2022 uiguides
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With a goal of reducing food waste by 15%, Kayla and her team digitized the recording and management process of the college’s closed-loop composting system in a project that ultimately scaled every level of hierarchy at the college. Kayla recruited an interdisciplinary team of students, staff, and faculty dedicated to influencing student waste behaviors through machine learning and visual nudging. Using the Innovator's Toolkit to teach Design Thinking to students and staff, Kayla led a series of UIF- and EPG-sponsored workshops to engage the Berea campus with the new WOMbat system (Waste Operations Management, behavior altering technology) while gathering insights about consumer preferences in the dining hall. The results of this project enabled students to have more decision making power over meal offerings, in addition to reducing the time and hassle of properly recording food waste.
The experience of being a campus-wide leader in green behavior as an educator, sustainability planner, and event coordinator empowered Kayla to reach out to the UIF team and encourage a change in meal planning at the annual meetups. The Spring 2019 SVM was the first ever Zero Waste UIF meetup, and Kayla and a crew of other Fabs worked tirelessly to educate the 400+ SVM attendees about composting and recycling during their daily meals and activities. Despite the challenges of sustainable community planning from a distance, Kayla hopes to continue impacting engaging UIFellows in the realms of green decision making and personal connections while leveraging promoting available resources, participating in online engagements, and at attending future UIF meetups!
Please feel free to reach out and connect with Kayla at kaybrandt.plans@gmail.com