Written by Office of Sustainability student associate, Sophie Keyser, Class of 2026
This past summer, Environmental Analysis student Sophie Keyser interned for WashU’s Environmental Health and Safety Department, working to develop educational material and targeted strategies aimed at chemical waste reduction across our Danforth and Medical Campuses. The educational materials are intended for distribution amongst lab personnel as training.
One of the flyers promotes sustainable procurement of ethanol by demonstrating the environmental impacts of synthetic ethanol versus grain ethanol and encouraging users to opt for grain ethanol whenever possible. The other flyer promotes chemical sharing. The idea is for labs to share their unused and unwanted chemicals with other labs on campus. Most labs on campus are unaware of the preexisting chemical sharing feature in the chemical inventory, so the flyer guides users through using this feature and goes over the protocol for its use.
Sophie also met with various stakeholders working in the labs to learn about challenges with procurement, inventory, and waste protocols to better understand education gaps that are preventing the institution from reducing its chemical waste. She also facilitated a relationship with one of our chemical suppliers to achieve synergy between their practices and WashU’s sustainability goals.
Significant chemical waste reduction on campus will require the engagement of several university stakeholders, but the first step—understanding the problem—is necessary to drive progress.