Northeastern University has been a global leader in creating a more sustainable and equitable world through campus operations, education, innovation and research. The students of Northeastern seek to build on past successes with further innovations in environmental and social justice. Our target is to increase access to zero waste, climate-beneficial hygiene products on our campus.We, the Students of Northeastern University, believe that Generation Conscious (GenCo) fits the zero waste needs of the student community. Generation Conscious is an environmental justice startup that is creating plastic-free refill stations for hygiene products like laundry detergent sheets, toothpaste tablets, hand soap strips, and more. The products are all waterless, toxin and allergen-free, and the refill stations allow for a circular system, eliminating the need for single use packaging.

Generation Conscious has been piloting their low-carbon, plastic free hygiene products on college campuses across the country, making these products for students more accessible, cheaper, and far more sustainable than the products we currently use and have access to on-campus. So far, they have pilot programs at Wesleyan University, Bowdoin College, Amherst College, Connecticut College, and the University of Pennsylvania. Also, they are in the process of providing their refill stations and hygiene products to Harvard University, Williams College, and several other NESCAC and Ivy league schools. We believe that the University should be a living laboratory where we all can learn and iterate on sustainable practices and we believe that companies like Generation Conscious can help lead the charge for life-long sustainable habits.

We also affirm that the sustainability and environmental justice movement should be led by those who have been impacted the most. The founder of Generation Conscious, Greg Genco, grew up near a waste transfer station in Jamaica, Queens, NYC with his Trinidadian-Chinese family. The health impacts of the waste station motivated him to tackle hygiene insecurity and eliminate plastic waste. He is a first generation college graduate (Amherst College) and is inspired to combat the effects of the climate crisis on People of Color and low-income communities In order to combat eco-classism, Generation Conscious has previously collaborated with university administrations to ensure the school subsidizes or finances the full cost of the hygiene refills for all low-income students.

The students of Northeastern University, who have signed below, believe that this is an imperative move that Northeastern makes to improve the well being of the environment, as well as creating a more equitable campus and life for low-income students and students of color.