Hello my sustainability and packaging friends from warm and sunny downtown Chicago! What a glorious day to be alive!
Guess what?!?
Remember that blog post several back that announced Sustainable Brand’s was calling on packaging professionals to submit sustainable packaging stories for consideration of inclusion in it’s special edition on sustainable packaging? Well, Dordan’s submissions were selected for publication, wohoooooo! Look out for this new resource in May; Dordan’s first story will be one of the first to run.
Amaze.
Next up, last week I was invited to attend “Dinners on DePaul,” an event that pairs Alumni with students seeking similar career paths, in obviously, a dinner setting. I for one was pumped to get a free meal on DePaul. First thing’s first: the new DePaul Community Center or whatever it’s called in Lincoln Park is rocking; it is super beautiful. I don’t think it was there when I was there in undergrad…I hope I would have noticed.
ANYWAY, the focus of this Dinner on DePaul was “Sustainability and Environmental Sciences;” I and three other alumni (all of whom were ladies, awesome), were invited to sit down with students seeking majors in our respective fields and just, basically, hang out. It was actually way cooler than I thought and I left feeling elevated and inspired: These students seem to have their heads on way straighter than the students I knew when I graduated. I assume the bursting bubble of 2008, which basically rendered my graduating class of 2009 un-employable and made the job market crazy-competitive for new grads, had some catalyzing effects on the up and coming. Regardless of the reasons, these students were extremely articulate and confident, having a pretty good idea of what they were interested in academically and what they wanted to do after graduation. I switched my major 5 times!
What really tickled my fancy, however, was their genuine commitment to do something real and meaningful and have a positive influence on their worlds and the environment. After working almost 4 years, it is so refreshing to be reminded of the wide-eyed idealism of new environmentalists who have not yet witnessed the political mechanisms dominating its discourse. I myself, those many years ago (ha!), had the same conviction that everything could be, should be, and would be changed for the better; all it takes is a little hard work. Heck, I took a Conflict Resolution class on how interfaith dialogue i.e. discussing God as a shared concept rather than opposing archetypes, could resolve religious conflict around the world. Clearly that’s working.
I had several students ask me about the private vs. public sector and the benefits of working for a non for profit vs. a for profit. I, representing the mighty of the private sector, believe change can be generated from the bottom up i.e. grassroots movements, or the top down i.e. Walmart Packaging Scorecard. I am happy to work on either side of the divide, so long as dialogue is being generated and action taken.
Even more interesting, these students conveyed a real mistrust of corporate America, kind of squishing their faces at me when they asked if I believed companies really want to be sustainable and are, or if it is all Marketing and PR. Huh. I explained that no two companies are alike when it comes to the commitment to the environment and their bottom line, but if you can find away to appreciate both, you will probably find yourself in a position to engineer change.
Before dinner each of the Alumni were asked to present a blurb about themselves and their career paths. Trying to describe my career path at Dordan was like describing a really confusing story with no plot. I shared with them how I didn’t really have a job at Dordan and in order to avoid cold calling in a cubicle for the rest of my life, needed to get busy doing something; that something, became my blog, Recycling in America, which led me to Walmart Canada, where I worked with PET stakeholders to increase the recycling of PET thermoforms, which awarded me the cover of Green Manufacturer, resulting in interviews, traveling, and publishing opportunities, which introduced me to a network of amazing people doing amazing things, and on and on it goes. Of course I have witnessed my share of mistakes and disappointments and set backs (ahem cease-and-desist letter anyone!?) I explained, but, as my father always likes to say, "If you fall off the horse, you got to get back up again!" Oh, another favorite is, “Business is a marathon, not a sprint.” True dat Pops, true dat.
So, I floated on my cloud, talking about innovations in material science and packaging and cool new sustainable products and companies, and the students were super grateful and sweet. I kind of wanted to put them all in my pocket and take them home with me to hang out more.
AND it just keeps getting better! Yesterday I received an email from DePaul inviting me to serve as the Alumni inductor for the upcoming College of Liberal Arts Commencement ceremony! The email reads,
As the inductor, you will attend the graduation ceremony and will be outfitted with graduation regalia. At the ceremony, you will give a few brief remarks that we will provide welcoming the graduates to the alumni community, and you will induct them my instructing them to move their tassels from right to left.
Holley Toledo I’ll do it! Not to get all gooey on you or anything BUT it was 4 years ago on the day I will be serving as the Alumni inductor that I graduated from DePaul’s LA&S school. Ohhhhhh things are just coming full circle!
Thanks for reading!
Next post will investigate the ACC / APR study that postulates the majority of consumers have access to facilities that can recycle PET thermoformed packaging. As always, it’s always more complicated then it seems.