Sustainability by the Numbers:
4,500+ Cyclists and Guests.
320lbs. of recyclable material diverted from the landfill.
1,200lbs. of waste.

Not Pictured:
Blanca Chavez
Laney Corey
Hannah Aurora

Author|Caitlyn Witharana

​Since its inception in 2017, Building Futures in Malawi (also known as the Mtuli Foundation), a non-profit organization based in Malawi, has been working to offer support for numerous projects within local communities. Their primary mission is to provide education development for children and girls, build educational facilities, as well as provide environmental education. In collaboration with GreenLight Solutions, The Mtuli foundation’s Education Development Officer, Robert Mhango, has concentrated his efforts on environmental challenges. This is GreenLight’s third semester working with Robert; the first two semester projects focused on researching sustainable agriculture and irrigation, and developing a way to share that information with the community. Many sustainable agricultural techniques, including: sub-irrigated planters, raised-bed irrigation systems, and food forests have been implemented as a result of past cohort projects.

In Spring 2022, Dynamic RE teamed up with GreenLight Solutions for a third time, aiming to provide sustainable solutions accessible to homeowners and investors. Previous cohorts worked to compile resources for Dynamic’s website and create sustainable ideas for short-term rentals and properties. The team was led by Lukas Gutierrez, who worked alongside solutioneers Adina Guntermann, Alexandra Pesternikova, and Madison Harris.

​The team’s mission was to expand access and understanding of the local utility sustainability resource landscape to homeowners and real estate investors via publicly accessible media. To meet the challenge of creating outreach for resources, the team was tasked with interviewing utility companies and local municipalities in the Phoenix Valley. After the interviews were completed the videos were posted on YouTube to create accessibility for those in the real estate space and homeowners alike. 

​Green Living Magazine is a lifestyle magazine focused on promoting the best ways to be eco-conscious in all areas of life. Due to this, Green Living Magazine aims to be as sustainable as possible in every aspect of their business. With the plan to host two separate events during Earth Day weekend, Green Living Magazine of course wanted to make these events were as sustainable as possible by implementing green event practices. They reached out to Greenlight Solutions for advice, recommendations, and support for hosting their green events as they sought to improve their waste diversion practices, recruit green-minded volunteers, and market their events to a wider demographic. Throughout the 2022 spring semester, our student team and project partners worked towards our vision of two low-waste and sustainability focused earth week events. 

​Our project team’s biggest objective for the earth week events was to divert as much waste as possible from the landfills. From there we set our goal to achieve 60% of total waste accumulated at the event to be diverted from the landfill. We started out by researching best practices for waste diversion, as well as researching local organizations and facilities that could help with recycling and composting. The next step was determining waste hauler needs and planning accordingly. For the Future of Sustainability event on April 22nd, our Green Living Magazine project team ended up diverting 85% of the event’s total waste from being placed into the landfill, which greatly exceeded our team’s expectations. This included 12.4 lbs of recycling, 21.4 lbs of compost, and 67.4lbs of excess food donated to a local group. The total waste diversion from the Earth Day Extravaganza event on April 23rd also ended up exceeding our team’s original 60% goal, with 77% of the event waste diverted from the landfill. With 74% of the diverted waste being composted food, and 26% being recycling. 

​As a project for the fall 2021 semester, our team partnered with Daniel Velez and his company Growly Delivers. Our team is composed of Project Lead Elnur Aliyev and Solutioneer Veronica Chen. Growly Delivers is an e-commerce company that sells alcohol and other non-alcoholic beverages online. Because Growly Delivers operates online, they offer a sustainable business model through the use of sustainable containers.
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The issue of hunger has roots in many sustainability challenges. Often, rural communities are facing the consequences of climate change and environmental degradation, regardless of their part in generating it. Communities, like ones in Malawi, are trying to produce enough food for themselves in the midst of natural disasters, resource depletion, and disease.  Food insecurity and malnutrition have become a growing problem throughout different areas, making sustainable farming a viable solution.

EverSmart City is introducing the world’s first smart city fully integrated with blockchain technology and renewable technology. It will be a pilot sustainable city in the Phoenix metro area that promotes a circular economy and sustainable technology by providing affordable and sustainable housing solutions. It will be a mixed-use, occupant-owned, self-sustaining community with over 300 buildings. The ground level will host commercial storefronts with business owners living above. The Smart Cities are being built with shipping containers to provide affordable housing with cutting-edge renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, smart home tech, blockchain, and more.

Living a sustainable lifestyle doesn’t have to stop at your reusable water bottle or your tote for groceries. Our homes are filled with products that are harmful to the environment in some [...]

Our team is very excited to share our first-ever Annual Impact Report. It was a uniquely challenging year, but our team rose to the challenge and remained flexible to continue fulfilling our sustainability [...]

​Arizona has been a state of drought for twenty-one years. The Colorado River and the Lake Mead water reservoir are drying up and haven’t been able to replenish themselves. The Colorado River is [...]

One of the recurring themes in sustainability best practices is that cross-sectoral, and cross-disciplinary, collaboration is key. Whether it’s across industries, departments, or job functions, from local to global scale, we all need [...]

Rosebird Farms is a two-acre, certified naturally grown farm located in Kingman, Arizona. Utilizing techniques of high-density planting with a focus on soil health, the farm produces over twenty varieties of produce in [...]

​Sustainable agriculture is a global challenge that encompasses issues of hunger, water use, and environmental degradation. Many communities cannot afford to add elements of sustainability to their subsistence farming. In the Spring [...]

After one semester partnering up with GreenLight Solutions, Utopia Smart City has a vision to construct their sustainable society further and partnered up with GreenLight Solutions for another semester. During this semester, Solutioneers were asked to create an incentive program for future residents in their community. But… with a twist: to structure this incentive program to be used as a framework for other aspiring sustainable societies, worldwide!

​ShapeUpUs is a 501c3 non-profit that raises money through the promotion of health and wellness. ShapeUpUs strives to build a healthier future for all children by providing the knowledge and hands-on experience that [..

​Educating High School Students About the Circular Economy   With an increasing amount of waste being produced and put into landfills, it is necessary to live more sustainably in our everyday lives and [...]

​FOR Energy is a solar panel installation company that prioritizes sustainability and helping Arizona residents maximize the energy efficiency of their homes. After our initial discussion with FOR, it became apparent that they desired a shift in their social media strategy. More specifically, they felt that the absence of a consistent social media post aesthetic and post schedule hurt their online image.