Team

Carrie Bachelder
Founder



As an environmental entrepreneur and businesswoman in Marin County, Carrie has witnessed firsthand the lack of recycling and reuse infrastructure, at both the household and construction levels. Through her moving company, Great Moves, she was often confronted with the problem of discarding goods and materials in a responsible way. She began to envision a “one-stop shop” that would handle such goods, many of which were high-value. It was through this vision and her determination that The Away Station came into existence. Carrie has created and developed several businesses including catering and event production (Events Funtastique), and was the volunteer program manager for the national Youth at Risk Program, for which she worked for six years in a dozen major cities. Her jewelry studio resided in Sausalito’s Industrial Centers Building, and for 10 years she designed and created one-of-a-kind wearable art from found materials and polymer clays. Her current favorite artistic expression is furniture refurbishing and faux finishes. She is now focused on the environment and is passionately committed to recycling and reuse in all its forms. Carrie’s family has lived in Marin County for 46 years. Her father Bob was a math teacher at Redwood High School for 25 years, and brother Mark is a successful contractor and green builder.

Beth Forsman
Director of Operations
Beth was raised in Marin County and taught by famed naturalist, Elizabeth Terwilliger to cherish and protect the natural beauty of the surrounding California landscape.  Beth holds a bachelor’s degree from UC Santa Cruz and served on the Founding Board of Directors for the EcoMom Alliance and Marin Chapter of Million Mom March. She has held a Life and Health Insurance License since 1994 with HIAA certification. Beth has managed mid- to large-group national and international accounts including Birkenstock, Kendall Jackson, and Schering-Plough. She has also worked as a Human Resources consultant on benefits and compensation packages for local chains and start-up operations. Beth is a 2009 graduate of the Environmental Forum of Marin. Currently she enjoys carpooling her kids around town in her Honda GX NGV (Natural Gas Vehicle), being married to a veteran energy efficiency engineer, composting in her vegetable garden, organizing stuff, and volunteering in the schools. Carrie's unique concept and vision for a Reuse Marketplace in Marin inspired Beth to join The Away Station team.

Thomas Crowell
Assistant Manager of Operations
Tom has over 20 years of experience with inventory control, warehousing, supply chain, and logistics with many major Bay Area consumer products companies. He has covered strategic management through hands on tactical roles reducing costs and improving efficiencies in the following areas:
• purchasing and material requirements
• finished good and raw material inventory
• production planning and scheduling
• technology and systems implementation
• cost accounting and inventory control
• organizational development and process changes
Tom is a knowledgeable project manager accustomed to forming teams from diverse backgrounds to accomplish a collective goal. He enjoys working with team members and clients bringing order to chaos, efficiencies to ineffective processes, and lower costs to all aspects of the business. Tom's New England heritage has contributed to a long and strong passion of ReUse. Odds and ends have built up in his garage for years waiting for a productive second life in some new projects such as the play structure/chicken coop (all reused materials), deck and stair repairs from the old deck, bike inner-tube gaskets, and much more.

Patty Schmidt
Controller 
Patty’s early years were spent in an environment of reuse, which was cultivated by her grandmother who found creative and practical uses for all things. From this introduction to the ways of reuse in her formative years, it was a natural progression for Patty to join The Away Station. Patty’s working background has been in accounting and management for small businesses. She has worked as controller for Bartelt Design (a manufacturing firm in Sonoma) and, more recently, for Bella Notte Linens in Novato. She holds a B.A. in Strategic Management from Dominican University. After graduating from the Environmental Forum of Marin program (Class 36), Patty became more aware of the need to pursue actions that benefit the planet. This led her to becoming involved with several nonprofit environmental organizations, including Commonweal in Bolinas; the organizing committee and waste sub-committee of Sustainable Mill Valley; and other local grassroots efforts that endeavor to reduce plastic use in Marin County. She is currently treasurer of her homeowners’ association, and is also helping plan a community garden through the Green Committee. It was through this project that she met Carrie and learned of The Away Station.

Lora Amara
Artist

Lora Amara is a renaissance woman. She is an assemblage artist, interior designer, organic garden designer, student of Permaculture, environmentalist, Buddhist, writer and lover of all things beautiful brought to us by nature. Her art is titled “Lost & Found Art,” her garden designs are under the heading of “Your Soulful Garden,” and her interior design is simply Lora Amara Designs. She tries to not take herself too seriously, considers herself primarily a student in any of her endeavors, and believes a smile is a gift we can always give. To see her gardens and art, go to www.yoursoulfulgarden.com. She is proud to be associated with The Away Station and the other fine people involved and believes it is the way of the future if we are to live responsibly on this beautiful and finite planet in such a way that we would be proud to it turn over to our children. Lora is also delighted to be a member of the docent program at Green Gulch Farm in Marin County. The program welcomes elementary school classrooms into the extensive and thriving organic gardens to teach children where our food comes from, the critical importance of living soil, the essential role bees and other pollinators play, and the fun of just hanging out in a beautiful natural setting. It is her belief that educating our children to be responsible stewards of the Earth means we provide them ever greater access to the perfect and profound ways of nature.