Latin School of Chicago

3 who David '84 & Robert Mendelson '52 4 who Lauren Richter '01 what President and Chairman of the Board, Donco Recycling Solutions what Development Assistant, Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment, San Francisco. The Mendelsons consider themselves to be business people who happen to make a dramatic impact on improving the environment. Richter works to assist groups most impacted by environmental issues: low-income and minority populations. In her current role, she helps secure grants and other financial support for the Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment, a not-for-profit organization that provides legal and technical assistance to communities, predominantly in California's San Joaquin Valley, that are fighting environmental hazards. Starting in the fall, Richter also will be teaching an environmental justice course as an adjunct instructor at the University of San Francisco. how "It is just the nature of our business that made us green before anyone cared about being green." Donco Recycling Solutions is an organization built to create markets for byproducts generated by a range of manufacturing processes around the world. By diverting these materials from landfills and creating an economically valuable raw material, the generators of the scrap are saving money, the consumers have a usable raw material at a lower cost, and the landfill load is reduced. A family company, Donco Recycling Solutions is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year as a leader in the recycling industry. Before Donco, the Mendelson family built the first recycled newsprint mill in the United States and began recycling old newspapers in Chicago in the 1920s. Today, the company works with a variety of manufacturers to identify points in their production process that generate waste and create new markets for these waste materials. Donco facilitates the recycling of materials ranging from gummy candy to sleeping bag insulation. "When our family built the first recycled newsprint mill it wasn't to save the environment, it was to manufacture a product in a more economical and efficient manner," says David Mendelson. "It is just the nature of our business that made us green before anyone cared about being green." "My goal when it comes to the environment is to make people aware of the relationship between costs and 'being green.' Most people would select a product made from recycled raw materials as long as the quality and cost is the same as other products. Manufacturers are no different – they want to be 'green' but not at the expense of pricing their goods out of the competitive market. Our job is to solve that puzzle. "People believe that placing their old newspapers in a blue recycling bin is recycling. What they don't realize is that the old newspapers are a raw material and that the products made out of this material – such as cereal cartons and toilet tissue – represent the real drivers in the recycling circle. That is why when my father and I talk to students (both Mendelsons are frequent visitors to Latin lower school classrooms) we explain that the awareness of and use of recycled products is equally as important as the blue recycling container in the corner of the classroom." 26 Latin Magazine how Passionate about environmental and social causes since college, Lauren Richter has volunteered and worked with a number of progressive groups, including the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome. She earned her bachelor's in sociology from Connecticut College, and completed her master's at Washington State University's environmental sociology program. "Since the 1980s there has been increasing public, political and scientific awareness that environmental burdens are unequally distributed across populations – and between nations," explains Richter. "For example, we know that cancer rates are significantly higher in low-income African-American, Hispanic and Native populations, and further that these groups live in disproportionate proximity to polluting facilities such as incinerators and dumps. For my master's thesis I analyzed the extent to which spatial patterns of environmental inequality in rural regions mirror those found in urban areas. I found that low-income, Hispanic and African-American communities face unequal exposure to hazardous waste sites nationally, just as they do in cities. Concern for the environment is crucial today because we know that as social inequality continues to grow, the distribution of environmental 'goods' and 'bads' becomes increasingly unequal. I think many of the most pressing issues we face – the economic recession, intensified natural disasters – have underlying roots in power inequality. We are beginning to understand who gains and who loses in environmental crises, and see the importance of changing the decisionmaking process – and who has access to it. By doing environmental justice work, I hope to raise awareness and challenge the status quo." "I think many of the most pressing issues we face – the economic recession, intensified natural disasters – have underlying roots in power inequality."

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