GTECHer Spotlight: Albert Pantone

Get to know…Albert Pantone [one_half][/one_half]

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Hometown: Pittsburgh – Sharpsburg neighborhood

Alma Mater: The Art Institute of Pittsburgh

Favorite Activity: Watching and reading classic science fiction

Favorite Burrito Topping: Verde tomatillo sauce and black beans!

Current GTECH Project: Knots on Lots

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Albert has always been up for an adventure. Growing up in Sharpsburg, only a few miles from the Guyasuta boy scout camp, he spent his days hiking in all sorts of weather, discovering new wildlife, and splashing in the river. Eventually this exploration inspired a hitchhiking cross-country road trip, where Albert worked at various environmental camps to pay his way. Eventually he landed just outside of Orlando, where he directed a year-round camp for a diverse set of campers for 8 years.

Albert couldn’t shake his love for nature even though he lives in the urban neighborhood of Larimer. Today he still manages to get his hands dirty, by caring for his community garden plot.  It was his active involvement in the Larimer Green Team and assistance in the construction of the Larimer Village Green (a community garden) connected him with GTECH. Through all of his involvement in the early days of clean-up of lots, he has fought his fair share of battles with Knotweed, which led to not only a partnership with GTECH, but also a new business idea.

“We [GTECH and I] share some of the same ideals:  improving a village by greening vacant lots, turning one person’s idea into an actual community project,  and growing a Green Economy.”

– Albert Pantone

Paper making from plant material (including knotweed) produces a delicate paper product, but the process to get there is anything but. If you ask Albert to show you how to make paper, he will don a sly grin, emphatically place a hammer in your hand and and tell you to get swinging.

Last year he started his paper making business, Knot Just Weeds. GTECH uses his paper-making abilities as part of the Knots on Lots project, which seeks to find a creative, economic reuse for the invasive, ubiquitous Knotweed plant.

Although his hitchhiking days are behind him, he is ready to start his new adventure. The one as an entrepreneur.

Connect with Albert

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