Our Climate Journey with Stephanie Torres
“Sustainability, to me, is a commitment to small actions today that will lead to a healthier future tomorrow.”
Stephanie Torres
Proposals Manager
Stephanie Torres is Proposals Manager at Zum, where she helps bring in new school district partners. Armed with a Master of Science degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Florida Atlantic University, she has honed her writing skills through various roles, including Proposal Writer and Proposal Coordinator at The GEO Group, Inc., which provides rehabilitation and reentry services for adults and youths returning from the criminal justice system. A talented writer with a passion for crafting compelling stories, Stephanie also enjoys immersing herself in nature, finds solace in hiking and exploring new trails, and has a keen interest in photography.
At Zum, we’re revolutionizing student transportation in order to build a green, sustainable future. What does sustainability mean to you?
Sustainability, to me, is a commitment to small actions today that will lead to a healthier future tomorrow.
This is a small example, but I always drink out of a reusable tumbler. Like, always. I’m drinking out of it right now. I just went to lunch, and brought it with me.
I really dislike waste, so I’m always trying to minimize it. Paper napkins, paper straws, paper menus, paper to-go cups—these are all opportunities to reuse things. At a restaurant, I’ll bring my own soap and reusable wipes. If there’s a paper menu, I’ll take it with me to use as scrap paper later, because I’ll know they’ll just throw it out otherwise.
Again, it’s a small thing, but to me, being purposeful about how we use everyday items is the essence of sustainability.
Climate change is the single greatest threat to our way of life, but it can sometimes feel abstract, far away, a problem for another time. How has climate change affected you personally?
I love hiking and really enjoy nature. Climate change obviously has a huge impact on that.
A while back, I was on a work trip to Colorado. My friend and I hiked Pikes Peak, it was gorgeous (but also super cold). We hiked through a burn area and it was so sad—all the blackened trees, and the vegetation all stripped away, gone. The worst part was seeing how all the animals had been displaced. A family of deer were trying to graze, looking for food, but they couldn’t find any, looking for a place to make a home, but they couldn’t.
Wildfires, which get more and more prevalent every year, don’t just affect humans physically—they affect the environment, animals, and they affect us emotionally and mentally as well.
What can Zum do to be a leader in sustainability, to spearhead the charge in the fight against climate change?
I’m a Proposal Manager at Zum, which means I get in the weeds with our RFPs. The status quo is to use traditional fuels like diesel, and it’s our job to show districts across the country alternatives—that alternative fuels can save money and time down the road, that EVs, while they’re a big investment up front, are so much better in the long run, and better for the environment.
So, at Zum, we need to continue doing this work—being on the front lines with educators and school administrators across the country, to make sure they understand the importance of being sustainable in our transportation.
Finally, Zum is a community-oriented company, and I know we host events in markets across the country. In Seattle, it’s soccer matches. In LA, there are other community activities. I’ve seen us reuse materials and resources—like reusable tumblers—and I want to encourage us to keep doing that.