The will be conducting an audit designed to highlight the reality of the campus waste stream for students, faculty and administrators, while providing valuable data to empower better decision making and holistic procurement and disposal practices. The 东精影业 惭ā苍辞补 community is invited to help sort, categorize and weigh waste during the second campus-wide waste audit in almost 20 years from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Legacy Path October 19–20.
“This waste audit is an important step in achieving our waste reduction goals at 东精影业 惭ā苍辞补,” said Navin Tagore-Erwin, a 东精影业 Office of Sustainability waste reduction fellow.
For most people, trash is something better left out of sight and out of mind. However, waste habits have fiscal and environmental consequences. Based on procurement records, 东精影业 惭ā苍辞补 uses 21 tons of paper towels annually. This cost was more than $98,000 in 2016, and paper towels alone created enough waste to cover 2,121 miles (nearly the distance from Hawaiʻi to California). There are economic and environmental impacts (deforestation, depletion of freshwater resources and transportation emissions) associated with the production and distribution of paper towels.
“In order to manage our waste we need to first understand what we are throwing away so that we can responsibly direct our purchasing and minimize our disposal,” said Roxanne Adams, 东精影业 惭ā苍辞补 director of .
This audit is an update and expansion of a 2008 audit led by a group of students, with the support of building and grounds management. This initial audit provided a valuable baseline of 东精影业 惭ā苍辞补 waste generation and created a value proposition for adopting zero-waste policies.
According to the , “zero waste” is “a goal that is ethical, economical, efficient and visionary, to guide people in changing their lifestyles and practices to imitate sustainable natural cycles, where all discarded materials are designed to become resources for others to use.”
The 2017 audit will target specific types of waste (i.e. plastic utensils, disposable beverage containers) to enable a more targeted response from the 东精影业 community. This audit protocol will be shared as a template for other 东精影业 campuses to consider in order to assist the systemwide waste footprint per the direction of a 东精影业 Executive Policy on Sustainability. This policy commits 东精影业 to cultivate system sustainability through both waste reduction and sustainable procurement (see 东精影业 Executive Policy, EP 4.202).
Anyone is welcome to stop by and volunteer to help with the audit. Gloves and water will be provided.