Penn State Net Impact Undergraduate

Ink Cartridge Project:

Currently, within Smeal there is no system for recycling cartridges. While some departments choose to recycle printer cartridges in their own right, many of them are getting thrown out. The Net Impact Projects Committee partnered with the local business, Cartridge World, to recycle not only the ink cartridges, but all of the waste streams from their packaging as well. With the help of the staff and faculty, with a huge thanks to all of the administrative assistants, we will now divert a portion of waste from going to landfills.

Sustainable Catering Project:

The sustainable catering project aims to create a resource that encourages students and faculty to choose caterers that aim to incorporate sustainability into their practices. This process will be completed through the use of environmental scorecards, which evaluate catering options on a five point scale, based upon specific criteria. Some of these criterion include: ingredient sourcing distance, use of local and organic ingredients, use of fair trade ingredients, dinnerware choices, vegan and vegetarian friendly options, as well as how they dispose of (or reuse) both pre-consumer and post-consumer food waste. Upon completion of this project it is our hope that there will be a website listing all "sustainable caterers", creating an easy way for events to make more sustainable choices in their food sourcing.

Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility Event:

Net Impact is holding an event for companies and organizations that effectively incorporate sustainability in their operations in order to connect them with sustainably motivated students in one large networking opportunity. This event will benefit students through networking with leaders and executives, organizations through promoting their image and social responsibility, and the Smeal College of Business by furthering their leadership in sustainability and corporate social responsibility going forward.