Green Team gives presentation at AASHE

The Meijer Campus "Green Team" and Herman Miller gave a unique presentation in Los Angeles, California, about how higher education, business and nonprofits pooled resources to implement a community recycling program.

The presentation at the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education was considered “outside the box for an academic conference,” said Lisa Miller, director of the Meijer Campus.

“Instead of charts, graphs, and other information, Herman Miller designed a poster that integrated the elements of our work together and growing relationship through series of images with a QR code that linked to our website with the specific details,” Miller said.

Miller, Melissa Peraino, director of educational outreach for Continuing Education, and student Dan Broresma gave the presentation. Broresma works at Herman Miller as an environmental specialist and is a liberal studies major at the Meijer Campus. He said the presentation at AASHE generated buzz throughout the conference.

It highlighted the Green Team’s efforts in Holland over the past several years that include a zero-waste initiative and establishment of a job-training program at the Holland City Mission.

Broresma said the program at the mission impacts the triple-bottom line of sustainability through less trash, less cost for hauling trash and creation of social equity.

“Most of our presentation was devoted to how this successful community partnership works and how other institutions can adopt this model,” he said.

The Sustainable Community Development Initiative also gave a presentation at AASHE about the pizza box recycling program initiated by the department.