Not your typical college road trip: Pipes, flooding and water management

Griffin and Harris Duininck are cousins who spent the summer traveling the country learning about water management products including high density polyethylene pipe.

"I knew some things before the trip, [but] I didn't know as much as I know now," Harris Duininck said. "I've seen a lot more on the agricultural side, but I've never been to a lot of the massive stormwater projects that are really used for collection and conveyance of stormwater."

Harris is the son of Jamie Duininck, the CEO of Willmar, Minn.-based Prinsco Inc. The family-owned HDPE pipe extruder has eight plants and estimated sales of $160 million.

The idea for the trip and podcast came from a May 2022 Plastics Pipe Institute drainage division meeting.

"The idea is to have them take this road trip and document how they learn about all of the plastic products that Prinsco makes, how they're used in different applications," said Betsy Bonnema, marketing director at Prinsco. "Getting people really interested in plastics industry, the drainage industry, in a new way that's not just technical."

The cousins are posting content on YouTube and Instagram, with a goal of educating young people. Severe weather this year, including major flooding around the country, gave the project a serious hook.

Harris Duininck is a sophomore at Texas A&M University studying economics. Griffin Duininck is a senior at Grand Canyon University studying business. Prinsco leaders felt the project was a way to start getting the fourth generation of the Duininck family engaged within the company.

The cousins traveled to nine states and made 12 stops from their hometown of Prinsburg to Salt Lake City, down south to Phoenix, and with much more in between.

The 13-episode series is being released in three-episode increments. Six have been released so far. Topics include plastic pipe work, maximizing land use, recharging groundwater, how farmers increase crop health, products made with sustainable materials and the use of plastic chambers.

The videos are being funded by Prinsco Education Initiative and have support from multiple colleges, professors, engineers, contractors and industry leaders. The cousins talked with people in a variety of roles in the water management sector.

The cousins felt their biggest takeaway from the trip was about recyclability, as they talked to a professor at the University of Minnesota Duluth about sustainability.

Prinsco has already received positive feedback about the series, including from industry contacts who like the idea of highlighting water management products on YouTube.

"We're seeing the biggest channel that it's getting seen on is Instagram. We're happy about that because it's the younger generation that is really engaging with this content," Bonnema said.

Episodes seven to nine are set to release on Nov. 2 and episodes 10-13 will come out Nov. 16.