Sustainability
At the department’s annual “State of the Department” address, Professor and Chair Jeff Johnson asked “What is the
department doing to be sustainable?” Inspired by this question, the department formed a new Sustainability Commit-
tee in August to guide and inform our efforts to become more sustainable. The committee is comprised of faculty, staff,
graduate students, and post-docs from across the department.
Since its inception, the committee has been working towards improving sustainability practices on both small and
large scales within the department, and collaborating with groups in Chemistry and across campus.
One project involves collaborating with the UNC Office of Waste Reduction and Recycling, and UNC Green Labs, to ed-
ucate the department members on UNC’s recycling policies with the goal of increasing recycling participation across
the department.
Pictured, from left to right: Nicole Parsley, Lauren McRae, Jessica Coleman, Marcey Waters, Kelsey Kean, Hannah Ferguson Johns, Katherine
Albanese, Emilia Leon, and Mandy Melton. Not pictured from the Sustainability Committee: Tyler Motley, Ian VonWald, and Randy Simmons
Following the lead of our teaching labs, research labs are now widely participating in nitrile lab glove recycling through
VWR. Additionally, the department is participating in a pilot program with Thermo Fisher Scientific to recycle plastic
films. Along with the Social Activities Committee, the committee works to make department-wide events greener, with
a focus on reducing waste and using compostable or reusable items whenever possible.
For the future, the committee has set their sights on establishing composting across the department, providing rec-
ommendations for sustainable practices in the laboratory, and ultimately working towards having solar panels in use
across the chemistry building complex.
In a big department like ours, even taking these small steps towards reducing, reusing, and recycling are making a
huge impact!
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