Waste
Introduction
Waste reduction mitigates the need to extract virgin materials from the earth, such as trees and metals. Reducing the generation of waste reduces the flow of waste to incinerators and landfills which produce greenhouse gas emissions, can contaminate air and groundwater supplies, and tend to have disproportionate negative impacts on low-income communities. Source reduction and waste diversion also save institutions costly landfill and hauling service fees. In addition, waste reduction campaigns can engage the entire campus community in contributing to a tangible sustainability goal.
Featured Resources
New Resources
A Multi-Method Approach to Increasing Campus Diversion
- Georgia State University (GA)
This session will provide insight on how the largest university in the state of Georgia went from a 10% diversion rate to 49% in just 4 years with few resources ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Engaging College Students With Sustainability and Human Rights Through Bottles and Cans
- Colgate University (NY)
The subject of my presentation will be UCan, a not-for-profit recycling system I launched as a first-year student at Colgate University in the Fall of 2017. UCan is a recycling ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Fats, Oils and Grease - 'Don't Flush It'
- Georgia College & State University (GA)
Georgia College & State University (GC) in partnership with the City of Milledgeville's Waste Water Treatment Program in Milledgeville, GA, have joined to educate the campus community on waste ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Break Free From Plastic on Your Campus
- Post-Landfill Action Network (NH)
Cities and Countries across the world are making commitments to reduce their reliance on single use disposable plastics. It's time for campuses to follow suit. From swag to coffee ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Off-Campus Student Housing Recycling Program
- University of Nebraska - Lincoln (NE)
Over 68 percent of students at the University of Nebraska Lincoln live in off-campus student housing, and many are conforming to the trend of residing in luxury student apartments. In ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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From Diversion to Prevention: Re-imagining Waste
- Bow Valley College (AB)
This is a story of a campus that has moved from seeing waste as merely a municipal bylaw, to diversion targets, and is now moving toward re-imagining waste as a ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Accessible and Ethical E-Waste: Adaptability in Infrastructure
- University of California, Berkeley (CA)
This presentation is a case study on implementing an accessible and ethical e-waste system in UC Berkeley, where previously no affordable options had been available to students despite the hundreds ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Western State Colorado University Role in Advancing SDGs- Road Map to Institutionalizing Zero Waste
- Western Colorado University (CO)
Higher education plays critical roles in the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). More specifically, higher education should strategically strive in its physical operations in advancing the ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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A Residential Recycling Competition at Skidmore College
- Skidmore College (NY)
Energy conservation competitions are a cornerstone project in many schools' outreach efforts, and this program utilized a similar approach to address apartment waste patterns. This recycling and compost-oriented competition involved ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Thinking Outside of the Trash: Waste Policy Implementation and Education at Emory University
- Emory University (GA)
Emory University consulted with Cascadia and Burns & McDonnell during 2016-2017 to assess Emory's materials management program and make recommendations for innovative and programmatic strategies to help Emory achieve ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Using Waste Audit Data to Drive Waste Reduction, Diversion, and Engagement
- Northwestern University (IL)
- Oakton Community College (IL)
- University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (IL)
- University of Richmond (VA)
Unlike other utilities, such as electricity and natural gas, actual waste and recycling data are more difficult to track. The lack of ready to use data creates challenges in goal ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Expanding the Horizons of Campus Recycling: Assessing Expanded Polystyrene Waste in Higher Education
- University of Wisconsin-Madison (WI)
College and university campuses strive to minimize waste and promote thoughtful disposal practices among campus residents. However, one material that presents unique challenges to responsibly manage is expanded polystyrene (EPS ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Utilizing Waste Management Plans in Residence Halls: A Case Study
- University of South Carolina (SC)
In large universities, waste and recycling can be a daunting task to take on and fix. At the University of South Carolina, there are 28 residence halls, all built slightly ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Zero Waste Campus: Mitigating Landfill Waste on an Urban College Campus
- College of Charleston (SC)
Charleston, South Carolina is a coastal city that is home to the College of Charleston, an integrated city campus. As the city is on the forefront to experiencing rising sea ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Sustaining the Borderlands: A Discussion on Food Waste in the Southwest
- University of Arizona (AZ)
Tucson, Arizona is situated 60 miles from the United States/Mexico International border. The nearest port of entry, Nogales, is one of the largest landlocked ports in North America. This ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Vermicompost: A Study of Alternative Composting in Arid Climates
- University of Arizona (AZ)
Traditional composting methods will often yield a nutrient-rich fertilizer. However, when such methods are performed in an arid climate, such as the Sonoran Desert, additional precautions must be taken to ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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From Bags to Boards: The Experimentation Behind the Recycled Building Material "BagBoard"
- University of North Carolina, Wilmington (NC)
In the United States alone, the EPA estimates that 380 BILLION plastic bags are used once and then discarded. The answer to this plastic plague may come from the small ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Data-Driven Planning for Campus Materials Management - From Inputs Through Outputs
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MA)
While the higher education sustainability field is grappling with materials management challenges, from procurement through waste operations, there are limited tools and processes for data-driven planning. University campuses yield the ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Lessons from Year 1 of Turning the Page on Campus Paper Use
- Portland Community College, Rock Creek Campus (OR)
- Root Solutions (CA)
Join this session to learn about the experiences of the initial cohort and AASHE's Turning the Page on Campus Paper Use program. Organized in partnership with behavior change specialists ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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10,000 Makes Mini Sustainable Product Make-A-Thon
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (MN)
This workshop is the Design U 10 Thousand Makes Make-A-Thon but in a smaller workshop format. The 10,000 Makes Make-A-Thon is give them a pile of reused materials and ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Measuring Student Attitudes Towards Sustainable Development With a One-Semester Sustainovation
- Penn State Brandywine (PA)
In Fall 2017, Penn State Brandywine kicked off an initiative titled Sustainovation, emphasizing programming and community collaborations through sustainability and innovation. The campus identified three community partners to work with ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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How to Get Reusable Dining Containers on Your Campus!
- Northern Arizona University (AZ)
Many campuses serve food at dining locations in single-use plastics. These plastics may be recyclable, but unfortunately, these containers are rarely cleaned. As a result, the recycling is contaminated. In ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Using Catering to Create a Virtuous Cycle of Sustainability in Your Community
- Emory University (GA)
- America To Go (NY)
Sustainability practitioners are constantly grappling with the hard questions: How to overcome inertia of the status quo? How to get others to adopt change? How to get businesses that could ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Green Dining at Georgia State University
- Georgia State University (GA)
Georgia State's insourced dining services, PantherDining, continues to impress and promote sustainability throughout campus. With the help from the Student Sustainability Fee Fund, PantherDining recently launched Freight Farms' Leafy ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Closing the Food Loop
- University of Pittsburgh (PA)
As a group of student from three different universities and a diverse range of interests, we all noticed that there were many problems with the current food system. To start ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Closing the Loop: Building a Healthy and Sustainable Campus Food System
- California State University, Northridge (CA)
California State University, Northridge (CSUN) has made remarkable changes to its food landscape in the past few years. Our campus supports and hosts multiple organic food learning gardens as well ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Empowering Student Leaders to Create a Zero Waste Food Court
- University of California, Irvine (CA)
- Aramark (PA)
In order to divert 95% of solid waste from the landfill, UCI Hospitality & Dining (HDS) and Aramark collaborate with Social Ecology Field Study interns, Campus as a Living Lab ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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BYO[Solutions]: Reuse Programs in Campus Dining
- University of Pittsburgh (PA)
College campuses are hubs of waste, from plastic bags to disposable food containers and single-use coffee cups. However, universities can use this opportunity to implement waste-reduction programs with the aim ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Renewable Energy for Campus Facilities Services
- Black Hills State University (SD)
Through our case study, we were able to demonstrate that a self-sustaining biodiesel program could be effectively operated on the Black Hills State University campus as well as potentially other ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Greening the Chemistry Research and Teaching Labs: Resources to Increase Safety and Reduce Waste
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (MN)
- Beyond Benign (MA)
University and college campuses across the United States are pushing the envelope on greening their campus facilities, operations, and processes. However, despite their disproportionate consumption of resources, laboratories are often ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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A New Resource To Engage Your Chemistry Department In Sustainability
- Beyond Benign (MA)
Despite the underlying fundamental reliance on chemistry innovations for a more sustainable future, undergraduate chemistry teaching laboratories still use traditional experiments that are resource-intensive and employ hazardous reagents. It is ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Mindful Unbuilding: A Zero Waste Campus-Community Adventure
- DePauw University (IN)
What does a university do with a vacant old house that cannot be restored? Ordinarily: bulldoze it and haul it away to a landfill. But what if you were to ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Overcoming Administrative Barriers in Waste Management Projects
- University of Nebraska - Lincoln (NE)
My project will be primarily covering the barriers that many students face when trying to implement new sustainable projects on their campuses. The focus of my project will be a ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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The Power of Process: Thoughtful Engagement for Successful Projects
- Brown University (RI)
- GreenerU (MA)
You probably know best practices in, say, composting. Maybe you have researched the best compost haulers, how composting food can reduce GHG emissions, and how it saves water and energy ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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From 'Fix it Fest' to Fix it First: Nurturing a Campus Culture of Reuse
- Western Kentucky University (KY)
Student accessibility to sustainable living resources is an absolute priority at any university. We want students to not only recycle, but also reduce and reuse what they have in order ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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The Intersectionality of the Arts and Environmental Activism
- University of Denver (CO)
At the University of Denver, the Center for Sustainability has established a Zero Waste Program at all sports games, and the average diversion rate of waste from landfill is approximately ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Community-Driven Reuse Initiatives
- Flower City Pickers (NY)
This session will explore examples where waste, whether that is food, electronics, clothing, and more are recovered and either resold or redistributed by creating and leveraging purpose-driven communities. It explores ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Student Oriented Sustainability Projects on a Small Educational Campus
- State University of New York at Canton (NY)
In learning about sustainability practices, students acquire more knowledge through an active process of engagement, by constructing new ideas and working on projects, rather than traditional teaching practices such as ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Using the Campus as a Living Laboratory: The Think 80:20 Recycling Program at Deerfield Academy
- Deerfield Academy (MA)
Many institutions struggle to integrate recycling and organics collections broadly across their campuses. In 2013, Deerfield Academy re-booted its traditional recycling program and began to implement composting out into the ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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#stopsucking: Leveraging Coalitions to Turn #strawlesssummer into an Endless Summer
- College of Charleston (SC)
Approximately 630000 straws are used daily in Charleston, South Carolina. This single-use plastic often finds its way to the environment. Local branches of national organizations such as Surfrider, Lonely Whale ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Meeting the food waste challenge in higher education
- Montana State University (MT)
Food waste represents a major sustainability challenge with environmental, economic, social and health implications. Institutions of higher education contribute to generating food waste while serving as models in championing sustainability ...
- Posted Oct. 23, 2018
- Publications
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Food Recovery At UIC
- University of Illinois Chicago (IL)
At the University of Illinois at Chicago's (UIC) dining facilities, there is much food that is prepared but not eaten. It goes to the landfill, but it could be ...
- Posted Aug. 10, 2018
- Case Studies
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Meeting the food waste challenge in higher education
- Montana State University (MT)
Purpose: Food waste represents a major sustainability challenge with environmental, economic, social and health implications. Institutions of higher education contribute to generating food waste while serving as models in championing ...
- Posted Aug. 10, 2018
- Publications
- View more
UConn ECOCoin Program
- University of Connecticut (CT)
In 2017, the University of Connecticut bookstore rolled out its ECOCoin initiative, through which customers are given an ECOCoin each time they forfeit a plastic bag at the register. The ...
- Posted July 31, 2018
- Photographs
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Emerson College Food Cam
- Emerson College (MA)
The Emerson College Food Cam is a counter with camera mount that allows members of the campus community to share leftover food with others. Often used by campus catering, donors ...
- Posted July 31, 2018
- Photographs
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![BYO[Bag] in use by students](https://storage.googleapis.com/hub-private/cache/d7/8a/d78abdcdc4660cf0bd6e8d97c4ef3818.jpg)
University of Pittsburgh BYO[Bag] Program
- University of Pittsburgh (PA)
The University of Pittsburgh BYO[Bag] (Bring Your Own Bag) program launched through Pitt Housing & Dining in 2014 after more than five years of student initiatives to reduce plastic ...
- Posted July 30, 2018
- Photographs
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University of Dayton Composting Bins
- University of Dayton (OH)
Students in the University of Dayton Hanley Sustainability Institute built two 4’x6’ bins to compost campus food.
- Posted July 30, 2018
- Photographs
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Food Waste Composting Bin Construction
- University of Dayton (OH)
Student leaders in the University of Dayton Hanley Sustainability Institute work with campus Master Carpenter to build two 4’x6’ bins to compost campus food waste.
- Posted July 30, 2018
- Photographs
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Food Waste Composting Bin Construction
- University of Dayton (OH)
Student leaders in the University of Dayton Hanley Sustainability Institute are building two 4’x6’ bins to compost campus food waste.
- Posted July 30, 2018
- Photographs
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Johnson County Community College Green Circle Certification in Cosmetology
- Johnson County Community College (KS)
In February 2017, Johnson County Community College’s Center for Sustainability began to develop a certification protocol for the campus’ cosmetology program to become Green Circle certified. This third-party certification ...
- Posted July 30, 2018
- Photographs
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This tab provides access to data collected through AASHE’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System™ (STARS). STARS is a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance. STARS enables meaningful comparisons over time and across institutions using a common set of measurements developed with broad participation from the campus sustainability community.
All responses reference content from reports under the latest version of STARS, version 2.2. AASHE membership and log-in is required.
OP 18: Waste Minimization & Diversion
- Total waste generated per weighted campus user, performance year
- Percentage reduction in total waste generated per weighted campus user from baseline
- Percentage of materials diverted from the landfill or incinerator
- Waste-related behavior change initiatives
- Waste auditing efforts
- Website URL - waste minimization and diversion efforts
OP 19: Construction & Demolition Waste Diversion
- Percentage of construction and demolition materials diverted from the landfill or incinerator
- Website URL - construction & demolition waste diversion efforts
OP 20: Hazardous Waste Management
Additional analysis on scores and quantitative fields can be conducted using the STARS Benchmarking Tool.