Campus Sustainability Case Studies - Campus Ecology

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Taking Action for the Climate

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An unfortunate fact of campus life is that schools produce waste. Dorms, labs, academic buildings, and dining halls all generate daily waste. There is solid waste, liquid waste, sludge, and hazardous waste. And all of it contributes to the overall environmental impact of a school. One advantage to working on waste reduction is that there are plenty of small-scale improvements to be achieved, and most people on campus are happy to do their part to help.

Recycling is one way to reduce waste on campus. And using recycled products lessens the demand to make, distribute, and dispose of those products, thus decreasing the need to manufacture virgin materials and clear land for landfills. Buying paper products made from recycled materials and then recycling them again not only conserves energy but also saves trees that sequester carbon. According to Earth 911, a ton of recycled paper equals or saves 17 trees in paper production.

Composting is another waste reduction strategy. The use of composting to turn organic waste into a valuable resource is gaining in popularity, especially as landfill space becomes more scarce and expensive. Composting is an easy and inexpensive way to reduce food and yard waste, and to maintain healthy soils. Everything from coffee grounds to eggshells to autumn leaves can be transformed into rich gardening materials. On campus, this natural process can be used to convert "garbage" from the dining halls and landscaped areas into an invaluable resource!

Reduce, reuse, and recycle is the best mantra to use when it comes to reducing waste on campus.

Additional Resources:

Web conferences on waste reduction (archived Power point presentations and audio files

Ashland University

2001 - Students with Ashland's recycling program wanted to know just how many recyclables end up in the university's trash. So they rolled up their sleeves for a one-day "waste audit," weeding through bags of trash to uncover cans, papers, and a startling fact: that 70 percent of the school's waste stream was recyclable!

Ball State University

2006 - Ball State University places eighth in the national Recyclemania Competition.

2003 - A composting program led to soil improvement and beautification on campus grounds maintenance at Ball State. Green Campus Recognition, 2002-2003

Bellarmine College

1998 - Focusing on aluminum can recycling, these students examined the systems that were in place and made recommendations.

Berkshire School

2005 - Berkshire works to increase their tonnage of recycled products on campus.

Bethel College

2004 - In a new effort, BCGreen started a used book sale with books that were collected from the recycling program.

2003 - In the past year BCGreen collected 6 tons of mixed paper, 307 pounds of steel cans and 225 pounds of aluminum and donated the proceeds generated from this recycling program.

2002 - Recycling bins are popping up all over Bethel College, as students work to expand their paper and aluminum recycling program. Profits are donated to an environmental organization.

Brandeis University

2000 - Brandeis University Recycling Program (BURP) is a student organization that celebrated its tenth birthday in the fall of 2000. Ten years of recycling experience shows in this well-run program.

Carnegie Mellon University

2002 - Carnegie Mellon is improving its environmental practices, from large-scale changes like purchasing wind power, to more hands-on changes like increasing recycling and reducing waste.

Clemson University

2002 - At year’s end, Clemson students steered clear of the dumpsters and instead donated 11,500 pounds of food, clothing, wood and household items to local charities, bringing “recycling” to a whole new level.

Colby College

2003 - Colby students RESCUED waste and donated hundred of items to non-profit agencies.

College of the Atlantic

2005 - Working to minimize the amount of trash created from graduation events, COA’s new friend, Zadie the Zero Waste Lady, was there every step of the way.

College of Wooster

1998 - With a grant from Rubbermaid, this college recycling program gets a boost each year when students compete with other schools to see who can recycle the most.

Colorado School of Mines

2006 - CSM engineering students’ plan to create a self-sustaining recycling infrastructure.

Daemen College

2005 - Following a commitment in 2004 to raise environmental awareness, Daemen established a container recycling program.

Duke University

2005 - Recruiting students through the internet has proven useful to their program Duke Recycles.

Elon University

2009 - Elon partners with ARAMARK to start a re-usable water bottle program.

Francis Marion University

2001 - In an effort to bolster their school's scaled-back recycling program, Francis Marion students conducted a scientific experiment to determine the best way to encourage people to recycle ... and they found that a little education and convenience goes a long way.

George Mason University

2009 - GMU designs an ADA-compliant mobile recycling center for residence halls.

Harvard University

2009 - Harvard hosts FreeCycling on Campus – reducing the waste to landfills.

2004 - Harvard Re-Store sells and donates reused and refurbished materials to campus and local community.

Hunter College, CUNY

2003 - Jennifer Lopez is establishing a waste-reduction initiative and green purchasing program, formalizing the toxic-substance bilingual-training program and hosting a Sustainability Fair.

Iona College

2005 - The ECC took a special interest in Iona College this year helping to sponsor a variety of activities.

2004 - "Think before you print" on the Iona campus.

2003 - Iona’s Paper Conservation Campaign took conservation another step with the dedication of volunteers and students. Green Campus Recognition, 2002-2003

2002 - Some solutions are so simple. Iona college students are reducing paper waste in the libraries and computer labs by encouraging two-sided printing, and discouraging unnecessary copying.

Loyola College

2003 - Students implemented their permanent recycling program learning that change is tough and any idea requires heart, dedication and a whole lot of energy.

Macalester College

2009 - Macalester implements an online program known as Mac Free Swap for campus members to advertise, dispose of, and obtain items.

Massachusetts State Sustainability Program

2005 - Massachusetts' colleges and universities partner with the Institution Recycling Network to host campus cleanouts.

Merrimack College

2009 - Working through their Campus Sustainability Group, Merrimack implements campus-wide recycling and ‘tray-less’ dining.

Miami University

2005 - MU and a number of other colleges that make up the Recycle Maniacs participated in the annual RecycleMania competition, helping to increase awareness and participation.

Michigan State University

2008 - By organizing an environmentally-friendly move-out program MSU helps the environment, community and raises money for more sustainability initiatives.

2001 - Recycle, recycle, recycle! That's the battle cry at Michigan State, where students are working to build an effective recycling policy for the cans and bottles that are routinely thrown in the trash.

Pacific Lutheran University

2009 - Pacific Lutheran’s student group GREAN distributed 1,008 Nalgene® BPA-free water bottles to campus.

Pomona College

2009 - Clean Sweep is an event every spring semester where a team of 25 students collect reusable items from students, staff, and faculty.

Portland Community College - Rock Creek

2008 - PCC creates a scuplture made of books that would otherwise be sent to landfill or recycled,"Wave of Knowledge", the goal was to use 20 to 30% reclaimed material.

San Fransisco State University

1998 - People can exchange items they no longer need at a SWAP Shop. People from off-campus, such as schools and non-profits, can also access these items.

1997 - This ten-year-old recycling program serves more than 1000 locations on campus.

Seattle Pacific University

1999 - Students build a campus-wide recycling program for many recyclable resources.

Seattle University

1998 - Recycling is one thing, but at this school, an education campaign to reduce resource consumption goes even further.

State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry

2004 - Large, colorful posters explain reducing printer margins to cut down on waste. Campus Ecology Recognition 2003-2004

2003 - SUNY implemented new methods for waste management such as “Pre-Cycling, “Cash for Cartridges” and the “College Organic Garden”.

Tennessee State University

2006 - Tennessee State University launched their Community-University Sustainable Recycling Program.

2005 - Students fight to gain the support and cooperation of TSU’s administration for their community-university curbside recycling program.

Tennessee Technological University

1999 - After doing a waste audit (a "landfill on the lawn") to examine what was being wasted by the campus, these students lobbied for more recycling manpower.

Trinity College

2004 - Green Campus students work diligently to clean up the campus garden.

2003 - Trinity took recycling to a personal level by providing students with dorm recycling.

Tulane University

1998 - This campus drastically improved campus recycling by hiring a recycling coordinator and hosting a national recycling conference.

University of British Columbia

2005 - UBC develops a color coded system to help educate the student body on organic and non-recyclable waste.

University of California Davis

2009 - UC Davis’ Resource Recovery Drive diverts 7,137 pounds of reusable materials from the landfill.

University of Massachusetts at Amherst

2003 - UMass formed the Green Office Training Institute (GOTI) to get out and train the key staff on campus greening.

1999 - Work-study students demanufacture computer monitors and televisions to sell the component parts to plastic recyclers.

University of Minnesota - Duluth

2002 - Though UM already has a large-scale recycling program, these students are working to make it better, by placing more bins, separating recyclables more effectively, and educating the campus on the importance of participation.

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

2006 - UNC Charlotte expands its recycling efforts by introducing the Take It or Leave It Tour.

2005 - UNC Charlotte’s Move-Out Charity Drive not only supplies donations to the Salvation Army and Habitat for Humanity but also reduces the waste at landfills.

University of North Carolina at Greensboro

2005 - UNCG's e-waste event generated over 95,000 pounds from the local businesses.

2002 - Moving-out day at UNCG now means "Cram and Scram"! Students collect clothes and household items that would otherwise end up in the garbage… and then sell these goods inexpensively in low-income neighborhoods, donating the proceeds to local charities.

University of North Florida

2009 - Garbage on the Green conducts baselines for garbage recycling and helps identify areas for improvement.

2009 - University of North Florida competes in RecycleMania 2009.

2008 - Enlisting the aid of eager students, UNF undertakes a waste system audit.

University of Oregon

2006 - The University of Oregon’s Reduce Reuse Refill Campaign promotes refillable mug awareness.

2000 - From refillable mugs, to 100 percent recycled paper, these students made sure the campus bought recycled products and increased recycling on campus. Their slogan: "Recycling is Higher Education!"

University of Richmond

2000 - At the end of the school year, a lot of useful items end up in a dumpster. These students organized a year-end recycle sale that raised $3000 and diverted lots of trash.

University of South Carolina at Columbia

2001 - These South Carolina students, appalled by the amount of clothes, appliances, furniture and other reusable items are trashed at year's end, came up with a plan to recycle these goods for charity - and kept more than 49 tons of useable "stuff" from clogging local landfills.

1998 - USC is working together with two neighboring schools to make a big difference in waste reduction and recycling. Students get involved in green research projects.

Villanova University

2003 - Villanova recycling is polishing its sterling recycling record by reporting a recycling rate of over a million pounds per year. Green Campus Recognition, 2002-2003

Warren Wilson College

2004 - Students collect and manage over 25 recyclable materials, operating a FreeStore and WoodShop.

Washington and Lee University

2000 - This campus recycling program taught many lessons about co-mingling recyclable resources and educating students floor-by-floor in the residences.

Wellesley College

2003 - Wellesley Energy and Environmental Defense (WEED) Organization is “WEEDing out Waste” by improving recycling,on campus and educating student to reduce waste in residences.

Yale University