Nina Gozzi (CFA’23) was inspired to start Plant Me After Reading, workshops designed to educate people on how to repurpose waste. Photo courtesy of Gozzi

Community Engagement

Sustainability Seed Grants Will Fund Ideas Ranging from Textbook Lending to Eliminating Dental Supply Waste

Innovate@BU and BU Sustainability recognize Terriers addressing the climate crisis

This article was first published in BU Today on April 24, 2023. By Lindsay Shachnow (COM’25)

Excerpt

Plant Me After Reading was one of a dozen projects that recently snagged a 2023 Sustainability Innovation Seed Grant, made possible by Innovate@BU and BU Sustainability. The grants give BU students and alumni up to a $500 seed grant to help kick-start a project or develop an intervention addressing the leading sustainability challenges facing the University. Preference is given to those whose impact extends beyond BU’s campus.

To be considered, projects must meet at least one of the recommendations outlined in the Boston University Climate Action Plan and fall under one of five categories: climate change resiliency, emissions and energy, education and engagement, environmental justice, or zero waste.

BU’s Climate Action Plan aims to prepare the University for the impacts of climate change. To achieve this, the plan lays out goals that include achieving net zero direct emissions by 2040, promoting climate change education and research, and acting on indirect emissions.

“I am always inspired by BU students and their innovative ideas to solve sustainability problems,” says Lisa Tornatore (CAS’02), BU Sustainability director. “We are in a unique place where we can foster their creativity and offer real-world feedback.” 

Applications opened last October and grantees were given one month to construct their project before the submission deadline. Applicants were notified of their funding in mid-November and recently sent in final reports highlighting how their grants advanced their projects. The next funding cycle will be in the fall of 2023.

The judges evaluated submissions based on five criteria: impact on the BU campus(es) and community, connection to the BU Climate Action Plan, clarity of the plan, originality, and ability to complete. 

There are a wide range of projects, some of them active only during the academic year, while others are ventures that continue beyond a student’s time at BU.

Genesis Velasco (Sargent’23) and Isabelle Yap (Sargent’23) created the Textbook Lending Library, which they hope will alleviate the financial burden that many students face when purchasing course materials.

Velasco and Yap plan to implement a borrowing system where students can request the textbooks they need, use them for the duration of their course, and return them at the end of the semester. “We hope that our project will be the stepping stone to a University-wide lending library program to remove some of the financial barriers student experience to higher education,” they say. 

The “Denta-Dispense,” dreamed up by Alireza Eghdamian (SDM’26), is a compact, touchless device that dispenses common dental supplies such as gauze and rolls. This invention means dentists would no longer need to pre-stock the examination room, and Eghdamian says this should result in reduced medical waste—American hospitals generate about six million tons of waste each year, according to the American Medical Association.

“When I worked as a dental assistant as a summer job, I observed how wasteful the practice of pre-stocking the room with these items was, because any items that aren’t used must be thrown away for sterility,” he says.

Special shout out to the other 11 teams to win grants including:

Community Roots, created by Sana Iqbal (CAS’25), Anabelle Palumbo (CAS’25), Jayce Ross (CFA’25), Tauriel Duan (CAS’24), and Maria Alejandra De Urioste (CAS’26), is an initiative to provide a garden space for the BU community, inspiring environmental art and fostering a safe space to connect with nature.

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