It is time for the 2024 Zero Waste Challenge! The SO is working with Food Services, Housing, Department of Co-op, Careers and Experiential Learning, TSE and others to bring you the Zero Waste Challenge. This challenge is a fun way to get students thinking about the waste they generate and where it goes.
In preparation, the SO has 30+ Green Team volunteers visiting all dining halls during busy times to announce the challenge and answer questions students might have about sorting their waste into the compost and recycling. Then, from Feb 1-16 we will be auditing dining hall waste. This means we pull random samples of compost, recycling, and garbage and sort through each item in the bag. We categorize and weigh these samples and determine how successful sorting practices are. The metrics we consider are:
- Diversion Rate: The percentage of waste kept from going to landfill by using composting and recycling.
- Contamination Rate: The percentage of material in the recycling and compost that isn't accepted in those programs.
- Missed Opportunities: The percentage of material in the garbage that could have been recycled or composted.
Trent prides itself on offering excellent programs to reduce waste. Our campus default is reusable. All dining halls offer china plates or ecotrays as the primary choice to help all of us avoid creating waste in the first place. When you do have something that needs to be 'thrown out' we offer comprehensive compost and recycling programs that accept more than 90% of waste generated on campus. Our sorting station are called resource recovery stations in an effort to recharacterize the value of the items we place in them and help shift choice to recycling and composting.