WHO WE ARE

Tyler Simmons, Zero Waste Coordinator

Let’s talk trash, and how to reduce it! Tyler Simmons began managing festival and event sustainability initiatives with ZeroHero in 2012 while studying Watershed Science at Colorado State University. After graduating, Tyler moved to Telluride with a career in civil engineering and surveying. Following his passions, Tyler rejoined the sustainability world as the Zero Waste Coordinator at EcoAction Partners in 2017. Since then, Tyler has been employed by Planet Bluegrass for the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and has worked through EcoAction Partners with the Telluride Blues and Brews Festival, the Telluride Jazz Festival, Telluride Mountainfilm, and the Yeti Tribe Gathering to name a few. Each year Tyler also coordinates the electronic waste recycling and manages waste reduction at the Telluride Volunteer Firefighter’s 4th of July Picnic and the TMVOA’s Sunset Concert Series. Aside from festival and event work, Tyler coordinates EcoAction Partners’ Plastic Film Upcycling Program, tracks data for the Ophir Compost Program, and communicates waste reduction resources to anybody that asks. Tyler has been consistently working to promote community composting in our region through partnership with Dirty Sturdy’s Mountain Compost and donates unused food from festivals to the Telluride Angel Baskets Food Pantry. All of this gratifying work enables Tyler to pursue being a fulltime musician, and in the winter, a ski coach for the competitive and non- competitive athletes on the Telluride Ski and Snowboard Club Freeride Team.

Email Tyler at: zerowaste@ecoactionpartners.org