Mary Munat, Green Mary

Mary’s passion for waste reduction began in rural Vermont, where everything was reused, repurposed, or sorted for recycling—long before it was trendy. She entered the event world in 2002 after environmental activist Julia Butterfly Hill called out a local festival for its lack of sustainability. Inspired, Mary dove headfirst into the growing event greening movement in Northern California. Today, she leads a team of 40–60 passionate eco-educators, greening over 350 event dates per year across the Bay Area. Her focus: keeping waste out of landfills, replacing single-use plastics with reusables, and inspiring greater respect for natural resources. Outside of work, she enjoys nature, tennis, skiing, dancing, reading, volunteering with kids and dogs—and talking trash (or how not to make it).