Members

Zero Waste Melrose is a group of resident volunteers whose goals are to reduce waste, increase recycling, and educate the public. The committee achieves its goals by serving as a resource and advocate to help residents, institutions and visitors reduce their environmental impact, save money and keep Melrose beautiful. The committee works directly with city officials to improve the solid waste and recycling programs in cost-effective and easy to implement ways.

Joining the committee is a great way to play an active role in the community and make a difference in reducing our environmental impact.

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ACTIVE MEMBERS

Jackie Bishop

Jackie joined Zero Waste Melrose in August 2018 (with encouragement from her teenage daughter). Realizing the amount of trash generated within her own household, she wanted to learn more about best practices on how to reduce, reuse, and recycle. She wants to help Melrosians understand the importance of waste prevention and to not be discouraged by news reports. Jackie is a graphic designer working within ZWM Communications to educate our community and doing her small part to save the planet.

Jill Geisler

Jill has been a member of the Melrose Recycling Committee, now Zero Waste Melrose, since she and her family moved to Melrose in 1994. Jill grew up in California, went to college in Massachusetts, and settled in Stoneham where she became involved with the city’s Solid Waste Advisory Committee. She also started a recycling initiative in the Stoneham elementary schools through the Stoneham Girl Scouts. She currently teaches seventh-grade and serves on the board of the Friends of the Middlesex Fells.

Clark Kerry

Clark is a long time Melrose resident who has been a member of the Recycling Committee since day one. He is semi-retired and spends his free time volunteering for various organizations in Melrose.

Trudy MacDonald

Trudy has lived in Melrose for 40 years, is a retired nurse, and certified Master Gardener. She has been composting and growing organic veggies for many years. She has been active with the Single Use Plastics Committee and proud of the bans on plastic bags, straws and stirrers we have helped the Melrose City Council to pass.

Jeana McNeil

Jeana joined the committee in 2014 to help promote waste reduction and recycling, and contribute to the Melrose community. She became interested in recycling through her work in market research, and has studied recycling and sustainability issues on behalf of government and business entities. Jeana looks forward to working with residents, government and the business community to reduce waste and improve recycling. She is the leader of the Single Use Plastics.

Elaina Rivais

Elaina has lived in Melrose since 2019 and joined Zero Waste shortly after arriving. She loves to promote a culture of reuse and repair and is proud of the many second-hand items in her life. She hosted Melrose’s first Repair Cafe in 2023!

Ann Marie Scanlan

Ann Marie was inspired to join ZWM in 2020 after getting a compost bin for her family and discovering a group of fellow zero-waste devotees in her hometown. An avid thrifter, she enjoys hunting for treasures to reuse and can often be found at her circa 1965 sewing machine repurposing thrifted fabric and clothes.

Leah Valley

Leah moved to Melrose in 2019. She joined Zero Waste Melrose in 2020 to do more to advocate for a cleaner, healthier world for her two small children. Her passion is education and its power to influence others to step into action so we can collaborate towards a better future. She co-chaired the inaugural Sustainable Saturdays series in summer 2022 and looks forward to finding more ways to advocate and partner with the community to live sustainably.

Dana Webber

Dana has been a Recycling Committee/Zero Waste Melrose member since 2013. She works for City of Boston in the Human Resources Department in Management Training and lives in Ward 5.