We at Penn Sustainability Consulting (PSC) are partnering with Generation Conscious (GenCo) to bring sustainable hygiene products to Penn. Our target is to increase access to zero waste, climate-beneficial hygiene products by implementing a plastic-free infrastructure on campus to reduce the flow of billions of containers to landfills, incinerators, and the ocean. Generation Conscious is an environmental justice startup that is creating plastic-free refill stations for hygiene products such as laundry detergent sheets, toothpaste tablets, hand soap strips, and more. The products are all waterless, toxin/allergen-free, and the refill stations allow for a resource system, eliminating the need for single use disposables.

We want to address hygiene insecurity and promote equity by providing free products to low-income students. Generation Conscious has been piloting their low-carbon, plastic free hygiene products on college campuses across the nation, making these products for students more accessible, cheaper, and far more sustainable than the products we currently use. So far, they have pilot programs at Wesleyan University, Bowdoin College, Amherst College, Connecticut College, and Northeastern University. Additionally, they are in the process of providing refill stations and hygiene products to Harvard University, Williams College, and many other NESCAC and Ivy league schools.

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 at Amherst College and is inspired to fight 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 finances the full cost of the hygiene refills for all low-income students.

We believe that the University should be a large living laboratory where we all can learn and iterate on sustainable practices. Companies like Generation Conscious can help lead the charge for life-long sustainable habits. Let’s bring together the Penn community to combat climate change! Everyone deserves a clean and healthy world.

Learn more @: https://www.generationconscious.co/faq

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