Presley Huelskamp is a junior in the Michigan University School of Packaging and is a first-year ISBT Scholarship recipient.

In January of 2020 I attended Michigan State University's career fair where I went to talk to companies with hope to land an internship. I quickly discovered many companies are trying to become more eco-friendly and have made sustainability goals to accomplish within the next 5 to 10 years. Consumers are starting to realize how dangerous single use plastic is and companies must step up in order to comply with their customers wants and needs. One company that stood out to me was PepsiCo. When interviewing with Pepsi I told them that I was interested in sustainability, but I still have a ton to learn about it. They asked why it interested me so much and I told them, "if you were to take a walk down the sidewalk, the park, or beach the chances of you seeing plastic pollution are very high. Single use plastic is a problem, one that is not going to be solved easily, but needs to be solved soon". When I think of single use plastic I automatically think of beverages — plastic water bottles, soda bottles, Gatorade, Powerade, Lemonade, etc. I am drawn to the beverage industry because we need to do better. Roughly 1.5 billion plastic bottles are bought each day and the majority of those bottles end up in landfills, rivers, lakes, and oceans and are endangering wildlife.

In January of 2021 I will be beginning an internship with PepsiCo in Chicago at their Beverage Plant. This is my opportunity to make a difference, no matter how big or small. I am one who complains about single use plastic. I do my best to avoid using single use plastic, but that only does so much. Being able to get a hands on experience where I will be able to talk to those who manufacture and produce single use bottles will be my opportunity to help make the world more environmentally friendly.

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