Sustainability Innovation Seed Grant Recipients 2021
With grant funding and resources offered through a partnership of BU Sustainability and Innovate@BU, Boston University students are empowered to kick-start a project or develop an intervention that tackles sustainability challenges facing the University.
During the spring 2021 semester, we solicited ideas for sustainability innovations which provide solutions for Boston University, and encouraged them to have an impact beyond campus. The projects were required to meet one or more of the recommendations outlined in the Boston University Climate Action Plan. Potential topics included:
- Climate change resilience
- Emissions and energy
- Education and engagement
- Environmental Justice
- Zero Waste
Learn more about the Sustainability Innovation Seed Grant Program.
2021 Seed Grant Recipients
Congratulations to the student teams we selected. Each team receives $500 to support the development of its idea. If you are interested in learning more about a project, we encourage you to email the student(s) involved.
Petal Grove Company
Contact: Tara Sarli
Member Schools/Colleges: College of Arts & Sciences
Petal Grove Company produces a series of plant-dyed notebooks, calendars, and planners out of paper from BU recycling bins. These products contain seeds for consumers to grow plants after using the product.
Topic/s: Environmental Justice, Zero Waste
Broccoli in the Fridge
Contact: Ezgi Eyigor
Team Members: Maxine Slattery, Madison Sofield, Chen-Yu Chang, Haolin Yang, James Chen, Ezgi Eyigor
Member Schools/Colleges: College of Arts & Sciences, College of Communication
Broccoli in the Fridge is an app that helps users prevent food waste by tracking expiration dates upon purchase of food and by logging leftovers. The app will remind users to consume these items in a timely manner. Additionally, the app will suggest items to be added to the next week’s grocery list based on what the user has run out of and what he/she still has left in the fridge.
Topic/s: Zero Waste
BU Low Carbon Dining
Contact: Jonas Kaplan-Buccairelli
Team Members: Jonas Kaplan-Bucciarelli, Rachel Koh, Amir Wilson
Member Schools/Colleges: College of Arts & Sciences, College of General Studies, Questrom School of Business
This project will add icons to the existing BU Dining Hall menus indicating a meal is a “low-carbon option.” This will be in line with the existing signage indicating vegetarian, vegan, meat, or Halal options. This new icon could be red for a meal with high carbon intensity, yellow for a meal with a medium carbon intensity, and green for a meal with the lowest carbon intensity.
Topic/s: Emissions and energy, Education and engagement
The Colors of Climate Change
Contact: Mira Bookman
Team Members: Sarah Quayle, Cara Kennedy, Mira Bookman
Member Schools/Colleges: Wheelock College of of Education & Human Development
The Colors of Climate Change Initiative develops sustainability-focused curriculum that can be piloted through Boston Wheelock science teaching practicums, in local Boston schools, and via social media. An art contest will be held whereby current BU students and local, partnering schools will submit climate change or sustainability-related artwork and poetry to be displayed on a Colors of Climate Change Instagram account. Helpful links to the BU Office of Sustainability, City of Boston Recycling Website, BU Climate Action Plan, etc. can also be displayed and posted on the Instagram page.
Topic/s: Education and engagement, Climate change resilience
Energy Street TV
Contact: Dan Katzenberger
Member Schools/Colleges: Questrom School of Business
Energy Street TV is an entertaining series of videos and activities on the science of energy and the environment. The show provides engaging educational content to help viewers take individual and collective actions to contribute to solving the climate crisis.
Topic/s: Education and engagement
The Queer Art of Sustainability
Contact: Jere Schulz
Team Members: Triss Ingels, Gray Babbs, Kim Bress, Jere Schulz
Member Schools/Colleges: School of Public Health, School of Theology
“The Queer Art of Sustainability” brings together experts in Environmental Justice who identify as gender or sexually diverse, showcasing the multifaceted approaches that leaders in the arena of Environmental Justice embody when confronting the issue of sustainability from LGBTQIA+ perspectives, with an emphasis on uplifting gender and sexually diverse people of color working to make the world more equitable and sustainable. This will be as further video programming or as a conference extending the course of a few days with multiple offerings and workshops.
Topic/s: Education and engagement, Environmental Justice
RE:purpose
Contact: Rachel Koh
Member Schools/Colleges: College of General Studies
RE:purpose partners organizations with each other to use one organization’s waste as another organization’s raw materials. This “relationship-based recycling” model fosters transparency, accountability, and creates substitutes for resources, thereby reducing waste and natural resource use.
Topic/s: Education and engagement, Zero Waste