The Green Light Team is a group of concerned citizens, educators, and students that is focused on improving the recycling effort in the WNY region. The group was initiated by Dr. Stephanie Westerman and consists of several Medaille College members including Dr. Brenda Fredette, Dr. Norm Muir, Kerry Spicer, undergraduate students Corey Biesinger, Chris Devlin, Margaret Keddie, Ashley Kosicky, Lauren Neubauer, Brenna Barbour, and Liz Probst along with graduate students Sarah Sears and Rachel Karasiewicz. Additional members include Dave Bauer of Sustainable Earth Solutions, Erie County recycling coordinator Gary Carrell, and concerned citizen Patrick Ingrassia.
Our mission is to promote green initiatives at area campuses in Western New York, with the ultimate goal of changing government policy and creating a culture of environmental responsibility on college campuses. Project Green Light will bring students from Western New York together in an effort to make real and lasting changes in their campus communities as well as the Western New York region.
Project Green Light will provide student leaders an opportunity to develop initiatives that will introduce a sustainable recycling effort on area college campuses. Teams of 3-5 students and one advisor from the region’s 17 colleges and universities will come together to investigate a recycling challenge they face in their school. Since student leadership is central to fulfilling the goals of this event, the intent of Project Green Light is to develop student leaders and train them to use creative problem solving to cause change on their individual campuses.
The teams will come to the symposium with baseline data that defines what they are currently doing on their campus to promote recycling. They will brainstorm to identify what is missing or what could be used to improve the recycling effort on their individual campuses. Each team will then devise an Action Plan to implement upon leaving the conference. The advisers will mentor their team and encourage them to put their design plan into action. After sixty days, each team will submit evidence that their Plan of Action has been successfully employed. Once implemented, each team will receive a stipend to further develop the recycling effort on their campus.
The intent of this symposium is to develop student leaders that will be trained to use creative problem solving to cause change on their individual campuses. Participants will be empowered to make a difference in their community by developing a plan of action the will put in place a program that goes beyond individuals. Each initiative will introduce a sustainable recycling effort that will continue to thrive upon graduation of the founding students.