SUSTAINABLE URBAN PIONEERS (Lauren Kim | Jinno Vicencio)

Lauren is a sophomore at Yale University interested in majoring in Environmental Studies. She is originally from Irvine, CA and is passionate about sustainable food and agriculture, environmental justice, urban planning, and clean energy. She loves to cook, pickle things, and eat avocados in her free time. At school, she works at the Yale Farm, Office of Sustainability and is a Dwight Hall Urban Fellow working with the City of New Haven Office of Economic Development. She decided to participate in PGC after feeling stuck in finding ways ways to engage with sustainability and feeling frustrated that her lifestyle is not as sustainable as it could be. She has been greatly inspired by the challenges (especially the challenge considering natural body products) she has completed and now looks at her life and the choices she makes in a different light.
Jinno is a sophomore at Orange Coast College interested in majoring in Agriculture. He lives in Orange County and explores local farmers markets and loves to support small businesses. He brings his reusable cup anywhere he goes to avoid using plastic cups and straws. Jinno currently works at Lush Cosmetics, which is a natural cosmetics company that fights against animal testing, uses fairtrade and organic ingredients. Jinno works hard to try and educate people about environmental issues and felt that by doing PGC, he could get a stronger understanding of the subject and back up his future conversations with scientific fact. Jinno’s favorite day was the Economics challenge, as it opened his eyes to how important it is to place your money into local banks. Since doing PGC, Jinno’s passion for the environment has only become stronger and it looks as if there is no stopping him and what he can do.