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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.

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1149 resources

UBC Bookstore Plastic Bag Alternative

  • University of British Columbia (BC)

Single-use plastic bags have become a common household item since the 1970s. These are supplied nearly everywhere from grocery stores, to clothing stores and bookstores. Used to hold groceries, trash ...

  • Posted July 10, 2020
  • Publications
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Understanding Food Waste at Johnson County Community College: A Multi-Method Approach

  • Johnson County Community College (KS)

Food waste and food insecurity are vastly different, yet inextricably linked, social, economic, and environmental problems which afflict societies throughout the world. This study contributes to the literature on individual ...

UC Berkeley Move Out 2020

UC Berkeley Move Out Programming 2020 - Safety During COVID-19

  • University of California, Berkeley (CA)

The UC Berkeley 2020 Student Move Out Coalition, in partnership with the City of Berkeley and UC Berkeley's Government & Community Relations office, compiled and created resources allowing for ...

  • Posted May 28, 2020
  • Outreach Materials
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E-waste recycling assessment at university campus: a strategy toward sustainability

  • Universidad Autónoma de Nayarit (Nayarit)

Electronic waste is one of the main environmental problems caused by the consumption’s dynamics. E-waste disposal is concerning all the stakeholders, from policymakers to the end users. Hence, an ...

Solid Waste Characterization and Recycling Potential for a University Campus in China

  • University of Surrey
  • Henan Agricultural University (Henan)

Waste characterization is the first step to a successful waste management system. This paper explores the trend of solid waste generated on a university campus (Longzi Lake Campus of Henan ...

Chief Sustainability & Carbon Solutions Officer Kira Stoll, Plastic-Free Seas Coordinator Nicole Haynes, and Chancellor Carol Christ at the meeting where this policy was endorsed.

Committing UC Berkeley to the Strongest Plastic Ban in the Country

  • University of California, Berkeley (CA)
  • CALPIRG Students (CA)

CALPIRG Students, a student-run public interest nonprofit, ran and won their campaign to commit UC Berkeley to eliminate all non-essential single-use plastic by 2030. This is the strongest plastic ban ...

CMU's Housing Sustainability Assistants conducting a trash audit as part of the compost pilot

Housing Sustainability Assistants - Compost Pilot

  • Carnegie Mellon University (PA)

Carnegie Mellon University’s Housing Sustainability Assistants team supported a 4-week composting pilot within on-campus housing to ensure successful composting implementation in the future. The student team was tasked with ...

Sustainable Food and Dining: Swat2Go 2019-2020 Final Report

  • Swarthmore College (PA)

The Swat2Go reusable container pilot program was developed to avoid and reduce waste through the implementation of this reusable container pilot program. Over the course of the last year, this ...

The Free Store: A centre for re-use & recycling at the University of Ottawa

  • University of Ottawa (ON)

The University of Ottawa’s Residences had a problem with waste. Large dumpsters would fill with valuable and reusable items every spring and fall when students moved out. These items ...

“#ACGGoesPlasticFree Campaign: ACG Cares for a plastic-free future!”

  • The American College of Greece (Aghia Paraskevi)

The #ACGGoesPlasticFree Campaign is an ongoing project that was launched in July 2018 by the ACG Center of Excellence for Sustainability (CES) which operates under the Office of Public Affairs ...

EchoWorks Logo

EchoWorks: An Electronics Recycling Community Partnership

  • Western Dakota Technical College (SD)

EchoWorks is a social enterprise that recycles electronic waste and employs people with disabilities. Located on the campus of Western Dakota Tech, a community college in Rapid City, South Dakota ...

Student Success Intern's Final Presentation

No Food Left Behind: A free text service to reduce food insecurity and food waste

  • University of California, Merced (CA)

No Food Left Behind is a free text messaging service that connects students, staff and faculty at the University of California, Merced to events that might have food leftover. People ...

Swarthmore College Sustainability Research: Equitable Zero Waste

  • Swarthmore College (PA)

A year long research project developed by students to help and develop an equitable zero waste mindset and framework of thinking.

Wood waste to energy system photo, with chipper enclosure frame erected by ironworker students

BCIT Wood-Waste-to-Energy Project

  • British Columbia Institute of Technology (BC)

In pursuit of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, showcasing environmentally-sustainable projects for widespread use, and incorporating sustainability more broadly in curriculum, British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) has created a closed-loop ...

Publication Materials related to the Campaign

Campaign on Creating Sustainable Futures: Bring Your Own Container

  • De La Salle Lipa (BATANGAS)

In Academic Year 2016-2017, DE LA SALLE LIPA (DLSL) re-aligned its institutional thrusts to align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. In pursuit of its third Strategic Direction, Creating ...

Kent State University

Kent State University Textile Reuse and Recycling Programs Divert 441,610 pounds (221 tons) From Landfill to Benefit Community and Campus Over Past 5 Years

  • Kent State University (OH)

Kent State University has reduced the amount of materials sent to landfills while providing benefits to the local community, campus, and our students. For the past 5 academic years, 2014-2015 ...

UVM's Roadmap to Zero Waste

  • University of Vermont (VT)

This senior thesis seeks to provide effective strategies for enhancing Zero Waste management goals at the University of Vermont by incorporating the needs of campus stakeholders. As the global garbage ...

Integrating Green and Sustainable Chemistry into Undergraduate Teaching Laboratories: Closing and Assessing the Loop on the Basis of a Citrus Biorefinery Approach for the Biocircular Economy in Brazil

  • Universidade Federal de São Carlos
  • University of York

One of the keys to achieving the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in education is to introduce novel pedagogical strategies into university curricula in order to promote an ...

How mindfulness training cultivates introspection and competence development for sustainable consumption

  • Arizona State University (AZ)
  • Leuphana University of Lüneburg

Purpose This paper aims to explore the relationship between introspection and key competencies for sustainable consumption (KCSCs). It investigates whether mindfulness training can cultivate the ability to introspect and stimulate ...

Teaching Sustainability in Fashion Design Courses Through a Zero-Waste Design Project

  • Illinois State University (IL)
  • University of North Texas (TX)

With the increased importance of learning about sustainability in fashion design curriculum, this article reports the teaching zero-waste design in existing fashion design courses that teach skills needed to create ...

Don't Dump! Donate!

  • South Dakota State University (SD)

Don’t Dump! Donate! takes place during move-out week and keeps reusable material out of the landfill. It provides the opportunity for students to donate unwanted but good quality items ...

University of Vermont Eco-Reps Waste Campaign Case Study

  • University of Vermont (VT)

The University of Vermont has improved its waste infrastructure, from expanding composting facilities beyond dining halls to implementing waste reduction programs like EcoWare and a straw-upon-request policy. UVM Eco-Reps’ work ...

Trex bins

Trex Plastic Film Challenge

  • Texas A&M University (TX)

In November 2018, the Department of Residence Life at Texas A&M University began the Trex Plastic Film Challenge in partnership with a Virginia-based company, Trex. Trex is a national company ...

Freezer for compost collection at Williams Hall

Utilizing Freezers for Compost Collection at Holy Cross’ Student Apartments

  • College of the Holy Cross (MA)

The College of the Holy Cross added compost collection for student food waste in two college-owned apartments, William Hall and Figge Hall. Instead of traditional indoor collection bins, small freezers ...

Move Out Festival Give-Away 2019

Building a Resilient Recycling Operation Against Market Forces, Financial Pressures, & Contamination Developments

  • University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (WI)

Recycling rates had plateaued. By 2016, even with the best of internal marketing and operational changes, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee was left to the devices of a decentralized collection and ...

Animals on Shredded Cardboard Bedding

“Box to Farm to Compost”: A Paradigm Shift from an Extractive Culture to Regenerative Culture

  • Iowa State University (IA)

As a land grant university with a student population of over 30,000 students and about 6000 faculty and staff, there are enormous packaging items that make its way to ...

Pay As You Throw: Testing a New Waste Reduction Strategy at Yale University

  • Yale University (CT)

In the spring of 2019, Yale launched a Pay As You Throw (PAYT) pilot program, the first of its kind among American institutions of higher education. From inception to development ...

  • Posted April 17, 2020
  • Case Studies
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Reuse in Action: Repair Fairs

  • Carleton College (MN)
  • AASHE (MA)

A Repair Fair is a match-making event that pairs items needing fixed with volunteer repairers or “fixers” to attempt to repair anything from bikes to clothing, to electronics. The Carleton ...

  • Posted April 16, 2020
  • Videos & Webinars
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Creating a Sustainable and Engaging Food Waste Recycling Program

  • Chandler-Gilbert Community College (AZ)
  • AASHE (MA)

This presentation will focus on The CGCC Food Waste Recycling Project, an ongoing campus-wide collaborative project that offers deep, cross-disciplinary, experiential student learning via an innovative solution for CGCC’s ...

  • Posted April 9, 2020
  • Videos & Webinars
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Campus sustainability: An integrated model of college students’ recycling behavior on campus

  • University of Tennessee at Knoxville (TN)

Proposing an integrated model based on multiple theoretical approaches, such as the theory of planned behavior, the model of goal-directed behavior and self-determination theory, the purpose of this paper is ...

  • Posted March 4, 2020
  • Publications
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Group of students participating in a spoon making event in Spring 2019.

Sequestering Carbon: Using Campus Wood to Make Carbon-Capturing Furniture and Items

  • Western Michigan University (MI)

The Living Woodshop, run by the Office for Sustainability at Western Michigan University, has been designed as a partnership with the Facilities Management department to reuse lumber on campus. Wood ...

Webinar: Closing the Loop: Connecting Class to Campus Sustainability with Cases

  • University of Michigan (MI)
  • AASHE (MA)
  • Sustainability Curriculum Consortium (MD)

This webinar will discuss how multimedia, case-based learning can be used to better engage and inform students regarding sustainability-related efforts on campus and create opportunities to build upon their projects ...

  • Posted Feb. 7, 2020
  • Videos & Webinars
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Freddy Court Map (communal bin was placed on SE corner)

Frederickson Court Trial Compost System

  • Iowa State University (IA)

With a campus compost facility already in operation, Iowa State University’s Compost Team sought to utilize the facility in more places around campus. The team identified Frederickson (Freddy) Court ...

Webinar: Innovation in Cleaning for Custodians and Students

  • Stanford University (CA)
  • AASHE (MA)

Stanford University’s Residential and Dining Enterprises has adopted a green cleaning standard that has reduced chemical usage in residences by over 90%. The system engineers water by infusing it ...

  • Posted Dec. 12, 2019
  • Videos & Webinars
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Bringing the Circular Economy to Research

  • Rheaply, Inc (IL)

It is estimated that 2% of the world's global plastic waste is linked to laboratory waste- some 6 million tons of waste annually. Given the the existing tools available ...

  • Posted Dec. 6, 2019
  • Conference Presentations
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Leading with Circular Economy Concepts, Business Cases and Tools

  • Stanford University (CA)
  • Cascadia Consulting Group, Inc. (WA)
  • Interface, Inc (GA)

A circular economy is an economic system aimed at minimizing waste and making the most of resources. This regenerative approach (in contrast to the traditional linear economy, which has a ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
  • Conference Presentations
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What Links Climate Change, Biodiversity, Water, and Food Systems? Population

  • Bellevue College (WA)
  • Center for Biological Diversity (AZ)

Human population growth is a main driver of environmental degradation. According to Dr. Wynes (2017) in 'The climate mitigation gap: education and government recommendations miss the most effective individual actions ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
  • Conference Presentations
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What is Old is New Again: Establishing a Free Store in an Urban Environment

  • Virginia Commonwealth University (VA)

During the 2018-2019 academic year, VCU increased tuition by 6.4%. This increase in tuition was unavoidable and was the highest within the state of Virginia. Concurrent with this, VCU ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
  • Conference Presentations
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College & University Recycling Coalition (CURC) Membership Meeting

  • University of South Carolina (SC)

Members and non-members alike are invited to join this annual CURC membership meeting. Board members will provide organizational updates, discuss current projects and share opportunities to get involved. The meeting ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
  • Conference Presentations
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Zero Waste - Rethinking Definitions and Metrics

  • University of California, Office of the President (CA)

The University of California has been undertaking a process of rethinking how we define and measure zero waste. Previous targets had been based on diversion rates; however, we have recently ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
  • Conference Presentations
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Reuse Makes a Comeback: How to Bring the Circular Economy to Asset Management

  • Rheaply, Inc (IL)

Reduce, reuse, recycle. The mantra is ingrained in us from our early childhood, but the attention naturally goes to the first and last R - like a lost middle child. Today ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
  • Conference Presentations
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Bringing Buildings on Board

  • University of Texas at Austin (TX)

Resource Recovery conducts weekly audits with student interns, analyzing office and classroom building waste to paint a picture of over 18,000,000 square feet of campus building space. We ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
  • Conference Presentations
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Zero Waste Versus Energy Conservation: We Can Have Both

  • The Ohio State University (OH)

A recent audit of Ohio State's waste stream found that 10% of our total waste was from used paper towels. In order to address that huge amount, Ohio State ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
  • Conference Presentations
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Recycling Signage Study Group

  • Penn State Harrisburg (PA)
  • Busch Systems (ON)

We know recycling and waste bin signage influences whether people sort items correctly. The question is, what combination of words and images is most effective? The goal of this networking ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
  • Conference Presentations
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Designing Signage to Influence Recycling Behavior

  • Penn State Harrisburg (PA)
  • Busch Systems (ON)

In the face of static diversion rates and pressure to reduce contamination, many schools are experimenting with different bin signage to see what best influences recycling behavior. How do people ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
  • Conference Presentations
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Implementing Composting at Eureka College: Challenges and Successes of Small Campus Composting

  • Eureka College (IL)

Composting systems are slowly becoming a common addition to college and university dining halls and facilities operations across the country, yet smaller campuses with fewer resources face unique challenges in ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
  • Conference Presentations
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A Plan for A Zero-Waste Earlham

  • Earlham College (IN)

This research focused on waste streams at Earlham; specifically, we looked at how to reduce the amount of waste produced on campus and how to improve diversion from landfills. A ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
  • Conference Presentations
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College & University Recycling Coalition (CURC) Campus Recycling Workshop

  • Appalachian State University (NC)
  • Clemson University (SC)

The annual CURC Workshop provides opportunities for attendees to network with Campus Recyclers from around the country, hear presentations from and interact with national experts, and participate in roundtable discussions ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
  • Conference Presentations
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True Zero Waste - The Last 10%

  • College of Charleston (SC)
  • Medical University of South Carolina (SC)
  • University of North Carolina, Wilmington (NC)
  • Eco-Products (CO)

By many definitions, achieving Zero Waste requires a 90% diversion rate of all discarded materials from being land-filled or incinerated. Diverting the last 10% is complex, challenging, and potentially costly ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
  • Conference Presentations
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On-Campus Composting: How to Start, Evolve, and Overcome Challenges

  • Colorado State University (CO)
  • Fort Lewis College (CO)
  • Princeton University (NJ)
  • St. John's University, New York (NY)
  • Western Michigan University (MI)

Is your campus considering starting an on-site composting program, but doesn't know where to start or which system to choose? Or does your campus want to evolve its program ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
  • Conference Presentations
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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

OP 19: Construction & Demolition Waste Diversion

OP 20: Hazardous Waste Management

Additional analysis on scores and quantitative fields can be conducted using the STARS Benchmarking Tool.

Waste Partners

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