A research project by a team from the College of Visual and Performing Arts’ School of Design is the recipient of one of two $5,000 awards from the New York State Association for Reduction, Reuse and Recycling (NYSAR3) and the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute (NYSP21). The second award went to a team from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF).
Each year, NYSAR3 and NYSP21 provide two $5,000 grants to New York state universities and colleges that are members of the NYSAR3 College Council. The grants go to campuses that have projects that focus on source reduction, reuse or recycling.
The School of Design project—led by assistant professors Seyeon Lee, Louise Manfredi, Zeke Leonard and Rebecca Kelly—will collect data on first-year design students’ understanding of waste management systems. The researchers will explore a) whether the students’ attitudes toward sustainable materials can be altered when confronted by accumulated landfill waste over the course of an academic year and b) given this information, will the students reduce, reuse, recycle or send the material to the waste-to-energy facility. The research will include data to determine if there is a decrease or increase in waste.