Photo by Matt Perko
Senior environmental studies major Matthew Schoen, part of the student-run Zero Waste Committee, created a novel and now-annual shoe-recycling drive that has so far diverted more than 600 pairs of shoes from landfill, where their decomposition would have produced 16,000 pounds of carbon dioxide (the equivalent of half a dozen transatlantic flights).
Photo by Jake Hereen
Undergraduates Kaili Mikami and Lauren Buyalos are helping combat the rising tide of discarded plastics in research labs with their project, FLOW (Facilitating Laboratory Optimization & Waste), for UCSB’s Environmental Leadership Incubator. With a focus on education and action, they brought more recycling bins, and better signage, to campus labs.
Photo by Jeff Liang
Cami Mras ’25, Aidan Flynn ’25 and current senior Ellie Schomberg teamed up to recycle unwanted sporting goods as part of their “Dive into Sustainability” initiative. Swimfins, tennis balls, exercise bands and more were collected and sent to a company that renders difficult-to-recycle post-consumer waste into raw materials. They hope to make the program permanent.
Photo by Sarah Kidwell
Staff member Rachel Schoeppner, cleanroom manager for the campus’s Quantum Structures Facility, single-handedly launched a program to collect used, uncontaminated gloves from campus labs for recycling. Since 2022, more than 4,000 pounds of single-use plastic has been diverted from the waste stream. Some 40 labs within 10 different departments participate.
