We’ve celebrated and shared stories of several of our team members here on the MASS Blog over the past several months. Today, we are featuring one of our leaders who strives every single day to make a difference. Mac Brown, our Waste Audit Manager, answers 5 Questions about MASS & his role here with our team. Happy reading!
1. If you could describe a “Day In The Life” for you at MASS in just three words, what would they be?
Lots of travel.
I am very fortunate to be in a role with the waste audit team that brings me all over the province, and on some days the country! This gives me and my team the opportunity to see the beauty and diversity of our national landscape, which promotes our appreciation of the environment that we are working to protect every single day. We’ve gotten to see places like Lake Louise, Vancouver Island, Signal Hill in Newfoundland and so much more. We live in an incredible country and I’m grateful for the chance to explore it through work.
2. What do you do in your daily life to reduce your environmental impact?
I am an avid recycler. I work hard to make sure that anything within my household that can be recycled is. I am also very passionate about food-waste. In my home we ensure that none of our food waste ends up in landfill by using an at-home composter. We also meal-plan to minimize food waste in the first place. I continue to work to improve on the other two “R’s” – Reuse and Reduce! I am not perfect and definitely still have work to do on those two.

Photo Credit – matandsara.com
3. Tell us about working in a family business from your perspective of the “Second Generation.”
As I’m sure most of my family members would say, there is a balance of challenging days and rewarding moments. The truth is, ultimately the good always outweighs the bad. Our entire family really buys into our mission as a company and we share in the passion for sustainability. The opportunity to work day-in and day-out with my family and the people who are closest to me is not something I’d ever take for granted.
4. Tell us about your hobbies or interests outside of work.
My two primary hobbies outside of the office are: Basketball and Real Estate.
I played varsity basketball at Mount Allison University, and the sport continues to be a big part of my life. I am a huge fan of college basketball (both American and Canadian) and have attended many March Madness tournaments and games. I also enjoy the NBA … Go Raps!
I am also a real estate investor, and I spend the bulk of my free time evaluating properties. My work here at MASS gives me an awesome base to be a conscious investor with sustainable goals as a big part of my investment focus.
5. When you envision the future of Canada, how do you hope to see the waste industry evolve?
I believe many changes are needed within our industry to improve on true sustainability as well as cost structure. This is something I’m very passionate about and I could go on for a very long time, so I’ll try to be concise.
First of all, I believe we need a national system in place. Currently, recycling is done at the municipal level which makes it confusing with different programs from town to town. This increases contamination and the quality of commodity our markets produce.
Second, with the global recycling crisis being brought on by China now accepting a minimal amount of imported recyclables, I believe we need to be heavily focused on a domestic recycling system with all material being processed right here in Canada. If done right, this will create jobs and decrease our environmental footprint. As a country, we should be the leader in responsible plastic recycling practices that would battle major problems like the plastic ocean.
My third and final point has to do with food-waste. One of the biggest issues we deal with at MASS is food-waste. The amount of food that is currently going to landfill is growing, and I believe that a landfill ban on food-waste should be implemented nation-wide. This already exists in numerous Canadian cities, and getting infrastructure in place to make this common practice across the country would have a monumental impact. This could also help to combat food shortage issues that we have, all while ensuring that we are not polluting this beautiful country we get to call home.
For more about Mac and the rest of our team, CLICK HERE. We are so grateful to each member of the extended ‘MASS Family’ for all that they do.