In the Fall 2017 semester, a senior communications capstone group of four highly motivated and passionate students set out to create and execute a year-long project to raise awareness and educate the student body, faculty and staff at Ramapo College of New Jersey of the environmental and sustainable initiatives going on at the college. The group, known as REALIZE Your Environmental Impact was led by four Ramapo seniors and held events throughout the year that supported the campaign’s goal. I had the great opportunity to be part of this group and have a front row seat to learn about how Ramapo is pushing to become a more sustainable school and their incredible initiative to produce less waste. As the school year ends and as our capstone begins to wrap up, I thought I’d recap what we did as a group and what we learned in hopes that perhaps another group of motivated students will carry on this important mission.
Before starting out on this year-long project, I had no idea what kind of sustainable initiatives were going on within the school. I had seen the solar panels begin to be put up in the commuter parking lot, but that’s about it. As my group and I set out to begin this campaign, I began to learn just how much was going on in the efforts to label Ramapo as a zero-waste campus and to educate students, faculty and staff on how to live sustainably. I also learned just how much a college campus contributes to waste and how easily it is to reduce the amount of waste a student produces.
One of the first events we set up was a simple tabling session where we handed out surveys asking questions about ones’ knowledge of environmental issues both on campus and around the world. This event encouraged everyone to fill out a survey and when they did, they would receive a free reusable water bottle. With more surveys filled out than we ever imagined would be, and with almost all of the water bottles given away, our group labeled this event as a success. Not only were we able to hear from students and staff on their thoughts about campus sustainability, we were also able to talk to them about their willingness to participate in campus activities dedicated to creating a zero-waste campus.
About two months later, it was time for our first major event, a film screening of Plastic Planet followed by a Q&A with Matthew Smith, organizer for Food and Water Watch — an organization that works to provide healthy food and water for everyone. This was our first event where we would be inviting people to come participate in something interactive, so we knew it’d be way different than our first tabling session. We worked hard to send out invitations to students and professors, and although the turnout was less than we had expected, the group and I concluded that it had been a success for several other reasons. Out of those that did attend, several spoke up during the Q&A and participated in a helpful discussion surrounding sustainability and the environment. We had sent out surveys after the screening and several students had filled them out and provided us with feedback. Those were the things we focused on when evaluating the success of the event, and this was a great example of how quality will always triumph over quantity.
Next up on our event list was our “Sustainable Café”. The café was a few tables set up in the Student Center with free coffee and tea for anyone who brought a reusable vessel to drink out of. The goal of this event was to encourage people to bring and use reusable products instead of paper or plastic items that would normally be thrown away. The event was highly successful. With more surveys filled out and the conversations had with students, we felt we truly had a successful event where our mission and goal of the campaign was communicated to all who participated. Shortly after this event, we held another screening. This time, the group showed Reuse! Because You Can’t Recycle The Planet, followed by a Q&A with director Alex Eaves. This was an interesting event because in addition to the screening and Q&A, the director brought with him a passion for reusing and living a sustainable life — which was apparent throughout the day. Although we did not experience the kind of turn out we had hoped for, the event was a success because of the influence Alex had on people who truly care about reusing and doing the right thing for our environment.
Our last event that took place was a campus-wide cleanup co-hosted with MEVO (Mahwah Environmental Volunteers Organization). The event’s main goal was to clean up areas around the campus that were littered with trash. When my group and I first walked around campus figuring out where we should clean up, it didn’t seem like there was a lot to gather. When the day of the event finally came around, I realized that there was a lot of trash and this clean up was indeed needed. The event proved extremely successful as we had a decent turnout and picked up a large amount of trash and recyclables. What I learned from it was that future clean ups are necessary on campus, and hopefully others will organize a similar event to help keep Ramapo’s campus clean and beautiful for years to come.
This capstone proved to be a lot of work but very rewarding. The work my group and I put into the project proved beneficial to our campaign’s goal; raising awareness of the sustainable initiatives going on at Ramapo and educating students, staff and faculty on how to live a more waste-free life. I learned a lot throughout this experience and not every experience was an easy one. The biggest takeaway I have from this campaign is that it’s not easy to get people involved, but with hard work, passion and dedication, one can work towards making a positive impact that will benefit people in the future.
About the Author
Chris Bernstein is a graduating senior at Ramapo College of New Jersey studying communication arts with a concentration in global communication and media. After graduation, Chris will continue to work with his company full-time as a Digital Marketing Strategist.