Adding to a run of student-led recycling programs at UC Santa Barbara, fourth-year undergraduate students Kaili Mikami and Lauren Buyalos are helping combat the rising tide of discarded plastics in research laboratories.
Their project, FLOW (Facilitating Laboratory Optimization & Waste), brings together campuswide and community partners — including UCSB Facilities Management, Environmental Health & Safety, Associated Students (AS) Recycling, Surplus Sales and local waste management and nonprofit organizations — to keep non-recyclable, single-use plastics from ending up in Tajiguas Landfill, the coastal trash dump for Santa Barbara County. FLOW joins recent on-campus recycling initiatives targeting shoes, sports equipment and single-use lab gloves.