Letter of Intent
Estimated Amount to be requested from the CSF: 
$1,000
Letter of Intent: 

Project Summary

The UW Night Market has been expanded from HUB Lawn to Red Square since 2001. It is one of the Taiwanese Student Association’s signature events and the largest in scale in terms of people. The event recreates traditional night markets in Taiwan and is centered around food provided by vendors. This year, we will be expanding the vendor section to 30 vendors comparing to 20 vendors last year. Every year, this event creates large amounts of waste that isn’t properly disposed of by guests; this year, we plan to create a recycling plan that alleviates this issue by setting 2-3 volunteers at each trash station to monitor trash flow.
The plan is based on ZeeWee, a Zero Waste Event. The goal is to heavily reduce waste with a three-step process. First: replace all food containers with recyclable and compostable ones. Some containers are vendor specific and will require funds to replace in house. The second step is to eliminate bottled water and replace them with water stations and recyclable cups, which will also require funds. The third step is to assign waste reduction tasks to staff and volunteers. These tasks will include monitoring garbage disposal bins to ensure proper sorting, after event cleanup, etc. Most importantly, the plan will require a radical redesign that will ensure a greener Night Market but will severely strain our already tight budget.

Environmental Impact

With around 7,000 people per year visiting the UW Night Market and 30 vendors, a large amount of waste will be generated. By working closely with vendors and supervising trash containers, waste should be reduced by at least half and recycling increased by an even larger margin. This isn’t a plan that will be implemented once, UW Night Market 2018 will set a precedent for all following events created by TSA that involves food wastes.

Student Leadership and Involvement

The UW Night Market is primarily run by the Taiwanese Student Association officers, a group of 45 dedicated students. Last year, we also had around 120 volunteers that participated at the Night Market. We are expecting around 100 volunteers this year, of about 30% of the volunteers and officers will be helping out with organizing the trash at each trash station. These volunteers come from various backgrounds; some are members of other UW RSO’s or are students at nearby high schools. Overall, student involvement is prominent. Every year TSA is excited to see so many people participating in the creation of Night Market. This year, we will also be encouraging our attendees to bring their own utensils through making short advertisement videos so that everyone can feel involved in partaking in being eco-friendly.

Education, Outreach, & Behavior Change

The hope is for event-goers and our officers to become more conscientious and aware of the consequences caused by the waste we generate. It is hoped that such a mentality will be adopted in the day-to-day lives of those involved in Night Market, and that the effects will extend beyond TSA events, but to the events of other on-campus organizations. This is why we will make short, eloquent advertising videos on encouraging people to bring their own cutleries. We hope that not only our attendees, but TSA members and students in general will be more aware of the trash generated in daily life.

Feasibility, Accountability, & Sustainability

TSA is a longstanding organization (founded in 1946) that has received multiple RSO rewards. Besides its reputation, TSA is credited with holding multiple large events annually, including a singing competition, semi-formal, and the aforementioned Night Market. A zero-waste event is a challenge that we are willing to take on and have confidence in fulfilling considering our vast experience in event planning. TSA is confident in its ability to use CSF monies in a responsible manner.

Budget

Seeing as night market serves 7,000 people, a conservative estimate for reusable water stations would be $500. Food containers would cost an additional $500. TSA requests $1000 to make this a reality.

Primary Contact First & Last Name: Tiffany Lin

Secondary Contact First & Last Name: Jessica Ong

Contact Information
Primary Contact First & Last Name: 
Tiffany Lin
Email: 
tifflin@uw.edu
Full Proposal
This will display after the CSF committee has reviewed and approved your LOI, and after you have received the link to edit your application.
Budget: 
ItemCost per ItemQuantityTotal Cost
Timeline: 
TaskTimeframeEstimated Completion Date
Year: 
Amount Awarded: 
$1,000
Project status: 
Completed