Green Eagles staff members and other volunteers sorted through over 1,000 pounds of garbage for a waste audit Oct. 5, hoping to gain an understanding of how much waste students produce.
The results from the audit showed the following were in Residence Hall trash cans:
• 360 pounds of paper • 245 pounds of plastic • 98 pounds of organic materials • 95 pounds of cardboard • 50 pounds of glass • 20 pounds of metal • five pounds of textiles • two pounds of wood
In Letts alone, there were 71 pounds of food and 141 pounds of tissue paper.
The waste audit is the first major project taken on by the Green Eagles this year. The Residence Hall Green Eagles program was started at the beginning of this semester by the Office of Sustainability to employ students to spread awareness of sustainability in the dorms, The Eagle previously reported.
Director of Sustainability Chris O’Brien said the overall amount of garbage can be reduced by students through recycling and waste reduction.
He believes college students have more sustainable lifestyles than most people because many of their needs are provided through efficient services such as Terrace Dining Room. TDR uses local farms on a regular basis, requiring less transportation for food shipments and healthier food, O’Brien said.
He also noted, however, that campus services still produce significant amounts of waste.
“No matter how you compare it, waste is waste,” O’Brien said. “However much we produce is too much.”
The waste audit volunteers dug through and sorted all the trash and recycling from the residence halls of North side and South side.
Volunteers stationed in the parking lot between Clark and Letts and behind Centennial Hall spread tarps on the pavement and laid out the numerous bags of garbage before beginning the waste audit.
There were about 25 volunteers throughout the four-hour time period, although O’Brien and Curley had expected more volunteers to help and make the process move faster.
Carlee Defranco, a sophomore in College of Arts and Sciences, sported a full white body suit to stay clean.
A Green Eagle of Centennial Hall, Defranco said she was ready to put her past knowledge of waste audits to action.
“The audit should be interesting,” she said before the audit began. “I’m excited to start sorting! It’s messy, but it’s worth it. We did this at my high school, but we really have to make sure it was well sorted there.”
Lindsey Breeding, a junior in the School of International Service and a Green Eagle in Hughes, said the amount of garbage collected was astounding when it was all laid out to see.
“It makes you not want to produce waste,” she said. “It’s nice to hide [the trash in the garbage cans and landfills], but here it is, all laid out.”
O’Brien hopes the information provided by the audit will help create a healthier, more sustainable campus.
“The goal of the waste audit is to understand that instead of wasting, natural resources can be used in other ways,” he said.
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