Kaidan St Louis
BS in Environmental Public Health
Hometown
Loveland, CO
Internship with:
WM
Editor’s note: This summer, 26 DEOHS undergraduate students have been getting hands-on experience as interns with health agencies, nonprofits and private companies. In our occasional “On the Job” series, we feature some of their stories.
This summer I have been spending my time as a Recycle Corps intern with WM, one of the largest recyclers in North America. Although my internship is headquartered in Kirkland, Washington, it has allowed me to explore the whole of King County by working in cities like Redmond, Seattle and Auburn.
My main duties as a Recycle Corps intern include completing site visits and waste audits at commercial businesses and multifamily properties, delivering recycling tote bags to multifamily residences, and supporting outreach efforts by running tables at community events in King County.
I have enjoyed having face-to-face conversations with many property managers during site visits to effectively communicate how they can improve their recycling habits and especially to field their questions, comments and concerns regarding their service. These in-person conversations are also very effective when answering questions and informing residents at community events.
The best part of this internship has been getting to know the different King County communities, especially because I’m not originally from the area. It has been interesting to learn what leads to differing recycling services, limitations and pain points between cities within the same county, and sometimes even cities right next to each other. This has helped me understand how to best support each unique community.
To me, one of the best ways to get to know these differing communities is through community events. My internship partner and I supported the Kirkland Wednesday Market; it was awesome to connect with so many kids and young recyclers and see how much better the world is getting at being sustainable through generations. It was great to be able to give residents answers to their questions right there.
This work is helping to improve the waste management practices of residents all around King County. This role has shown me the impact of face-to-face connections in communities and the work it takes to generate behavior change.
I plan to use these communication skills and my understanding of waste management needs to support me in a career in environmental protection within a company like WM or other organizations that work with urban populations to support public health.
DEOHS has set me up to be successful in this internship. My peers as well as instructors and staff, like Dan Poux, manager of experiential learning and career services, have encouraged me and helped fine-tune my skills to be a well rounded and well prepared public health worker.
