My name is Indi Richardson and I am a Zero-Waste Intern at Purchase College. This semester, Samantha DeTurris and I successfully applied for an Earth Day microgrant through the Post-Landfill Action Network (PLAN). Sam and I wanted to give away free water filters to students as part of our initiative to decrease the reliance on single-use plastics on our campus. We noticed that students lacking water filters or reusable bottles often purchase single-use plastic water bottles from The Hub, one of Purchase’s dining facilities. Recognizing the potential for change, we figured that by offering students an alternative solution, we could play a role in promoting sustainability across campus.
We met with Savannah Robledo and Young Grguras from PLAN to discuss and refine the details of our event. We were met with lots of enthusiasm, and they generously promised $500 to support our Earth Week event. With the assistance of Dr. Jackson, we were able to order 23 Waterdrop Water Filters and 6 PUR Faucet Water Filters.
In our goal to maximize our impact, we chose to incorporate our petition aimed at the eradication of single-use plastics from our campus into our event. This petition was created last year, but it remains instrumental in our mission; the accumulation of signatures serves as evidence of the growing momentum behind our cause, bolstering our efforts to advocate for the elimination of plastics.
On the day of our event, I met with Sam and Ana Karen, a fellow zero-waste intern, to set up. I printed sustainability posters that Sam and I co-authored to put on our table, and we got to setting up. Before long, the air around us hummed with activity, as students perused our table and engaged in energetic discussions about our cause. Our efforts yielded rapid results; the clean notebook pages I had initially set aside for signatures quickly became filled with a plethora of names, confirming the resonance our message has among the Purchase community.
The culmination of our event marked a great success, as we found ourselves embraced by enthusiastic students, eager to engage in thought-provoking discussions regarding sustainability within the Purchase community. Through the lively exchange of ideas, we had the opportunity to offer our fellow students access to safer, more sustainable alternatives for their hydration needs, thus fostering a culture of sustainability and conscientious consumption on our campus.
