2/22/16 - 3/6/16

    The first two weeks were primarily getting situated and preparing for the semester internship. I continued work I had already been doing as a sustainability assistant. I also got to start thinking about what I want to focus on for the semester. I chose recycling and waste because there is already some groundwork I can build off of, and I will be able to make real progress in just a semester. So, I looked over the research done by the Environmental Studies Capstone class in the fall, and continued their research. This week I focused on Starbucks, and identified it as my first goal. I researched what you can and can’t recycle from Starbucks and began making a sign. My goal is to have the sign up at the Starbucks on campus within two more weeks. To accomplish this, I will have to finish my current draft of the sign, get it in front of someone from Aramark/Starbucks next week, and then make any revisions needed in order to get it posted. Since it’s almost April, Earth Day/Week/Month could be a motivation to hang up this sign, although I would want the sign to be permanent. 

    So far this internship has been valuable because of the balanced opportunities to work independently and collaboratively. The opportunity to have a measurable impact on campus is exciting. The independent research stage has been pretty easy for me, but the stage of getting the information out into circulation will be more difficult. 

 

3/7/16 - 3/20/16

    During weeks 3 and 4, I worked on drafts of my sign for Starbucks. I met with Edward Kreitzman, the head of dining services, and presented the sign. I also began making a plan for recycling in the Res Halls. I considered the best way to get information out to residents, and decided that a mid-sized refrigerator magnet would be ideal.

    It was a valuable experience to present my work to Ed, and it was rewarding to get a positive response and be able to put up my sign. This met my goal of moving ahead fairly quickly on the Starbucks goal. It was definitely low-hanging fruit, so I’m glad to be getting that out of the way by the half-way mark of the semester. 





3/21/16 - 4/3/16

    Over spring break, I worked independently on the Res Hall plan, including sketching the magnet design, research, and building a simple website for recycling information. The website could also be used for compost information once composting is introduced at Hamline. The website will primarily help people who have additional questions (with a FAQ page) and store infographics made by the Thrive team and others in a public place. The idea is that the link and QR code to the site will be on the magnets. The magnets will have basic information, and the website will have more detailed information.

    I finished the Starbucks sign and sent it to Ed over break. The week of Monday the 28th the sign was not up yet so I took this opportunity to get started on some data collection. I took pictures of the contents of first floor Anderson trash and recycling bins. I will continue to take pictures once or twice daily after the sign is posted, and use MPIRG’s trash audit, to see if it has a noticeable impact. 

    I also began to collaborate with Sarah and Elise on #ThisThingStillWorks. 

 

4/4/16 - 4/15/16

    During week 7 I worked on creating a logo for Hamline Thrives, and made a banner for #ThisThingStillWorks. I also got in contact with Rachel Mazac to hear her ideas for RA and NSM training. I continued to work on the Res Hall plan. 

    During week 8, I helped run the #ThisThingStillWorks booth. My sign for Starbucks was put up so I began to do simple visual trash audits of first floor Anderson again, to collect data on the impact of the sign. (I also had to reprint the sign since the first version was too small!)

4/17/16 - 5/1/16

    During week 9, I compiled some data on the Starbucks sign and made a poster for MPIRG’s trash audit. The results of the Starbucks sign are not very clear after only one week of collecting data. The recycling percentage improved dramatically, but the trash percentage got worse (more recyclables than trash in trash bins). This trend could be explained completely by the warmer weather-- People get more cold drinks, which are in recyclable cups. I will have to continue to monitor to see if the sign is effective, but I have seen lots of people reading it so far! At the trash audit, I was able to learn a lot more about recycling in detail, which guided more work on the magnet and website. I added a box on composting to the magnet:








During week 10, I I met with Valentine and Ken Dehkes from Facilities to discuss signage, recycling, and composting. One big problem is that a lot of students use the Hamline-provided recycling bin for mixed recycling and trash, since they are not provided with a trash can but have to bring their own. A possible solution to this is a small trash can that hangs off the side of the recycling bin, and can be bought for $5. Another one could be used for composting, and purchased by students who are interested in having one. These could also be used in bathrooms, where the majority of waste is compostable napkins, but there are occasionally a few trash items. 
 

LEAP Reflection Weeks 11 & 12

5/2/16 - 5/13/16

    During week 11,  I thought more generally about the best way to label public bins as recycling, organics, and landfill. I made some sketches for these. I also re-designed the magnet/res hall sign so that it gives more equal footing to compost and recycling, and is clearer. I began organizing some meetings about composting on campus for the following week.

    During week 12, I had two meetings with various people at Hamline for the summer composting pilot. We talked about the different concerns of Dining Services, ABM, and Facilities.  These meetings established the baseline as we go forward, and some of the limitations such as cost, and extra work.