October 2021
Things have been very active! I will do a full report when I write the November diary entry. For now, we hope you enjoy our latest newsletter!
Things have been very active! I will do a full report when I write the November diary entry. For now, we hope you enjoy our latest newsletter!
September 2021
It makes sense to me to write the diary at the end of the month, recapping activity from the month, and highlighting things to come in the next month. So here it goes!
Working with Diego has made all the difference. Since he started working with us on August 17, we have done so many things it is hard to remember them all. I am teaching him about our main missions, and the actions we take in support of them. The things we do have grown and evolved since 2004 and are many and varied. He is learning about street level outreach and the other work we do with the homeless and others in need across the community. He patrols the parkway and looks for new camps and other issues, as well as help maintain trails, remove trash and recycling, and alert the city to larger issues. He has attended several meetings with the various entities we work with as well, in an effort to combine efforts for the benefit of the community. He is helping a lot with the FreeCycling and other recycling we do. We have held several work parties, two in the canyon, and one on the parkway, (that one through Pack it Out Utah), and we are looking forward to offering more volunteer opportunities to improve public lands, remove trash and recycling from highways, byways, trails, and streams, and try to keep in touch with the homeless on the streets as we seek solutions to their plight. He is working toward keeping Facebook, Instagram, and our websites up to date and interesting. He is also quite adept at creating flyers for our events. That is just some of what he is doing! We are looking forward to being much more efficient and helpful to the community now that Diego is on board.
It makes sense to me to write the diary at the end of the month, recapping activity from the month, and highlighting things to come in the next month. So here it goes!
Working with Diego has made all the difference. Since he started working with us on August 17, we have done so many things it is hard to remember them all. I am teaching him about our main missions, and the actions we take in support of them. The things we do have grown and evolved since 2004 and are many and varied. He is learning about street level outreach and the other work we do with the homeless and others in need across the community. He patrols the parkway and looks for new camps and other issues, as well as help maintain trails, remove trash and recycling, and alert the city to larger issues. He has attended several meetings with the various entities we work with as well, in an effort to combine efforts for the benefit of the community. He is helping a lot with the FreeCycling and other recycling we do. We have held several work parties, two in the canyon, and one on the parkway, (that one through Pack it Out Utah), and we are looking forward to offering more volunteer opportunities to improve public lands, remove trash and recycling from highways, byways, trails, and streams, and try to keep in touch with the homeless on the streets as we seek solutions to their plight. He is working toward keeping Facebook, Instagram, and our websites up to date and interesting. He is also quite adept at creating flyers for our events. That is just some of what he is doing! We are looking forward to being much more efficient and helpful to the community now that Diego is on board.
Join us Tuesday, October 5, at 7 pm at the Helipad on W. Center St. for a discussion on single use plastics and their impact on the planet. See the flyer for details. Hope to see you there!
Last minute recycling! I got a call on September 10, about an hour and a half before setup for a major event was to begin. There wasn't a plan for recycling and they asked if we had any ideas. We promote Greening your Event on our Green Tips page. Planning for recycling from the onset of event planning allows for a robust and educational system to be implemented.
In a few short hours, we conferred with the venue to plan the number of bins needed, secured the bins from the Moab Community Recycle Center, hired a recycling expert to set up and maintain the bins throughout the two and a half day event, and sorted all the recycling we were able to save from the landfill.
The photos below show Ian Jewell, an amazing human, sorting recycling with Sara from Moab Solutions. We ended up with 5 forty gallon bags of #1 plastic, two of aluminum, a bunch of cardboard, and lots of steel cans.
Installing a robust recycling system at your event can make all the difference to our fragile and beautiful planet.
In a few short hours, we conferred with the venue to plan the number of bins needed, secured the bins from the Moab Community Recycle Center, hired a recycling expert to set up and maintain the bins throughout the two and a half day event, and sorted all the recycling we were able to save from the landfill.
The photos below show Ian Jewell, an amazing human, sorting recycling with Sara from Moab Solutions. We ended up with 5 forty gallon bags of #1 plastic, two of aluminum, a bunch of cardboard, and lots of steel cans.
Installing a robust recycling system at your event can make all the difference to our fragile and beautiful planet.
August 18, 2021
This is the latest I have ever made an entry, but it may be one of my favorite ones. We hired an assistant!!! If I had tried to create a resume that would encompass what we were looking for, I never would have made one as incredible as the one I received from Diego Velasquez. After so many years of working alone, I am energized to have a bright and energetic presence to help us make our projects be all they can be while refreshing our websites and social media. I feel very lucky. Read our press release below, and you may see why!
Diego Velasquez Joins Moab Solutions As New Assistant to the Executive Director
Diego is a new resident to Moab, originally coming from the South East. Growing up in a small rural town in the Appalachian Mountains of Southwest Virginia, Diego developed a deep connection to the community through outdoor recreation, environmentalism and community service. Last year, Diego attained his undergraduate degree in environmental studies and political science from Bowdoin College on the coast of Maine. There, he immersed himself in the nonprofit world, working in community development, natural resource conservation, land management and broader environmental issues to bring together groups of people across wide and diverse divides.
“Coming from small towns and from a background of nonprofit work, running the gamut from grant writing to communications, from programs to education, I’m exceptionally excited to both integrate and find my place within the community, as well as make my own positive mark on it,” Diego said.
At Moab Solutions, Diego will be interfacing with the homeless population and other people in need throughout the community and doing street-level outreach to those experiencing homelessness. He will be advocating for reducing and reusing over recycling, and recycling over landfilling through coordinated projects with the Community Recycling Center as well as community clean-up events. He will also engage in maintenance and restoration work on public lands by performing trail maintenance, riparian repair, and “Friend of the Parkway” opportunities. As the new assistant to the executive director, Diego begins his position the week of August 16th, 2021.
“We’re ecstatic to have Diego on board, he’s exactly what we need. I look forward to introducing him to the community and working with him to make Moab an even better place than it already is,” said Melnicoff, Founder and E.D.
This is the latest I have ever made an entry, but it may be one of my favorite ones. We hired an assistant!!! If I had tried to create a resume that would encompass what we were looking for, I never would have made one as incredible as the one I received from Diego Velasquez. After so many years of working alone, I am energized to have a bright and energetic presence to help us make our projects be all they can be while refreshing our websites and social media. I feel very lucky. Read our press release below, and you may see why!
Diego Velasquez Joins Moab Solutions As New Assistant to the Executive Director
Diego is a new resident to Moab, originally coming from the South East. Growing up in a small rural town in the Appalachian Mountains of Southwest Virginia, Diego developed a deep connection to the community through outdoor recreation, environmentalism and community service. Last year, Diego attained his undergraduate degree in environmental studies and political science from Bowdoin College on the coast of Maine. There, he immersed himself in the nonprofit world, working in community development, natural resource conservation, land management and broader environmental issues to bring together groups of people across wide and diverse divides.
“Coming from small towns and from a background of nonprofit work, running the gamut from grant writing to communications, from programs to education, I’m exceptionally excited to both integrate and find my place within the community, as well as make my own positive mark on it,” Diego said.
At Moab Solutions, Diego will be interfacing with the homeless population and other people in need throughout the community and doing street-level outreach to those experiencing homelessness. He will be advocating for reducing and reusing over recycling, and recycling over landfilling through coordinated projects with the Community Recycling Center as well as community clean-up events. He will also engage in maintenance and restoration work on public lands by performing trail maintenance, riparian repair, and “Friend of the Parkway” opportunities. As the new assistant to the executive director, Diego begins his position the week of August 16th, 2021.
“We’re ecstatic to have Diego on board, he’s exactly what we need. I look forward to introducing him to the community and working with him to make Moab an even better place than it already is,” said Melnicoff, Founder and E.D.
Diego in New Zealand
We had a mini work party in the canyon on September 1st, 2020. Sandy Freethey, trail worker extraordinaire, met me and Sam to help us maintain a trail and block some user made trails. That tumble is almost as big as Sandy!
Tragic Update on the BSPark.....
Well, despite all of our efforts, including an offer to redo the grading plan by a licensed grading contractor and permaculture expert, the original horrible plans went ahead and it is a huge disaster. Protected trees are being irreparably harmed, and the entire area desecrated. And we ask, FOR WHAT?
I have not been able to go anywhere near that area, nor look at photos. I am heartbroken and very disappointed with the city, for allowing this to take place. Let's not have a repeat!
Well, despite all of our efforts, including an offer to redo the grading plan by a licensed grading contractor and permaculture expert, the original horrible plans went ahead and it is a huge disaster. Protected trees are being irreparably harmed, and the entire area desecrated. And we ask, FOR WHAT?
I have not been able to go anywhere near that area, nor look at photos. I am heartbroken and very disappointed with the city, for allowing this to take place. Let's not have a repeat!
Don't destroy this!
We lost another great one. Dean Nebergall, pictured here with Breezy, passed away on 12/6/19. One of the kindest humans to walk the earth, we send love unending to Dean and to those who love him.
Long time Moab Solutions' volunteer Carol Hoggard - who passed away 7/5/19 -
is seen in the background.