When Samuel McDaniel ’18 started Linfield’s online sustainability certificate program, he had one goal in mind: reduce the carbon footprint of his family business, Astoria Downtown Market.
Even while working 72 hours a week as a business owner, this goal – and the support of his professors – kept McDaniel motivated as he learned how to turn his ideas into business practices.
“The faculty members were awesome,” says McDaniel, who took advantage of every spare moment at home and work to complete his assignments. “Every professor had a different perspective on environmentalism that was persuasive and reasonable in helping to redevelop my own perspectives.”
After swapping plastic bags for paper, McDaniel is exploring other environmentally friendly practices at Astoria Downtown Market. These include opting into Northwest Natural’s Smart Energy program which sources methane as a biogas from cow dung and collecting a couple hundred pounds of cigarette butts at the store which will be composted and recycled into new products.
“The sustainability certificate helped guide my business endeavors to decrease my environmental impact,” he says, “and hopefully, redevelop environmental services and create a more equitable social environment.”
– Kristie (Patterson) Rickerd ’97
