Trash & (Zero) Waste in a Disposable World

Jake Ruttenberg, Greta Zableckas, Ryan Rogers: Our Trash’s Future at DU

            Since beginning our enrollment here at The University of Denver it has been clear to us that this school prides itself on being environmentally friendly. However, after conducting our trash audit we have learned that the vast majority of DU’s efforts of being sustainable are in vain. Either trash is finding its way into the compost and recycling, in turn contaminating it, or the compost and recycling is simply being thrown away with the rest of the trash. As a result, our approximate 61% recycle and compost potential is nearly impossible to achieve. Our proposal for change is two-fold. First, as with most issues, proper education is vital. Secondly, we need to make the topic of trash, recycling and compost more visible and prevalent. When both criteria are met, DU can truly live up to its standard of being green and become a role model for other schools and communities to follow.

           

Identifying our Problem:

            Al Gore was one of the first people that really brought to light the issue of the way we treat our planet. “The warnings about global warming have been extremely clear for a long time. We are facing a global climate crisis. It is deepening. We are entering a period of consequences.” As such, it is our responsibility as not only inhabitants of this planet, but as students of this university to do all we can in avoiding the point of no return he so often speaks of. One of the leading causes of global warming is the emission of green house gases like methane from landfills. To reduce our school’s impact on the Denver Arapahoe Disposal Site (and in turn, the planet), we must learn to recycle and compost more while throwing away trash less. Unfortunately, this is much more difficult than it would appear. More often than not, a recyclable or compostable material ends up being wasted by being thrown in the trash or a single piece of trash ends up in the recycling or compost, contaminating all reusable goods inside. If someone is uninformed enough to not know where a certain item goes, we would rather they throw away a recyclable or compostable item in the trash, wasting only one item’s reusability, than throw away something non-recycle or non-compostable in the wrong bin, wasting numerous item’s reusability.

            This issue has many underlying reasons. For one, people simply lack the education about what’s trash, what isn’t and in which bin it belongs. Secondly, there is limited access to recycling and compost bins and an excess of trash bins. Combined with the third reason, a lack of initiative, people are lead to simply throw away their recyclable or compostable materials in the trash simply because its more convenient. For instance, not many people will walk out of their way to ensure that their compostable coffee cup makes it into the compost if they only have 10 minutes in between classes when the only bins nearby are for trash. However, as Al Gore argues, if there was ever a time to care and have a sense of urgency about our planet, it would be now.

Beginning our Investigation:

            Our investigation began with our class’s participation in a trash audit. From October 8-11 we took apart and sorted through 57 bags of trash and recycling from 4 sites, Johnson-MacFarlane Halls, Nagel and Nelson, and the outside trash and recycling bins. We calculated that, on average, each bag contained 39% trash that would go to the landfill, 21% recyclable material and 40% compostable material. Although these numbers may seem promising, here’s the catch: nearly all of these bags were contaminated. That 61% recyclable and compostable material is essentially useless. Unless someone is physically going through each bag, separating the trash from the recyclable from the compost, all of the reusable materials are sent to the landfill anyway. This part of our investigation alone has lead us to our thesis.

Forming our Solution for Change:

            As Orr quoted Wiesel in his book Earth In Mind, the problem with education is that “[i]t emphasizes theories instead of values, concepts rather than human beings, abstraction rather than consciousness, answers instead of questions, ideology and efficiency rather than conscience” (8). The first step in our solution for change is just that, an education that focuses realistic and practical applications of our knowledge of trash.

            During orientation week, we were required to attend at least 3 meetings about drug and alcohol use, nearly all of which overlapped in content and became redundant. I propose that we allot one of those blocks of time, or even create a new one, for a mandatory seminar on trash. People will be shown exactly what is considered trash, recycling and compost and exactly where they belong to be thrown away.

            The educational seminar during orientation week will surely hit home for a few days or two, but after some time people will lose interest or simply forget what they’ve been taught. Additionally, as Robin Nagle puts it, one of the larger problems with trash is that it “is generally overlooked because we create so much of it so casually and so constantly that it’s a little bit like paying attention to, I don’t know, to your spit, or something else you just don’t think about.” As such, our second solution is visibility and prevalence. If each dining hall were to have their own weekly trash report, containing information regarding how much was composted and how much was thrown away, people may begin to realize the impact they have and make healthier decisions. Additionally, there needs to be a greater access to the variety of bins. Each trash bin outside consists of 50% trash, and 50% recycling and compost. Rather than spend $1000 to buy a new trash or recycling bin, how about we turn all for one into one for all? The circular bin can physically divided into three labeled and color-coded parts with three separate trash bags: one for trash, one of recycling and one for compost. That way, no matter where you are on campus, if you see a trash bin, you also see one for recycling and one for compost.

            Just like you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink, you can place all the right tools in the hands of our community’s members, but you can’t ensure that they’ll use them properly. It’s impossible to guarantee that every single person at DU will throw away their trash, recyclables and compost in the proper bin 100% of the time but what we can do is reduce the chance that they will. With improved education, visibility and prevalence we believe that we are doing as much as we can to reduce the margin of error, putting only a manageable, yet necessary fraction of responsibility into the hands of our fellow peers. 

I.      Orr, David. "Earth in Mind: On Education, Environment, and the Human Prospect.” Earth in Mind: On Education, Environment, and the Human Prospect: David W. Orr: 9781559632959: Amazon.com: Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2012.

II.    Gore, Al. "On Katrina, Global Warming." On Katrina, Global Warming. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. <http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0912-32.htm>.

III.  "The Believer - Interview with Robin Nagle." The Believer. The Believer, n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. <http://believermag.com/issues/201009/?read=interview_nagle>.