援助an 唐纳利, a graduate of the 十大赌博正规平台在线 Class of 2023, fell in love with 早期的自然世界，和他的家人露营.
“我想成为一名国家公园护林员. 这仍然是我梦寐以求的工作。”唐纳利说道. “Seeing how the national parks have changed, especially out West in the Redwoods, how those have been getting overpopulated and polluted – it’s a mess. 它上升了 国家公园管理局试图缓解这种情况.”
After earning a degree in Sustainable Business from Aquinas, 唐纳利 has found the perfect starting point on the path to his dream job at a different kind of park: The Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 因为他们的可持续性 intern, 唐纳利 is already making an impact on the health of our planet, one bag 每次从垃圾填埋场转移的垃圾.
唐纳利’s work day starts around noon in the off冰 cafe or library, where he works on an 80-page sustainability report, breaking down the dense content into something 他以后可以向整个组织做报告. 他一直忙于争取支持 for a more robust sustainability program with a full time sustainability coordinator, 很像十大赌博登录官网的课程. He hopes for improved signage and educational programming around sustainability, so visitors can take what they learn home.
唐纳利 coordinates with supervisors on waste audits and meets with the communications 制作标牌和志愿者t恤的团队. 他也支持通讯 team as they prepare for a 零废品 音乐会倡议 on September 16. 我们的目标 for the sold-out Guster show is to reach a 95% diversion rate, meaning 5% or less 赛事产生的垃圾中有一半被填埋.
作为一个前任 可持续性的队长 on the Aquinas men’s lacrosse team, 唐纳利 is used to doing this work at events. With his leadership, lacrosse games consistently met the 95% waste diversion rate. In fact, these events are the model for Frederik Meijer Gardens’ 零废品 音乐会倡议.
Before long it’s time to prepare for the Ayers Basement Systems Tuesday Evening Music 俱乐部.
唐纳利 changes into a t-shirt and shorts, pulls out the sunglasses and layers on 晚上外出的防晒霜. 首先，他抓了一辆装满桶的车来放置 around the amphitheater by the recycling and trash cans for unfinished drinks and 冰. Then he checks the volunteer list to see who he’ll be working with this evening.
The first volunteer to arrive is Brian Chisholm, an ‘88 Aquinas Masters of Management 项目的研究生. He’s set up a folding chair and has a trash picker tool ready to go. Tonight’s band, 6 Pak, is already doing a soundcheck as Chisholm and 唐纳利 快速聊天.
The venue quickly fills up, so 唐纳利 takes his position at the cans on the right side of the amphitheater with his “Ask Me About Sustainability” name badge. 一位与会 把一个塑料杯扔进蓝色垃圾桶里回收. 另一个有一个塑料袋 扔进垃圾桶. Sometimes someone will pause, looking between the different bins, and 唐纳利 will point them in the right direction. 当一个罐头被扔进 wrong bin, he reaches in and drops it into the right one. 他当然不害怕 弄脏自己的手.
“I get to work in an off冰 setting, in like the business corporate format, but I also get to go out and dig through dumpsters and get that hands-on aspect,” says 唐纳利. “So I have both sides of sustainability which are super important. 我觉得我需要 两者兼而有之，才能按我想要的方式完成工作.”
6 Pac在晚上7点开始他们的节目.m. 锋利的. 她们是曾经成立过的女子组合 for the Box Tops and headlined for Louis Armstrong in the ‘60s. 乐队现在已经部分 和一些新成员重聚. 演奏《十大赌博登录官网》和《十大赌博正规平台在线》等经典歌曲 Me Up Buttercup,” 6 Pac has people up and dancing in front of the stage right away.
It’s a perfect sunny evening and 唐纳利 gets to enjoy the music while he works, checking on his volunteers and making stops at all the waste stations to ensure everything 正确排序. He educates community members young and old about why waste sorting is important and how they can implement strategies in their homes. 大多数与会者 能接受，但也有人持怀疑态度. 唐纳利理解，他也准备好了 帮助.
“这是一个很大的变化，尤其是对一些老一辈人来说ons, to try to make that push towards more recycling and more composting, and it can be a lot trying to remember what to sort where,” says 唐纳利. “很多人都没有 have the luxury of being a sustainable business grad from Aquinas.”
As the music wraps up and the last guests head towards the parking lot, 唐纳利 is 负责收集垃圾袋和可回收物品. 他数了数袋子来计算 diversion rates before heading to work on the buckets of liquid waste, which he cleans 这是一种环保肥皂，对我们的水道是安全的.
This was a particularly packed Tuesday concert, and the evening ended smoothly. 唐纳利 still has lots of great shows to look forward to this summer. 他特别兴奋 about the 零废品 concert, even though it will be his last with Frederik Meijer 在他开始做新事情之前.
“It’s gonna be a great night to kind of kick off the end of summer kind of back to school, but also like, one more last hurrah,” says 唐纳利. “所以我很享受 在那之前.”
唐纳利 is now beginning his job search and he’s excited about the future. 他是由 great connections at Frederik Meijer Gardens and will be looking for work where he can use his knowledge of sustainability to support the natural spaces he loves. We 迫不及待想知道他接下来要去哪里!
See 唐纳利 in action at his internship in the video below.