July 8, 2014 | By Sarah Olson
The Office of Sustainability and WE CONSERVE will begin a comprehensive assessment of academic building waste this summer with a series of trash audits at 15 academic buildings.
A trash audit is an evaluation of a waste sample in a particular building or living space that involves sorting trash to determine to what extent recyclable items end up in the trash. It is an also an opportunity to evaluate distinct waste streams including mixed paper, office paper and commingled recycling (cans, glass and plastic).
Staff and interns from the Office of Sustainability and WE CONSERVE will audit trash at 15 academic buildings this summer,
including Grainger Hall, Bascom Hall, Social Sciences, the Education Building and more.
The trash audits are the start of a larger assessment of academic building waste that will include two more rounds of trash audits, consultations with building managers and shadowing of building staff.
At the end of the summer trash audits, the Office of Sustainability will report its findings and determine with building managers next steps to address waste in their buildings.
Volunteers are invited to dive in to a trash audit. Sign up here or contact Frank Kooistra for more information.