I would fund infrastructure for materials recycling facilities (MRFs) in the United States. During COVID, I became an avid movie watcher. I noticed that in a lot of old classic movies there's always a scene where the milkman comes and delivers 6 freshly filled, recycled glass jars to a front door. I always wonder....what happened to the plant that recycled those jars? Why are our recycling rates so abysmal at 9% if we were able to recycle in the past? We should re-vamp those facilities to deal with our current waste: plastic! As a research engineer for plastics, I've see commercials about glass being more sustainable than plastic and it makes me nervous and nauseous. Plastic has been a revolutionary discovery that has lead to safe delivery of medical products and extended shelf life for foods. It has allowed for lightweight packaging for those who transport by foot or bike. It is an amazing tool if used correctly. We do have a problem with end of life that needs to be solved, however. In 2020, the University of Exetor calculated that in order to offset the increased Global Warming Potential (GWP) of swapping PET with glass, the glass would have to be light weighted by 38%! This is due to the heavy energy demand in the glass making process and the diesel fuel required in transporting the relatively heavy glass with product. The glass is more fragile, which may cause more food waste (also environmentally taxing) which may require more packaging materials (think packing peanuts). They warn that with current infrastructure, not only would the switch from PET to glass NOT help climate change but could hinder action taken to help slow it. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720321987) Thus, it is imperative we do not play "environmental whack a mole" and focus on end of life (landfill vs recycling) while shifting environmental burden to other parts of the product life cycle. So, if I had unlimited resources, I would build our recycling infrastructure! This would help close the loop and be the gift that keeps on giving for generations to come.

The Division of American Chemistry Council recently published a study on the climate impact of plastics against other materials such as glass, wood, or fiber. They found that converting from plastic to alternative materials could increase CO2 emissions by 69%, create 390% more solid waste, and require 81% more energy and 481% more water to produce! (Billiet, S.; Trenor, S. R. (2020). 100th Anniversary of Macromolecular Science Viewpoint: Needs for Plastics Packaging Circularity. ACS MacroLetters.) So why is the media telling us that plastics are bad? Well, the focus has only been on the end-of-life analysis: recycling or landfills. We fail to discuss the resources and energy it took for products to exist in the first place: it is not a complete life cycle analysis. Before we dive in, let me introduce myself. I am a research and development engineer at a global packaging company, Amcor. I study polyethylene blends with a focus on sustainability. I am tasked with incorporating as much post consumer recycled material (PCR) as possible into our thin, flexible plastic packaging. A recent graduate from University of Wisconsin - Madison in chemical engineering, chemistry, and biology, I have decided to return to school part time to study polymer engineering in addition to my job in order to help close the recycling loop. As chemical engineers, we understand how multifaceted real world problems are and strive to break them into tangible, understandable blocks of a process flow diagram. Once we have our system defined, we can pull in key experts and resources to different blocks and solve the problem. So, to start, let's zoom out a little and understand our inputs and outputs. Inputs: water, energy, raw materials (plastics, fiber, cardboard, glass, etc.) Outputs: energy, waste Assuming that nothing is recycled, the input materials and energy required for non-plastics FAR exceeds that of plastics. Polymer properties are so diverse and effective that clever engineers have discovered ways to lightweight plastic packaging to a fraction of the mass that non-plastics would require for a given function. Because they are so light weight, they reduce carbon emissions from trucks during transport. They are all around functional and convenient: they help extend shelf life and are extremely durable. So durable, that they can take 100 years to degrade. This brings us to end of life. The waste for plastics is monumental! Only 20% of plastics are put in the blue bin or dropped off at the store by consumers. At 380 tons of plastic produced per year, that is a staggering amount of plastic that is being shipped straight to the landfill. Glass, paper, and other materials are the clear winners here. They can degrade within a lifetime, after all. But that's not realistic. Let's build a recycle loop back into our process flow diagram. What if everyone recycled 100% of their plastics? We are done, right? No! Only 9% of plastics are actually recycled and reprocessed into post-consumer recycled material! In fact, out of the 7 recycle labels, only a handful are sorted and reused in the US. This includes mostly (1) PET and (2) HDPE but I know some smaller streams of (4) LDPE/LLDPE and (5) PP exist. Because of this, I think the labels can be misleading. Just because it has a recycle triangle on it does not mean it is recycled. It is "recycle-ready." In fact, (7) for composite materials belongs in the trash bin (as of right now). This is where the chemical engineers come in. We need some new chemistry, whether it be catalyst or purification, to allow more plastics to be recyclable. We also need a viable process to support it. One that is efficient, cost effective, accessible, and safe. I think this is will be the problem of the century. There is such economic, political, and academic drive behind finding a viable solution. To me, it's beautiful. This is where I want to dedicate my life's work. I have been an advocate for plastic sustainability since early high school, where I created a recycling bin that gives positive rewards for recycling. Right now, I am studying plastic converter industry practices and processes. I am learning what these converters need from incoming material to produce their products. I am studying the critical attributes of plastic packaging that is required by storefronts and brand owners. I am studying polymer engineering as a masters student, absorbing as much information as I can. Reading as many relevant papers as possible. Eventually, my goal is to migrate into the advanced recycling research. There, I will be able to clearly see what is being produced versus what is needed at the plastic converters. I will be able to more fully understand the life cycle of plastics and find that sustainable solution. I need to note that the solution is NOT to abandon plastics, but to modify our designs and infrastructure to be sustainable. We're smart people who can get there. I know we can. As Billet and Trenor cleverly put, "the polymer community has spent our first 100 years on polymerization and building molecular weight. We must now improve on mechanical recycling and depolymerize the work of Ziegler, Natta, Carothers, and Staudinger."

My view of the world has always been through a lens sensitive to mental health: my parents, baby boomers, were raised to never express how they feel. With some hard work, a good night's sleep, and a prayer, one could be "normal" again. And so they lived what they preached and were emotionally unavailable to everyone around them. My mom, very strict and head strong, was stone cold and uncomfortable building relationships with her children. My dad, a depressed alcoholic, drank himself to sleep every night at 5pm. I remember on the first day of third grade very clearly. A boy named Jacob -Jake- always had the desk next to me because our last names were similar and we sat in alphabetical order. "Are your parents divorced yet" he asks me. I shrug, "No. I guess not. Can I borrow your purple eraser cap for the day?" And we went on to do our morning math warm up as if that conversation was normal. Outside of the house, I often had a conversation with friends like "Can you come over tonight?" No, my parents are fighting. "You never want to do anything fun." Inside of the house, my siblings and I knew how to read the sound and urgency of footsteps to determine 1) who it was 2) how they were feeling and 3) if we needed to hide. Under my lofted bed behind the toys was our favorite place. The thing is, this is not a unique experience. This was every kid's story; we were all walking on eggshells. I didn't feel comfortable in the house and escaped for 2, maybe 3 days at a time to a friends house. There was always a bag ready and packed in case I only had a minute of opportunity to leave. I stole and abused drugs and alcohol to feel something. I took the train to downtown Chicago at 13-14 years old and wandered around, hoping something would happen. Nothing did, and so I would take the last 11:45 metra back to the suburbs until next time. I didn't care. By 16, I was seeking outpatient therapy for depression. Eventually I moved out of the house at 18. My inability to accept love, criticism, friendship followed me. I filled the hollowness with school work. I sought validation in the form of grades and positive comments from professors. Something I would never get from my parents. I would try to befriend other students, but after a week or two of talking, I would get uncomfortable and ignore their messages. It felt violating, for some reason. Friends never seemed to work out for me, so I figured I was just built wrong. Fast forward to November, 2017. I hadn't left my room for weeks. I couldn't feed myself or brush my hair. I couldn't talk to anybody. My voice was gone and my thumbs went numb when I tried to type. I felt that I was a burden to society; a waste of resources that could be better spent somewhere else. I attempted to take my life. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For most of my life I was angry and sullen, pushing people away. But after years of seeking help, I realize now that if I do not change my outlook, I would be continuing the generational silence on mental health. We need to speak up now so that our friends, family, and future generations do not suffer the same we do. We can take actions by sharing our stories and listen carefully to those around us. I believe that it is a universal experience for everybody to have their own unique trauma. The problem is that is not addressed and is hidden away, as if it is shameful. However, I believe that all experiences are valid. It is NOT shameful and we need to boost this acceptance through having conversations about mental health. So, my goal is to create a safe space for others who need a shoulder to lean on or an ear to listen. I won't be hidden, waiting for someone to trust me. No, I am active. I reach out to other people to chat, even if it's for 30 seconds. I would have killed for a small conversation with someone in 2017. I ask about non-triggering items at first. Things that seem mundane, but have more substance than "How are you?" "Good." We need this, especially in the corporate world. Find someone to debate what the best way to prepare potatoes is. Ask them how long they think it would take to race zig zag across every desk in the office. You see that picture of their dog or cat or family on the desk and ASK what their favorite memory with them is. Get them to think and laugh with you. Let's normalize real relationships. Two friends have opened up to me and we had a good conversation about therapies and drugs that have or haven't been effective for us. I'd like to think they feel very comfortable reaching out to me when they feel unsafe and vise versa. These are relationships like I've never had before. Imagine a world where discussing mental health isn't viewed as a cry for help but a normal, healthy way to share and work on yourself. Let's be the generation to open up and discuss our feelings. May your dear mother Ethel rest in peace. Your community outreach in her honor is wonderful; never stop.

"That's for boys" is something that I've been told my whole life. When I was little, I wanted to be a facilities maintenance engineer, just like my dad. My favorite place in the world was at a local museum, where I could build things out of REAL wood! Almost 20 years later, I was the first person in my family to attend college where I triple majored in engineering, chemistry, and biology. Today, I am a masters student. With so many of BOLD steps along the way, I needed to share this amazing achievement. I support women in STEM!

COVID-19 has had an ever changing impact on my how I participate in and view the world since early March. I am an engineer in the packaging space who supports polyethylene blends, which is the preferred material for many essential items such as toilet paper, paper towel, water bottle packs, and bread. Near the beginning of the pandemic, my company sent everyone to work from home where possible. That's great, I thought, I am happy that we can flatten the curve together as a team. I took my monitor home. It didn't quite feel real; I was disconnected from the virus. After a couple days, absolute chaos hit: panic buyers were purchasing all materials they could find at the stores. Fights broke out over supplies. Brand owners put pressure on our manufacturing plants to produce more than what we were capable of and to prioritize their business. Stark changes were being made in our processes to keep outputs up. Of course, since it is packaging for food and health items, quality need to be maintained. The hoarding and shortages were wreaking havoc on our supply chain. They needed support. Here, I am hit with a moral dilemma: who and what is considered essential? Is it more harmful for me to cross state lines to and risk spreading the virus through in person support? Or is it more harmful to stay remote and let our supply slip as demand increases resulting in essential products becoming unavailable to consumers? I decided the best path forward was to support the plants safely with a mask and proper quarantining. It felt like the clever medium at the time: nobody gets sick and I can support consumers. Eventually, our production stabilized and products became available at the store again. Crisis averted. A few months pass by. My aunt, who is immunosuppressed due to cancer treatment, is a nurse that has decided to support her patients throughout the pandemic. I get a call from my mom, her sister, telling me that she was driven to the ER last night and there will be no visitors allowed. My heart stops as I learn she caught the virus at work from someone who had cleared the COVID safety temperature testing at the door. They were wearing a mask and were assumed to have quarantined where necessary. She spent over 2 weeks in the ICU with COVID and pneumonia. She could barely breathe or speak. It wasn't looking good. Last week, she has shown her strength and has since made it out alive, thank God. There is a long road to recovery ahead of her. I am sharing these two stories as a personal example on how there is no crystal clear answer on what is essential, what is necessary, and how we should proceed in these trying times. Similar to myself, the unknown carrier- whether they be another nurse, a patient, administration, or anybody- who infected my aunt was likely faced a similar moral dilemma to my own. Is it more harmful to risk exposure at work or to stay home despite have essential skills? What I've learned is that there is no good answer. I pray that my precautions during the beginning of the pandemic were enough so that I didn't unknowingly carry the virus and infect another individual. There's no promises, though. And that haunts me. What I've learned is that this is a challenging time for all of us, and we should not place the blame on other individuals who are finding the balance between safely practicing their job and their health. We are all making difficult decisions. What I've learned is that the sooner the world can come together distribute vaccines and ensure safe practices, the sooner we can put a stop to unnecessary deaths. After much thought, COVID-19 has taught us all what I deem to be a dark, sad truth or reality about this ugly situation that the world is in. I still struggle to come to grips with it. There is no happy ending to COVID-19, but we can control how quickly the end comes if we work together and show compassion for others. Stay strong and stay safe. -Jamie

"You should not return to school next semester." she said. I sat in the jade green polka dot chair in her office. I stared at the bookshelf in back of her. It had so much character: color coded books, knickknacks from around the globe, and even two plants desperately reaching for each other on adjacent shelves. They were in love, but maybe the top plant had taken some alone time to read the books on her shelf. I needed to read a couple books, too. Pages 147-173 in my mass transfer text. If I could start that by 8pm, then I could get to physical chemistry reading by 10pm, and then I could hop in the shower. If I were done by 10:30, I can snag 5 hours of sleep and be ready to read about manufacturing processes by 3:30am. Not good enough; make that 4.45, no, 4:15 hours of sleep. Perfect. "Jamie, did you hear what I just said?" No, I didn't. My mind was racing; too much to do now. Too much to do later. I did not do enough this morning. I was falling behind. I was spending 45 precious moments having this conversation; could I have reallocated my time better? If I walk a little faster, maybe I can get back 2 minutes from my morning my walk to class. Order the coffee ahead of time to avoid the wait: +3 minutes. Select music while walking. "I cannot medically recommend that you stay enrolled next semester." I shifted my gaze back to her. "Okay," I said. "I'll think about it. See you next week." The thing was, I wasn't going to think about it. I wasn't going to think about it until I had to. That next morning, I woke up across the city at my friend's apartment. Something had happened the night before. I had a headache. He insisted I do not leave or he would call 911. I stayed because I did not have the time or money to be admitted to the hospital. This moment has haunted me, replaying constantly in my mind even years and years later. That semester I did leave. I left school. I left the city. I left my friends, my family. I left everything behind to rebuild myself. I was doing everything right, or so I thought. I was organized, effective, getting good grades, doing research, losing weight. All of the things I was *supposed* to do. And yet, it nearly killed me. My health rapidly deteriorated as it became impossible to spend time cooking and eating. I hadn't brushed my hair for weeks. I was exhausted and saw stars when climbing up stairs. I expected to loose my breath for the first 5 minute walk to class, every day. My backpack was a ton of bricks. My lifestyle was the weight of the world. They said I had high functioning depression and had tried to kill myself. Me? No, I had a problem set to finish. Due 8am sharp and I was 5 pages behind in the reading. It should take me maybe 4 hours and 45 minutes. I simply could not waste precious time. I needed to be successful as the first person in my family to attend college. The believed in me. I couldn't let them down. I needed to prove myself and my worth through academic success. I packed a small car full of my personal items: clothes, pots and pans, and some books to start over. A few hours later I stepped into an empty apartment and started to blow up my temporary bed. I sat on it and stared at the bare walls, not sure what to do with myself. Truthfully, there isn't a *correct* thing to do with oneself. I started setting concrete boundaries on every task in my life to relearn how to live. Slowly, I became healthy again, mentally and physically. One day, as I was brewing coffee, I realized the nagging voices in the back of my minds had subsided. Nobody was telling me to drink more quickly, read that extra page, volunteer that extra hour or else I was a failure. Get a second job. It was gone. Years later, I still often reflect on that time in my life. It's so easy to fall into the mental trap where your actions and goals are so glamourized by society, you do anything in your power to get there, no matter how destructive. My biggest lesson learned during my temporary leave was to do everything in moderation. It's permanently changed my outlook on life for the better, no matter how big or small the task affected. Want some ice cream? Sure, have 1 cup. Do you want to watch tv? Yes, that's great. Watch 2 episodes of Netflix and then see how you feel. Do you want to become fluent in French? Great, do not spend the next consecutive 12 hours aggressively learning it and repeat every 3 days. Do you want to pay off student loans? You do NOT have to eat only rice and canned vegetables every day to save money. Sit back, smell the roses, and know that you will get there some day. It is ok to slow down. After all, life isn't about the destination, but the journey you take to get there. Don't miss it! I will never return to my anxious, competitive, and ultimately unsustainable lifestyle. I want to share my story. I will strive for balance in all things. It took a long time to get where I am, and I never want somebody else to make the same mistakes I did. I need everyone to know, healing will take serious time and effort, but you CAN do it and you ARE enough for simply existing. After all, time never stops; how you do want to spend yours?

I discovered my passion for plastics recycling and activism almost 10 years ago. I was a freshman in high school, entering the jungle that is the cafeteria, lunch bag in hand, looking desperately for a place to sit. As I walked towards the back of the room, I passed a line of five off-gray, giant 10-gallon trash cans and two blue recycling cans. I thought to myself: Why the disparity? In my lunch box, I had a water bottle (which is made of PET and is therefore recyclable) and a PB&J with some carrot sticks in a reusable container. There is no reason for so many garbage cans. Were single use plastics being thrown away instead of recycled? A group of friends and myself came together as the Greengineers to tackle this issue a couple years later. While our polymer science wasn't completely accurate, our activism in our high school community was ever present. We created a "fun" recycling machine which encouraged our peers to recycle appropriately by dumping out excess food waste into a container and then recycling the plastic in a particular bin. We knew contaminated plastics during recycling is a major issue in the industry. When you put a water bottle or soda can in our machine, it sounds like a monster eating! We love the positive reinforcement! See a video of the device here if you are interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q1GgFfl_Uw&ab_channel=EvanHernandez From then on, I was hooked. I knew my place in this world was to tackle this plastics issue at the source by designing more sustainable products AND increasing public awareness on plastics recycling. So, I went to college to arm myself with the correct knowledge to tackle this issue: I triple majored in chemistry, biology, and chemical engineering at University of Wisconsin- Madison. Currently I am a research and development engineer at Amcor, a global leader in plastic packaging. Here, I am tasked with "closing the loop" and designing monomaterial plastics which use post-consumer-recycled materials. My dream come true! The journey has just begun: during my time at Amcor, I have realized that this issue is far more complex than I had ever imagined. Between low recycling rates and contaminated streams, there is a lot of work to be done. So, I have also returned to school part time to obtain my masters in polymer engineering. I am partnering with local Wisconsin communities to engage young minds in the plastics field and educate them on recycling. For example, I have created a 10 minute video on plastics for Junior Achievement - Wisconsin to be shared in local high schools and middle schools. In February, I will be a sponsor for Girl Scouts "think like an engineer" event. It's a long road- a life long journey- for me. Personally, education on sustainability to the younger generations is the most important impact I can have. I will lead by example and continue to mentor these students. I have almost another 50 years of research engineering work to make a difference by designing more sustainable products and light-weighting current produces. I will design active packing to increase shelf life of foods without preservatives and help reduce food waste. I will work with local recycling facilities to understand what issues they face and try to help overcome them. This is a multifaceted issue that all of us need to come together to work on. Let's build a better future! I'm ready, are you?

I hear footsteps coming up the foyer outside. Mom's home! I run to the door and wait as close as possible, like I do everyday. I missed her. "Ollie...good boy! Come here. I have something for you!" She picks me up, scratches my ears, and STRAPS something onto my head. What do I look like to you? A joke? I am a sophisticated cat who has secured the house while you were away all day!! I take my job seriously and I need you to-- "HOW CUTE!! Do you want some neck scratches??" *snaps photo*

It's 6th period and at the end of class our freshman technology teacher tells us; "find two partners. Choose carefully: you will have to work with them for the rest of the year." I watch the boy in front of me high five his two friends. Shoot, nobody's available in front of me. I turn to the side and see another peer with his back to me; he and his friend are frantically searching for his 3rd partner. I think to myself, no problem. Just ask them. "Jake!" I say, "Do you and Ethan want to be partners?" He doesn't seem to hear me, so I tap him on the shoulder. He turns his head toward me to let me know that he heard me, but then turns his back on me again. I understand now. He is in search of a *good* partner, not a girl. I know I am not alone when I say that situations like this are not uncommon for women in stem. Each sexist encounter seemingly amplified the last. They continued to hurt my confidence and self esteem for the rest of high school, so much so that I had decided engineering was not for me. However, despite these roadblocks, I was able to find my passion in sustainable polymer engineering. During senior year, a couple friends and I identified ourselves as "The Greengineers." We initiated two programs at our school to aid in education for polymer recycling and in the collection of recyclable polymers. Our focus was on PET water bottles and PP medicine containers. Eventually I graduated from the Academy of Science, Technology, and Mathematics 4 years later in the top 2% of my class. I was only one of 7 girls in a 43 person class. After swearing I would never become an engineer, I went onto college with the dream of becoming a chemist. Not surprisingly, I once again fell in love with polymer engineering. You can't escape your passions, I suppose. The social and environmental impact is ever-present and the chemistry is, well, beautiful. Working on my polymer engineering topics was never a chore, and I sought out academic challenges and community recycling events because of it. I decided that in order to continue studying my passion, I would have to switch to engineering. I was scared. At UW, I knew that only 25% of engineering students were female and could imagine the toxic culture. Looking back, unfortunately, I was right. Let's fast forward a couple years: I have graduated and now I am a research and development engineer at a large plastics manufacturer. My job is to research how to incorporate post-consumer-recycled (PCR) materials into blends of polyethylene. Additionally, I research how to downgauge our products to introduce less plastic into the world overall. But this is not my destination, only a spot on the journey. I will be a catalyst for change in chemical recycling of polymers. My plan is to gain deep, relevant industry knowledge on how polymers are processed, used, and recycled. Then, after I graduate with my masters in polymer engineering, I will go to graduate school to research chemical recycling of polymers. I feel that getting rid of plastics entirely is a weak solution to our environmental crisis which will ultimately lead to food and healthcare insecurities for low income families. We can do better than that; we just need to put our hearts and minds to finding the best solution. A more sustainable future will not just make the world a better place, but we need it to survive. My contribution to make the world a better place is multifaceted. I am dedicating my life to sustainability (and hope I have already made a difference!). My research has just begun and I have a long road ahead of me. Additionally, on this journey, I have been and will continue to advocate for women in STEM. I understand what these girls are going through and want to let them know to let nothing come between them and their dreams. If they need somebody to listen, help, or be there, I can be that ear, hand, or shoulder. I've created content on polymer manufacturing for Junior Achievement of Wisconsin, which is played at dozens of Wisconsin high schools. I will be a coordinator for Girl Scout's "think like an engineer" for local students. I need students to see me and know that they, too, can be whatever they want to be and make a difference. We are all on the same team! Let's make the world a better place.