Process 

Nicole and I started off with scheduling a meeting with Alethea, in order to discuss our STARS report. We had a three-step process in order to complete our project. OP-18: was about Waste Minimization and Diversion, OP-19: was about Construction and Demolition Waste Diversion, and OP-20 was about Hazardous Waste Management. Alethea helped us with OP-18 and OP-19, for OP-20 she sent us to her boss Ronnie Souza director of the Environmental Health & Safety department he was able to provide us helpful information for our project, along with the inside scope on how the University of New England works on being sustainable. Ronnie works on the implementation, and administration of comprehensive environmental health and safety programs and policies for the University. We were able to complete STARS within a day and have it ready to be submitted. Through this assignment, Nicole and I were able to take on a project already started on campus; the Move-in Move-out program is campuswide collection day of items no longer wanted by students at the end of the year. UNE will collect furniture, electronics, clothing, office supplies, unopened non-perishable food items, books, and other recyclables; sort it and either donate it to a charity or try to sell it again in the fall. 

Ah-ha Moment

Nicole and I didn’t really have any “Ah-ha” moment we did run into a couple of bumps in the road when working on our STARS report. While working on our presentation we had trouble getting in contact with universities due to the coronavirus. Although not a “Ah-Ha” moment, it was definitely frustrating and held us back from important information for our presentation. When talking with Ronnie we were able to find out what the university recycles and the regulations that the school has to follow. Finding out how much waste the university makes at the end of the day, definitely took me back and the number of unwanted items collected at the Move-in Move-out program this past year was insane.        

• Dr. Thomashow uses the word Anthropocene.  What is your understanding/interpretation of the word and what implications do you think it represents? My understanding of the Anthropocene is all negative action on the environment caused by humans overpopulating and altering the land for their own benefits. After the Industrial Revolution, we have seen some pretty drastic changes to the planet: mass deforestation for land use, mountains for trash ending up in the oceans, carbon emissions ripping apart the atmosphere, and unresponsible use of renewable resources. Humans have proven that we cannot live sustainably without interfering with our “Keeping Up With the Jones” attitude. Our new lifestyle has blocked our view of what’s important in life, which has resulted in the craving for the next best things.              
• What leadership qualities can you exhibit to spark transformational change? Incorporating more education on the environment to the youth I believe will have the biggest impact moving forward with policy plans. I was included in the Maine Climate Council “Youth Day” and was able to participate and learn from other teenagers, and their opinions on the environment. Currently, the office is being dominated by the much older generations, passing around the same ideas. Allowing younger voices to express the importance, and what they think should happen to move forward could put us back on track for a cleaner lifestyle. The future is ours now, we need to live and raise our families in an environment that is clean and sustainable; teaching them ways for their generations to make a difference as well. For me walking into a conference with a bunch of concerned teenagers inspired me more to make a change in the world, rather than sitting in-class lectures. We look at environmental problems and try to tackle this biggest of problems right of the bat, even with the newest of technology we shouldn’t try to eat the whole elephant in one sitting. Passing more bills requiring people to do their part and help save the environment for future generations to come.       

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