New York State Association for Reduction, Reuse and Recycling Announces the 2019-2020 Winners of the College Council Grant

Each year, the New York State Association for Reduction, Reuse and Recycling (NYSAR3), and NYS Pollution Prevention Institute (NYSP21) provide two $5000 awards to New York State University and colleges who are members of the NYSAR3 College Council. The grants go to campuses that have projects that focus on source reduction, reuse, or recycling.  

The College Council received a variety of applications this year. The Council is excited to announce the two winners:

• The State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, SUNY ESF: Susan Fassler, Sustainable Facilities Manager, is overseeing the project, Developing Menstrual Product Accessibility and Sustainability SUNY ESF will receive a $5000 grant to help purchase Menstrual Cups and materials for reusable pads. This project will help SUNY ESF reach its goal of becoming a zero waste campus by 2025. Having accessible zero waste menstrual products available along with education material to their campus community, including students, staff and faculty, will help facility the zero waste goal.
• Syracuse University, SU: Assistant Professors for the School of Design, College of Visual and Performing Arts Seyeon Lee, PhD, Louise Manfredi PhD, Zeke Leonard and Rebecca Kelly are overseeing the project, Does School of Design care about the environment? SU will receive a $5000 grant for this research project. The goal of this project is to collect data on incoming freshmen students’ understanding of waste management system and explore whether attitudes to sustainable material use can be altered when confronted by accumulated landfill waste over the course of an academic year and given this information will the students reduce, reuse, recycle or send the material to the waste to energy facility. The research will include data to determine if there is a decrease or increase in waste.

 “ESF’s successful NYSAR3 College Council grant proposal will enable the College to build upon its zero waste and inclusivity goals. ESF launched its campus-wide composting program in August of 2019 and has seen a 27% decrease in trash (by weight) since that time. ESF is now systematically identifying single use products, that are consumed on campus, for replacement with reusable alternatives. Choosing reusable options for menstrual products makes sense for many reasons,” said Susan Frasier.

“This grant will allow ESF to offer hundreds of reusable menstrual products to members of the campus community, free of charge. This will help pair sustainability with financial accessibility, help normalize conversations about menstruation on campus and will, of course, reduce the amount of material that is sent to the landfill/incinerator. The Sustainability Division, Facilities Department, the Office of Inclusion, Diversity and Equity and the College’s Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Committee recognized the potential for a unique collaborative submission and are grateful that NYSAR3 understands and supports this vision.”

The College Council is a program of the New York State Association for Reduction, Reuse and Recycling is designed to provide a forum for college students, staff and faculty to share information about common challenges and best practices related to recycling, waste prevention, and other environmental issues.

SU’s team said, “We would like to extend our gratitude to the members of the NYSAR3 committee for granting us the research funds.”

“This grant allows for the expansion of a pilot project that aimed to reshape waste disposal culture in design studios. This grant will specifically contribute to educating incoming freshmen on how we reduce/reuse/recycle studio waste in the School of Design. This opportunity will support the School of Design in making a positive step toward a significant culture shift through responsible material usage in design, this reducing landfill waste,” Seyeon Lee, assistant professor.

 “The broader goal is to provide a blueprint for other colleges and NYS institutions in education planning for environmentally conscious material management in the undergraduate student population.”

  The College Council is a membership-based program offering a number of members-only benefits, including its own listserv, an electronic newsletter, regional and statewide workshops, discounted memberships and conference registration fees.  To learn more about the College Council and NYSAR3 please visit, nysar3.org, and Why Join. To join the College Council please sign up here: Register.