learned there when promoting conservation and working for the environment?

[00:08:53] Aryeh: So, I am not a policy expert at all. I actually think I'm a total moron when it comes to the science of a lot of the sustainability stuff. There are some really, really smart people out there that are coming up with solutions. But translating those solutions into actions, especially at that local level, is really hard. If you're able to say, "Here is what we need to do," and then get people to do it, that is a skillset. And that's where I'm actually really good. 

[00:09:20] Aryeh: I always talk to really smart people and say, "I don't understand the words you're saying, but can you put it on three bullet points or can you figure out how to fit it on a bumper sticker so that I can understand it so that I can tell other people about it?" If someone is hungry, and they are working two or three jobs and they are trying to figure out how their kids are gonna get to school the next day, or how they're going to get to work the next day because they don't have reliable transportation, coming in and saying, "Hey, let me talk to you about all this handful of sustainability stuff that's gonna make the world a better place," is not going to be a priority. 

[00:09:52] Aryeh: But there are things in the sustainability space that can help with those needs. And so if you can meet people where they're at, if you can provide solutions, even if they're small things that may not feel like it's changing the world, but if it's making someone's life easier and better, that actually helps with our larger sustainability work because we can't be sustainable if people aren't sustainable. 

[00:10:15] Dominique: Can you give us some examples of things that you've shared that you think really help community members that may would not think sustainability pertains to them, or any examples of things that do touch on that fact, that sustainability is a key part of everybody also living a sustainable life.

[00:10:29] Aryeh: So let's just talk about litter. Litter, I think of as an environmental justice issue. When there is a piece of litter, especially if it's a piece of plastic litter, and if it's on the ground, it won't break down, it won't degrade, but it will turn into microplastics and those plastics will end up in our waterway, which we end up drinking. Or they end up in the soil and we hope that people grow food in their communities and now they could potentially be eating that litter and those microplastics. And one of the reasons that litter ends up is because trash is not bagged properly or put in the proper containers. 

[00:11:05] Aryeh: So if you have plastic and you're putting in your recycling bin, it's gonna be picked up by a recycling truck. But if it's just trash sitting in your trash bin, and when the truck comes and grabs it and empties it, that trash blows away out of that container and it becomes litter. And if you're at the grocery store saying, "I need bread for sandwiches," or "I'm going to buy trash bags," and that's a decision you have to make, there is no way you're gonna buy trash bags. And so if we are able to give individuals trash bags and say, "Hey, here's a trash bag to bag your trash", it's a simple behavior. You're already taking your trash out. Now you have a trash bag to put that trash in. It will not create litter. It will not create those microplastics. It will not end up in our waterways. It will not end up contaminating, imploding our soil, it's a win. It's a sustainability win. And it's as simple as us saying, "Here's a trash bag for you to do it," to change your behavior. But it's also something we're not gonna make someone. make that decision. 

[00:11:59] Aryeh: If it's food versus trash bags, of course you're gonna buy food. Absolutely. So that is like a very simple, tangible thing that can make a real difference. That may not have a substantial carbon or greenhouse gas reduction, but it does make that community more sustainable. Maybe not in the short run, but in the long run, especially when we're looking at our drinking water.

[00:12:19] Adam: What are some of the issues that we have around our drinking water?

[00:12:22] Aryeh: Well, I think we are very privileged here in Central Ohio to have really top-notch water. I think some of the issues that we have is litter. And we look at our annual litter index where we kind of drive around the city and identify how much litter is in every alley and street, and we identify that over 52% of the litter is actually in the waterways. 

[00:12:42] Dominique: 52% of the litter is in the water waste?

[00:12:45] Aryeh: Yeah, more than half is in our waterways. And we think of like the trash blob in the ocean, it's not people on a beach throwing their litter, it's people throwing it on the ground in their street here in Columbus, and it's getting in our storm water systems. And in Columbus that goes from our stormwater systems to the Scioto River which flows to the Ohio River, which flows to the Mississippi River, which goes into the Gulf of Mexico, which ends up in the ocean. And so that trash starts here and that contamination starts here. And so yes, you might think of that trash in the ocean as something far off, and it's some other country's problem, but it's actually here. And it's your behavior. It's our behavior here. If you're like, "I don't want this cigarette butt," which cigarette butts are the number one piece of litter that we have. They do not break down. They have microplastics in them. They're also really disgusting.

[00:13:36] Dominique: I think number two is like gum.

[00:13:38] Aryeh: Yeah. And it's gum and, but like those are things that are small and you're like, "Oh, it's just a cigarette butt. I can throw that out my car window." Okay, yeah, you can throw it out your car window, but it's going to contaminate our waterways and it's gonna end up in the ocean. And that is something that that behavior change that you make a conscious decision or unconscious decision can make a real difference. And if we all see that behavior change, it makes a difference. And look, I think litter in waste in general is one of those things that is complete human behavior change. Yes, there needs to be a little bit of infrastructure. But most of it is us. Like we just need to do things slightly differently. And oftentimes it's just as easy as the behavior we're currently doing. It's just teaching ourselves to do a different behavior. 

[00:14:27] Adam: So that's something where it doesn't really take a lot of effort for us to change that behavior, and it's not gonna impact our lives in a big way. Like we don't have to stop eating bread in order to throw things out.

[00:14:37] Aryeh: Yeah. Absolutely. It's just, it's putting your waste in the right place, and thinking twice before you possibly litter.

[00:14:44] Dominique: I relate the connection there too between that concept that everything we do has an impact and like the individual matters, I think that litter example is a great mental image of the fact that you might think here in Columbus, Ohio, you're not part of the contributing factor to how much trash is collecting in our oceans that we see videos about and so many startups trying to find solutions to tackle. But being able to see the connection of like that the things you do here do ripple effect and we all are part of the same ecosystem. And that's just I think a really great mental image of why individual impact matters, but also there's like so much collective action needed.

[00:15:19] Aryeh: Yeah. When I go and kayak or canoe on one of our waterways and I see a bunch of litter in there, I know someone didn't dump that in the waterways. And I'm thinking to myself, I'm like, that ended up from one of our streets or outside of someone's car and it's depressing because you see it in the waterways and I know that that's going right to our water treatment plants, which do a phenomenal job of creating clean, drinkable water that is top-notch. 

[00:15:40] Dominique: But as our city grows, I mean, we need to be conscious that we are keeping it that way.

[00:15:45] Aryeh: Yeah, absolutely. And we need to be conscious of that our water doesn't just stay here in Columbus. These rivers go downstream. And south of Columbus is Appalachia. And these are areas that have significant environmental justice issues. They've either been dumping grounds, they've been red, we think of red lining in urban areas. But these communities in Appalachia and southeast Ohio also have been neglected and not invested in properly. 

[00:16:10] Aryeh: Can you unpack a little bit about the environmental injustice in the Appalachia area?

[00:16:14] Aryeh: Well, I'm not an expert in environmental justice in Appalachia. I'm from Cincinnati, Ohio, and I now live in Columbus, Ohio. So I'm very much a city person. But I think we look at a lot of environmental justice from air pollution to just lack of infrastructure. And I think red lining is real. But I also think it's often used as a buzzword on things and it's saying, " Oh, it's an area that's been redlined, so we need to invest in it." And especially from a city perspective, I think areas that we have that the city has intentionally redlined in the past and we are making an effort to invest in and correct those behaviors can often lead to gentrification of those communities. And I think that that is something that we are really conscious of, which is why we are working on ensuring that there's continues to be affordable housing in those areas, and that we aren't moving people out of those communities as we invest in correcting the problems of redlining that were there.

[00:17:04] Aryeh: And so I think that's the same in Appalachia too. And, I think Appalachia, it is a very interesting area because it's primarily a more rural white community, but it faces the exact same challenges that our urban communities of color have here in urban centers. They're impoverished. They have significant socioeconomic challenges. And, they lack investments in public health and education and food. And those create the same systemic challenges. And I think when you look at the issues and challenges that people face in our urban core versus Appalachia, they're identical and often those communities are pitted against each other politically, and I think that they have much more in common than they don't. And I think if we, as a society, if we could better relate with each other and connect with each other on some of these things, we would see that we actually have a lot more in common and together we're united, we can actually see a lot more change and get those investments that are needed from our federal and state governments.

[00:17:59] Adam: That's so cool. And I feel like that in sense that's kind of mind blowing of how here's our past actions that have led to inequality through redlining, through other things that have kept us apart, but that there's a lot more challenge in actually correcting it because sometimes correcting it leads to gentrification or other issues. And so then you have to bring in, you know, awareness to affordable housing. Like that seems like a really big complex problem to solve when things are constantly changing and you don't know where they're gonna go.

[00:18:26] Aryeh: Yeah. And I think the best way to do that is to actually involve members of that community in those conversations. And I think that that is key. Those are voices that have been neglected previously, and they need to be elevated and empowered. And it's not just hearing and listening to those, but it's acting on those decisions of those community members. 

[00:18:45] Aryeh: I think a really good example of this, the city Columbus, our food waste program, we were really leaning in, calling it heavily food waste. And we went into several communities, communities of color and met with community leaders there and they said, "Hey, we don't waste food. We do not waste food at all so calling it food waste does not connect in our community." I said, "Well, what do you have left over when you make a meal?" And this individual said, "Well, we have food scraps. They're scraps, we can't eat 'em. They're scraps, they're leftover." 

[00:19:13] Aryeh: So we said, "Okay, let's call our program a food scraps program and change that wording and language in how we talk about this." Internally, we call it food waste. Externally, when we're engaging with residents, it's food scraps because members of our community told us that's what, what it needs to be called for us to engage in it. And I think that listening to that and then acting on that behavior, it's a simple thing. It does not require money. It does not require infrastructure. If it's just saying, "We heard you, we've changed the name of this, we've changed the signage, we've changed the educational material to incorporate your feedback," makes a big difference.

[00:19:47] Dominique: Yeah. And I'm excited to dive into more of what you've done with waste diversion in our next episode. But I do wanna jump back to this, like the volunteering you did to get started in sustainability. Because to me, I think that's such a accessible for most people, opportunity to like educate yourself, get involved, meet people, build community. 

[00:20:03] Dominique: Can you talk to us about what does it mean to volunteer in a park? 

[00:20:05] Dominique: How did someone like you that maybe was not already working in the environmental space, start doing that what they have you doing? 

[00:20:13] Dominique: What'd you learn?

[00:20:14] Aryeh: It's a wonderful question. So I remember filling out my application to be a volunteer at our metro parks and it said, you know, pick three parks that you wanna volunteer in. And I said, "Oh, I didn't know there were more than these two that I was visiting." And there's like a list of like 20 parks on here. 

[00:20:30] Dominique: Okay. Learning something from day one.

[00:20:31] Aryeh: Yeah, and I'm like, "Maybe I should go visit some of these other parks." And so I visited a few of them and I selected my favorite, emailed that application in the next day. This individual, his name was Tim Taylor. He called me and he said, "I'm the senior naturalist at Patel Darby Creek Metro Park. I want you to come down here and have a sit down meeting with me." And I go, "Oh, this is like a job interview? I'm a little confused." So I schedule a time to come down and sit down with Tim. I show up and it's a little gruff looking. 

[00:20:58] Aryeh: He's near his retirement and he says, you know, "I've been here 20 something years at this metro park and I wanna know why you're volunteering with us?" And I go, "Well, I like the park. It's fun." And he goes, "That's good enough for me." 

[00:21:12] Aryeh: And he goes, "Here's your T-shirt, here's your application form that you have to fill out." And I said, "Okay, here he goes." 

[00:21:18] Aryeh: And he goes, "Well, what do you wanna do?" And I said, "I dunno, what do you need help with?" And he said, "Well, we need help in the nature center." And I said, "Well, I don't know anything." 

[00:21:24] Dominique: You're like, I play video games. 

[00:21:25] Aryeh: Yeah. I'm like, uh, I'm like, I like walking around. And he goes, "Okay. Come out to a couple of our programs and just learn." Every day I was out there, and I would go out there one day a week, either after work or on a weekend, and I would take a volunteer shift, like a two hour shift, and I would learn everything. And every time I would talk to another volunteer or a naturalist or a ranger or a park tech, they would say, "Well, here's what this plant is and here's why it's important, and here's this species and here's this animal." 

[00:21:53] Aryeh: I was like a kid in a candy shop and I was like, "Oh my gosh, this is so cool. Tell me about this. Tell me about that." And I just absorbed it all. And I, I was learning and people would come and ask questions and it would be, "Where's the closest bathroom?" And I'm going, Oh my God, I can answer this question. I can be helpful to someone in the park. And like, I know that answer and it's wonderful 'cause it's, they don't need to know what tree that is that was growing there. Good thing they didn't ask me 'cause I couldn't answer it. But I also could be helpful. 

[00:22:23] Aryeh: And it was wonderful because if someone felt that they were welcome in that park and if it was as simple as pointing in the direction to the bathroom or the trail head, it made a more welcoming experience that they would maybe wanna learn more like what I was learning. And after 10 years of volunteering there, I think I've learned a lot. I'm still not great at identifying trees. Luckily my phone is very good at that, and it can make me seem a lot smarter than I am. 

[00:22:47] Aryeh: But it gave me that experience to connect with a lot of people that were very passionate about the parks. And 

[00:22:52] Aryeh: it was really wonderful seeing someone that had been in a park for the very first time. And seeing something that they didn't know existed here in their backyard. And I'm like, "Oh, are you getting that spark that I got when I went to a national park? Are you finding that here in a metro park? That's awesome." And seeing like them light up no matter what age, whether it be a little kid or someone that was much, much older, finding that experience made that volunteer experience very rewarding. And I think it's, you know, it's easy and accessible for anyone to get in and do, whether you wanna spend just one day a month going, doing something. Or you wanna spend every day of your life out there volunteering. There are opportunities and of all kinds, whether that's digging up plants and replanting them or sitting at the desk pointing people where the bathroom is, there is a spot for everyone to be welcome and to create a welcoming space for everyone.

[00:23:43] Adam: I think what I love about the Columbus Metro Parks is like they're different and there's something new to explore in each one.

[00:23:49] Aryeh: The seasons change and different migratory birds come in. I can't identify any of 'em, but I know they're there and there's people with binoculars pointing at 'em. I'm like, "Oh, there must be something cool." But they are absolutely wonderful and they're in our neighborhoods.

[00:24:02] Dominique: it sounds like you've also leaned into that side of yourself that loves community engagement in that space. And you talked a little bit about like that being a really key strength of yours when it comes to connecting policy and sustainability. How did you learn how to harness that super power for yourself?

[00:24:20] Aryeh: I don't know how I harnessed that power. 

[00:24:23] Dominique: Was there a moment in your career where you were like somebody helped you see, or something happened where you were like, "Wow, this is what Aryeh should be doing,"?

[00:24:31] Aryeh: No, and I really wish they had, because that would've really helped my career path in a long time ago.

[00:24:37] Aryeh: You know, look, I'm an older millennial. I definitely feel like I'm just still a kid playing in the sandbox over here. I can't believe that this is my career. And sometimes I have a little bit of imposter syndrome going, "Oh boy, did they really want me to do this stuff?" And I remember as a very young kid, I always could hold the attention of adults in the room. I was funny and quirky and loud. People that know me that I'm very loud. Hopefully I'm not too loud on this podcast. But, you know, I could always kind of command a room. And I think that I didn't know that that was a superpower. I just thought it was like, "Oh, hey, maybe I could do standup," or maybe I could go do something.

[00:25:16] Dominique: Is that on the horizon?

[00:25:17] Aryeh: No, probably not. You never know. Maybe I'll start a podcast here.

[00:25:22] Adam: I love it.

[00:25:23] Aryeh: How do you use that skill for good? And, you know, I thought when I was younger I was gonna be an elected official and I could be president or governor and really make a difference. And I have realized that it is far more beneficial to use that skill to teach other people how to have that skill and to advocate for themselves and be a voice for themselves, and to elevate those voices and to use that ability to make a difference. You don't need to have a cool title. I have a lot of titles, I don't need 'em. It doesn't matter what they are. But it's how you show up and how you use that. And I think as maybe I've matured a bit, that has changed. And I think that superpower is not just a superpower for me. It's a superpower that everyone has in them. It's just how do you unlock it. 

[00:26:07] Adam: Well, I love the journey that you've kind of brought us along from how you got started, what it was actually like getting started volunteering and then learning so much about how the conversations we have with the people around us really help draw them in so that they can see different ways that doing work for climate change can make such a huge difference and not be a burden on them that's not relevant to them. 

[00:26:28] Dominique: And I'm so excited for our next episode where we're gonna talk about some of the success you've had with the City of Columbus, and we'll talk about kind of what those metrics have looked like.

[00:26:36] Adam: Before we jump into our next episode, how can people connect with you or the work that you're doing?

[00:26:41] Aryeh: Well, you can find me online. I have a pretty robust online presence, unfortunately. 

[00:26:47] Dominique: Fortunately, we're grateful for it. 

[00:26:49] Aryeh: The trolls are very fortunate sometimes. But I think the best way is to look up our Keep Columbus Beautiful social media handles. We're on Twitter, which I refuse to call by its new name, Instagram and TikTok. So search Keep Columbus Beautiful and love to watch an older millennial try to do young people trends on there is quite entertaining for some.

[00:27:10] Dominique: I was gonna say, I can attest to the fact that Aryeh's content is great and you can just see even from social media that Aryeh is great at communicating initiatives to the public, and I think you just do such a good job of maintaining a presence. And yeah. You're great.

[00:27:25] Aryeh: Thank you very much.

[00:27:26] Adam: Yeah. Well thank you for joining us today.

[00:27:28] Dominique: Thanks for our chat.

[00:27:29] Aryeh: Thanks for having me.

[00:27:30] Adam: As always, our guests have found a unique way to champion sustainability. We are here to put real names and stories behind the idea that no matter your background, career, or interests, you really can contribute in the fight against climate change.

[00:27:42] Dominique: So if you know a green champion, that should be our next guest, feel free to email us at thegreenchampions@gmail.com. You can find our shownotes at thegreenchampions.com. Our music is by Zayn Dweik. Thanks for listening to Green Champions. We'll be digging into Aryeh's sustainability success story on the next episode. 

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