Northwestern students can keep an eye out for three environmental projects developing on campus this quarter. Design for America, an organization that designs solutions for various community issues, is working on a bike share program, an organic garden and a new recycling system.
“We have several teams working on the Bike Share project and they’re currently looking at different aspects of the issue,” said McCormick sophomore Andrew Griesemer, who has been involved with Design for America since last year. “Hopefully by the end of the quarter the implementation of the project will be able to move forward.”
Bike Share is a response to the large number of bicycles on campus. Such an excess would not be necessary if students could share bicycles based on their schedules, Griesemer said. Instead, people could grab a bike from the rack, hop on and leave it at their destination.
“We have an initial design in place where people who live at GREEN House could test out the program because they all know each other well enough,” Griesemer said. “Then afterwards we can hopefully bring the idea into Evanston and eventually Chicago.”
This year, Design for America plans to make Wild Roots, an organic vegetable garden built outside Norris University Center two years ago, more widely used.
“Very few people know about Wild Roots and the main issue is finding a way to distribute the produce,” Griesemer said. “In the past people would just give the vegetables away, but now we’re looking for a more efficient way to transport and distribute them.”
Teams have also started to research creative ways to reduce waste for the recycling project this quarter. Design for America created a new system of washing dishes in the dining halls last year to reduce the amount of water needed. The group is also in the process of creating a reusable bottle vending system.
“All of these minds are getting together to be creative so more ideas are always created,” said McCormick sophomore Christy Lewis, who helps orchestrate Design for America’s projects.
On top of the steady projects underway, the group is also collaborating with the Global Engagement Summit this quarter.
“We’re going to host a joint workshop together and have a meeting of the minds to combine the skills that they have and the skills that we have in the design process to hopefully do something really great,” said McCormick junior Aaron Horowitz, who is involved with Design for America’s collaboration with the GES conference. “Since dealing with global issues doesn’t really allow people to do anything directly, we’re attaching local impacts to the Global Engagement Summit.”
As the organization impacts Northwestern’s campus and the Evanston and Chicago communities, Design for America also plans on expanding to more university campuses this year. It currently has chapters at Cornell University and Dartmouth College, and at least five more interested colleges are on the way to starting their own chapters.
“Hopefully in the next 10 years the movement will be very widespread, with each college having its own chapter to create more ideas,” Lewis said.
