“I was washing the dishes one day, hands in yellow rubber gloves, covered in soap bubbles and coffee grounds, fumbling with the latch on my countertop compost bin. I just thought to myself: there has to be a better way.” says Stephanie L. Acevedo.
Acevedo is a graduate student studying Social Innovation & sustainable entrepreneurship and is also the founder of Eco-Impact Solutions. A kitchen in-sink composter that allows one to convert garbage disposal into compost in order to separate organic matter out of landfill. This invention is working to fight climate change by limiting methane emissions and waste.
In 2023, Acevedo was accepted into PSU Center for Entrepreneurship’s student incubator program, The Cube. A program designed to help student entrepreneurs launch their companies, and where Acevedo worked on a project related to attainable housing.
Inspired by a passion for sustainability, Acevedo went on to create Eco-Impact Solutions. She believes all inhabitants of the planet have a responsibility to help protect the environment; and encourages students to not think of things as “inevitable and unchanging”. Instead, be willing to ask questions, take initiative to help create change.
In Portland, residential pickup for waste management is done every week and landfill waste is picked up every other week. For Acevedo, it’s not that Portland doesn’t have environmentally friendly recycling & waste options, it’s just that the options available aren’t always accessible and easy to navigate. “...those green rolling bins aren’t mandated for multifamily housing so the people who live in apartments - like me - are left to their own devices if they want to go through the hassle of separating food “waste” for the simple reason of keeping it out of the landfill.” This product is changing the way we compost, and making lives easier for everyone.
“I want this product for myself! - but my motivation for actually trying to make it happen is the love I feel as a parent, a human being, and a citizen of this planet” says Acevedo.
Eco-Impact solutions has exactly what it takes to help our society move towards a more sustainable future. The simple and efficient product makes it easy for anyone and everyone to be a part of.
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