FSU Geography Department Dedicated to Sustainability

Mar 6, 2023 12:00 AM

Tracy Edwards is passionate about sustainability, and she’s hoping that her enthusiasm for reducing her footprint encourages her students at FSU to do the same. Edwards, a lecturer in the geography department, has been working with her 100 level classes to produce ecobricks in the hopes of eventually having enough (approx. 185) to build an outdoor bench to be placed on the Great Allegany Passage.

“Plastics is a problem, and none of us is really aware of how much plastic we use,” says Edwards. “Ecobricks are meant to be an educational activity where students learn about their own plastic usage as they make them.”

An ecobrick is a PET bottle packed solid with clean and dry used plastic. They must be made manually and then certified to a certain size and density.   FSU recycles 1s and 2s on campus, and so the ecobricks that Edwards’ classes are making are filled with what can’t be recycled.

As part of her 100-level class syllabus, she charges her students with making an ecobrick by collecting their own plastics. “For some students, that’s way too much for them to handle,” says Edwards. “If they have trouble making one, it’s not because they don’t have enough plastic, it’s because it’s just too much of a hassle.” She continued, “But for some students, making an ecobrick is life changing.”

One of those students whose life was changed by this assignment is Julia Broberg, senior mass comm major with a double minor in journalism and sustainability. “It was my first class with Tracy when I became passionate about sustainability. Her enthusiasm is contagious.” Broberg thought the idea of ecobricking was an interesting way to get people her age to become more aware of their plastic usage. She also credits Edwards’ class for being the catalyst that drove her to enroll in sustainability studies as a second minor.

“That’s why ecobricking is such a good educational activity because it’s also a way to rank your commitment to recycling,” says Edwards. “People have all kinds of great ideas, but the degree to which they actually commit to them varies substantially across people.”

As much as Edwards is passionate about ecobricking, she can’t take credit for the idea. “Laurel Plitnik, one of my students who studied abroad in South Africa, learned about ecobricking while she was there and brought the idea back to me.” After researching ecobricking, Edwards soon realized that ecobricking was a way to incorporate a hands-on activity in her classroom that was very cost-effective. “In fact, ecobricking is a way to help students see that the things that they do every day have an impact on the health of our planet.”

Broberg has teamed up with Plitnik to help organize more ecobricking events and push sustainability efforts out to students and the community. “In developing countries, like where Laurel was in South Africa, ecobricking is a necessity. Here, it is a great way for us to learn about our own plastic usage.”

Edwards organized an ecobricking event for FSU faculty/staff, students, and the community on Feb. 21. Nearly 30 people showed up for an assembly line method of creating ecobricks.

During the ecobricking event, Edwards had some participants cutting plastic and some stuffing plastic to streamline the process to complete as many ecobricks as possible. “If you have all of the necessary plastic, an ecobrick can be completed in about 3-4 hours,” says Edwards.

“The efforts of FSU ecobrickers resulted in the production of approximately 90 ecobricks. The amount of plastic that this kept out of the biosphere will be presented at Focus Frostburg on April 19,” says Edwards. 

“Making an ecobrick is more difficult than people realize,” says Broberg, who also attended the ecobricking event. “But it’s a great way to help people develop better habits of being waste conscience and feel like they are doing their part to help the environment.”

After learning about how ecobricks keep plastic from degrading into toxins and microplastics by putting potentially problematic plastics to good use, Edwards now has several students tell her that they carry around their plastics in their pockets to put into an ecobrick later. “They don’t even think about it anymore, and that’s good because they are becoming more aware.”