Sustainable Ideas...

At the end of any kind of event, year, program, there is cause for celebration. There’s bound to be confetti, beer cans, and maybe even pizza boxes if you’re lucky. But, how much is too much waste during this time of year when school’s out for summer or in my case forever?

At Ithaca College (IC), this is the most intense time of year for recycling/waste management persons. Mark Darling, the Director of the Resource and Environmental Management Program at the college said the following to a few other sustainability compatriots here at IC:

“The one thing I wish for is more time to focus on getting the message out to students about their wasteful behavior this time of year. Man, do they consume! We will see very high numbers on beverage containers this weekend, and trash numbers because they will trash the containers, hundreds of dollars in unredeemed deposits! This is nothing compared to the last two days they can be in the dorms. If you look at the numbers in the waste management analysis on campus…how much goes in the trash in May, more than any other month of the year! It is all my crew can do to keep the dumpsters and recycle bins empty. Yes we are recycling a lot but all at once maxes out our collection system. TIOLI helps divert some things unfortunately, so much of what gets thrown away, should be thrown away, nine months at college and it is trash, cheap plastic crap intended make ones life better. Yeah right! If only we could make these kids look at the Story of Stuff and make them understand that they are doing it right here right now. This is the most challenging time of the year for college and university recycling managers. What can we do to make this better?”

Any thoughts? Maybe if you’re going to consume a lot, consume local, organic alcohol/food when you can. I’ve worked on this a bunch. Last summer, I worked with Mark on educating incoming freshmen about what to bring to college, what you’ll throw away, and how to be more sustainable during their time at IC. We worked with them and orientation leaders…and hopefully made an impact. But, in TIOLI this year, there are just as many silly plastic containers and ridiculous Halloween costumes than ever. And of course, more beer cans for the recycling staff to deal with than any other time of year as per usual. It’s just something to keep in mind while you’re livin’ it up with everyone who’s graduating or finishing up school. Keep your waste down, and the celebrations crazy!