• About
    • About
    • Team
    • Our Story
    • Reports
    • Press
    • Partners
    • Contact
  • MICROPLASTIC MADNESS
    • MICROPLASTIC MADNESS
    • Host a screening
    • The Plastic Pollution Crisis
    • Creative Team and Credits
    • Movie Feedback
  • Plastic Free Lunch
    • Plastic Free Lunch
    • FAQs - Plastic Free Lunch Day
    • PFLD School Food Service
    • Action Plan ideas - PFLD
    • NYC Plastic Free Lunch Days
  • Take Action Toolkits
    • K-12 Toolkit - Plastic Free Lunch Day
    • K-12 Toolkit - Microplastic Madness
    • DIY DATA ACTION litter cleanup >
      • DATA +ACTION litter clean up
      • Student and Teacher Litter Data Collection
    • SORT2SAVE KIT >
      • SORT2SAVE KIT - Cafeteria Rangers
      • Downloads - S2S - Cafeteria Rangers
      • Daily Operations - S2S - Cafeteria Rangers
      • Videos - Cafeteria Rangers
      • S2s Quick Launch Guide
      • Job Descriptions for Cafeteria Rangers
      • SORT2save Cheer! - lyrics + video
      • SORT2SAVE - About, Partners, License Agreement
    • Foam Trays Out of Schools >
      • NYC Foam Ban
      • Trayless Tuesdays
      • No-Styro Puppets
      • FAQs - Getting Styrofoam Out of Schools
    • Alternative Messaging
    • Action at home
    • Action on Policy >
      • Plastic Water Bottle ban NYC
      • NY Bag Bill
  • Donate
  • Youth Advocates Program
  • MORE RESOURCES
    • Resource Library
    • Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in Taiwan - Lessons Learned
  • Events
  • Latest - Cafeteria Culture blog
  • Volunteer
Cafeteria Culture
  • About
    • About
    • Team
    • Our Story
    • Reports
    • Press
    • Partners
    • Contact
  • MICROPLASTIC MADNESS
    • MICROPLASTIC MADNESS
    • Host a screening
    • The Plastic Pollution Crisis
    • Creative Team and Credits
    • Movie Feedback
  • Plastic Free Lunch
    • Plastic Free Lunch
    • FAQs - Plastic Free Lunch Day
    • PFLD School Food Service
    • Action Plan ideas - PFLD
    • NYC Plastic Free Lunch Days
  • Take Action Toolkits
    • K-12 Toolkit - Plastic Free Lunch Day
    • K-12 Toolkit - Microplastic Madness
    • DIY DATA ACTION litter cleanup >
      • DATA +ACTION litter clean up
      • Student and Teacher Litter Data Collection
    • SORT2SAVE KIT >
      • SORT2SAVE KIT - Cafeteria Rangers
      • Downloads - S2S - Cafeteria Rangers
      • Daily Operations - S2S - Cafeteria Rangers
      • Videos - Cafeteria Rangers
      • S2s Quick Launch Guide
      • Job Descriptions for Cafeteria Rangers
      • SORT2save Cheer! - lyrics + video
      • SORT2SAVE - About, Partners, License Agreement
    • Foam Trays Out of Schools >
      • NYC Foam Ban
      • Trayless Tuesdays
      • No-Styro Puppets
      • FAQs - Getting Styrofoam Out of Schools
    • Alternative Messaging
    • Action at home
    • Action on Policy >
      • Plastic Water Bottle ban NYC
      • NY Bag Bill
  • Donate
  • Youth Advocates Program
  • MORE RESOURCES
    • Resource Library
    • Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in Taiwan - Lessons Learned
  • Events
  • Latest - Cafeteria Culture blog
  • Volunteer

Debby Lee Cohen

Debby Lee Cohen, CafCu Executive Director and Founder, is a multi-disciplinary artist and Zero Waste activist. She is the Director and Producer of Microplastic Madness, Cafeteria Culture's feature documentary, with additional credits as Animation Director of the Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) scene and the title animation. She has designed scenery, puppets, and animation for theater, parades, film and television, including design for HBO shows, "Classical Baby" and "Saving My Tomorrow.”

In 2009, she decided to apply her design, production, and collaboration skills to achieve zero waste public school cafeterias and to eliminate the 860,000 toxic and polluting styrene foam lunch trays used per day in NYC schools.  In partnership with parents, students and NYC school food directors, she led the Styrofoam Out of Schools campaign, resulting in the elimination of half a billion plastic styrofoam trays per year from landfills, incinerators and students meals in NYC and 9 other cities. Cohen took the lead in frontline grassroots lobbying to win the NY City-wide
styrofoam ban, collaborating with 15 other nonprofits and enlisting the support of public school students and giant puppets!

Cohen's HBO credits include Environmental Consultant and Art Direction on the environmental special, Saving My Tomorrow; Set Designer for the Emmy Award special, Classical Baby; Segment Producer on Twas the Night; and Story Advisor for A Family is a Family is a Family. Her animation has been shown on PBS, Showtime/The Movie Channel, and MTV.

 In Paris, she was commissioned to design a children’s food themed parade with giant puppets in Jardin des Tuileries, collaborating with 500 mostly immigrant children. For 8 eight years, she designed the giant puppets for NY's Halloween Parade, focusing on environmental themes and has designed sculptural costumes for Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream and packaging for salad dressings and sauces.



Cohen Art Directed Meredith Monk’s, Ascension Variations, a site specific performance for 120 performers at The Guggenheim Museum. She has designed scenery for Monk and other multi-media directors for over 25 years (BAM, Houston Grand Opera). At Lincoln Center, she designed scenery and puppets for Urban Bush Women and The Dance Theater of Mozambique. 

She received a Proclamation from Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer (2018) for her zero waste efforts and the Eco-Hero award from the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) Green Schools Committee for reducing plastic styrofoam trays in NYC schools. She is a member of the Manhattan Citizen's Solid Waste Advisory Board (SWAB) and on the Steering Group of the Plastic Free Waters Partnership NY/NJ.

Personal Grant Awards include: The New York Foundation for the Arts, The National Endowment for the Arts, and The Jim Henson Foundation. She has taught 3D Design and LAB at Parsons; visual art to teens at risk, inmates, seniors, and in NYC school residencies; and the ARTS+ACTION curriculum to thousands of K- 8 NYC public school students.

Contact her at: [email protected]g
Debby Lee Cohen
Debby Lee Cohen
Debby Lee Cohen
Debby Lee Cohen
Back to all Team Bios ->
​
DONATE | ABOUT |MICROPLASTIC MADNESS|PLASTIC FREE LUNCH| Take Action Toolkits|EVENTS
Youth Advocates |Contact 
​
​  Twitter @CafeteriaCu    IG @CafCu   FB CafeteriaCulture   TikTok @CafeteriaCu

Our VISION
We envision a plastic free, equitable zero waste future where landfill and incinerator garbage as we know it no longer exists;
where post consumption waste from food to packaging is drastically reduced
and what remains benefits our schools, communities, and the environment. 


Cafeteria Culture (CafCu) is a Project of The Fund for the City of New York, a 501(c)(3) organization.
As such, your donations to Cafeteria Culture
are eligible for charitable deductions under section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code.
Cafeteria Culture is a vendor of New York City Department of Education via Fund for the City of New York


Copyright © 2023 Cafeteria Culture
  • About
    • About
    • Team
    • Our Story
    • Reports
    • Press
    • Partners
    • Contact
  • MICROPLASTIC MADNESS
    • MICROPLASTIC MADNESS
    • Host a screening
    • The Plastic Pollution Crisis
    • Creative Team and Credits
    • Movie Feedback
  • Plastic Free Lunch
    • Plastic Free Lunch
    • FAQs - Plastic Free Lunch Day
    • PFLD School Food Service
    • Action Plan ideas - PFLD
    • NYC Plastic Free Lunch Days
  • Take Action Toolkits
    • K-12 Toolkit - Plastic Free Lunch Day
    • K-12 Toolkit - Microplastic Madness
    • DIY DATA ACTION litter cleanup >
      • DATA +ACTION litter clean up
      • Student and Teacher Litter Data Collection
    • SORT2SAVE KIT >
      • SORT2SAVE KIT - Cafeteria Rangers
      • Downloads - S2S - Cafeteria Rangers
      • Daily Operations - S2S - Cafeteria Rangers
      • Videos - Cafeteria Rangers
      • S2s Quick Launch Guide
      • Job Descriptions for Cafeteria Rangers
      • SORT2save Cheer! - lyrics + video
      • SORT2SAVE - About, Partners, License Agreement
    • Foam Trays Out of Schools >
      • NYC Foam Ban
      • Trayless Tuesdays
      • No-Styro Puppets
      • FAQs - Getting Styrofoam Out of Schools
    • Alternative Messaging
    • Action at home
    • Action on Policy >
      • Plastic Water Bottle ban NYC
      • NY Bag Bill
  • Donate
  • Youth Advocates Program
  • MORE RESOURCES
    • Resource Library
    • Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in Taiwan - Lessons Learned
  • Events
  • Latest - Cafeteria Culture blog
  • Volunteer