Progression Towards Change

By Destiny Johnson

This week, the IPM team is continuing to advance the pilot program of implementing solar-powered compactors around campus. As mentioned in their previous blog post, they have recently sent in an REQ form to The Green Initiative Fund for compactors that are currently intended to be placed at Sunset Canyon Recreation Center. The team’s initial plan was to buy three Bigbelly compactors, but due to budget limitations, this was not feasible. As a solution, the team first considered buying one Bigbelly compactor for landfill streaming and two Smartbelly compactors for recycling and composting streaming. However, the manufacturer representative that the team is in contact with offered three Bigbelly compactors for the same price as one Bigbelly compactor and two Smartbelly compactors at full price. The team decided to go with the better offer and will be purchasing three Bigbelly compactors.

In addition to purchasing compactors, the IPM team is also researching additional sustainable pest-control methods and are currently reaching out to external pest-control departments from various backgrounds. By doing so, the IPM team aims to pinpoint multiple points of contact to gain resourceful information and advice on what can be changed here at UCLA.

Lastly, for our weekly SAR team meeting, half of the research teams (Food Waste, Biodiversity, and IPM) held tours at locations related to their respective projects. During the IPM team’s tour, we were informed of what their overall project goals were and shown a drip-irrigation pipeline that has been chewed on by a rat. We were also educated on what exactly rodenticides were and additional details such as the different types of rodenticides and what issues they may cause to nearby wildlife. Not only is the IPM team extremely knowledgeable of the context revolving around their project, but they are also continuously working towards a cause that will be impactful across campus. Look forward to future updates regarding their project progression!