Who We Are
Volunteers
We are a 100% volunteer-run organization, including dozens of individuals who run our biweekly collections. Thank you for your energy and time!
Corporate Members
We team up with local organizations and companies to encourage recycling activities in Grant County, New Mexico.
Board Members
Our five-member volunteer board oversees and organizes Silver City Recycling activities.
Our Board
David Stone, President
David is an environmental scientist working on new carbon-negative building materials that recycle glass, tin cans, and plastic. He is also trying to be an entrepreneur and find ways to successfully commercialize these products that turn waste streams into feedstocks with some value. David and his wife are recent transplants to Silver City from Tucson and are building a home using his green material Ferrock, an iron-based substitute for Portland cement that actually traps CO2 as it hardens.
Jennifer Lamborn, Secretary
“What would future people ask us to do?”
I began volunteering at SCR as soon as I heard of its existence because I believe that grassroots movements are one of the best ways to resist injustice. Leaving the world in worse shape for the people who will be here when we are gone is a matter of intergenerational justice. I am interested in environmental ethics, the rights of nonhuman nature, and sustainability. I am grateful to live in a community of open-minded people who are willing to work together to create a saner and more just world.
Kelsey Patterson, Treasurer
Kelsey has worked as a costume designer and technician for over 20 years. She is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities with an MFA in Costume Design and Technology. Her passion for all things fiber extends to textile dyeing and manipulation. Reinvention and repurposing are techniques frequently utilized in her theatrical arts. Kelsey has called Silver City home since 2016. Currently, she owns Revamp custom sewing and alteration studio which strives to keep clothing items out of the landfill through mending and repurposing. Kelsey’s interest in mindful consumption and a low impact lifestyle began early in life. She enjoys collaborating with others and creative problem solving to reduce environmental impact.
Bob Stockdale, Board Member
“After crossing the river we entered a large vineyard of wild grapes and an infinity of rosebushes in full bloom. All the soil is black and loamy, and is capable of producing every kind of grain and fruit which may be planted. We went west, continually over good land well covered with grass“.
–Father Juan Crespi, upon entering the LA basin, 1769.
I was born and raised in the paradise that got paved. Watching us destroy one of the world’s true Edens is a lot of my motivation for doing what we can to reuse, repair, repurpose, recycle, refocus, and refrain. I’m hoping we can gradually expand Silver City Recycles into all these categories. My website
Dave Kidder, Board Member
Thanks for using Silver City Recycles! The best garbage is the type that never occurs. I know that it’s impossible to eliminate purchasing items in plastic. We need plastic and chemical companies to take back what they produce or set up plastic recycling plants nationwide.
Phil Schoenberg, Special Advisor to the Board
Phil Schoenberg is the father of two snuggly children, husband to one lovely wife, master of a sweet Airedale, king of (an imaginary) castle, builder of tree houses, fly fisherman, and philosopher.
Originally from the west coast of California, he moved to Albuquerque in 2007 where he worked on the PhD at the University of New Mexico, and moved to Silver City to take up a teaching appointment at WNMU in 2017. Besides survey courses in philosophy and the humanities, Dr. Schoenberg also teaches courses in the ethics of sustainability and environmental ethics.
Biologic Services
The mission of Silver City Recycles is to reduce the volume of materials entering our landfill. Recycling consumer packaging is only a small part of this effort. Since up to 50% of our landfill by volume is food, yard, and other green waste, we would be remiss if we did not address this aspect of the problem. Fortunately, composting such materials not only keeps them out of the landfill, but produces a highly desired and valued product for home gardening, agriculture, and eco-restoration projects.
To support this effort, our Board of Directors has created a new position in our organization, Director of Biologic Services, whose job is to create, manage, and implement all processes related to keeping biomass out of the waste stream.
Chris Lemme, Director of Biologic Services
Chris Lemme is one of the founding members and first Board President of Silver City Recycles. He has been a software engineer, IT consultant and is currently a custom home builder in Silver City. With a background in systems engineering, he never thought he would start and head up a recycling non-profit, but circumstance and opportunity said otherwise. He strives to reduce his environmental impact through well-considered life choices and endeavors to help others do the same.
As an organic gardener for many years, he is excited to bring industrial-scale composting to our community to provide this high-quality resource to those who can’t produce it in the volumes to meet their needs.