Emerson Student Government Association members discussed plans to install a laundry detergent sheet refill station near the tap-desk in the Little Building on Friday, Oct. 14th.
The machine will dispense micro-carbon laundry detergent sheets made from 0% plastic. According to Generation Conscious, the sustainable infrastructure design company who produces the machines, the “closed-loop system allows students to enjoy affordable hygiene products that are package-free, plastic-free and therefore zero-waste, and require 97% less water and 95% less carbon to produce and distribute.”
Generation Conscious, which partnered with SGA to install the machine, is a queer and BIPOC owned business that designs zero-waste infrastructure for laundry, cleaning, and personal care. The first stock of sheets will provide detergent for an estimated 300 loads of laundry. SGA purchased the $4,000 pilot version of the program, which includes the sheets and the machine itself.
After this semester, some students will have to pay for the sheets themselves, but the new installation should cut down on both costs and environmental impact overall.
“We will work out a system to have free sheets for low-income and first-generation students. Nonetheless, for everyone else these sheets are 20% cheaper than Tide Pods, are right on campus, and are way more sustainable and healthier for the machines,” SGA Executive Vice President Neiko Pittman said.
Pittman added that SGA is working on a rewards system where students can earn a number of free sheets after a certain amount of use.
SGA will host a launch party in Little Building after the machine’s installation. The exact time and location has yet to be determined.
As a part of the discussion from last week’s meeting to raise funds to support those impacted by Hurricane Fiona in Puerto Rico, SGA is undertaking a fundraising campaign for Taller Salud, a women-led, non-profit organization accepting monetary donations to help Puerto Rican locals access necessities. SGA plans to distribute posters and communicate with other student organizations to spread the word about the fundraising effort through statistics and informational content about Taller Salud’s work thus far.
“[We] would like SGA and Cultural Affairs, and any other [campus] organization to repost the content [from Taller Salud] as well,” said SGA member and senior business of creative enterprises major Adriana Sophia Amy Delgado.
