11TH ANNUAL TRASH BASH RESULTS
After a year off, Center for Service & Sustainability along with our Eco-Reps team hosted our 11th annual Trash Bash Waste Sort in the IDX Student Center at Champlain College on October 19, 2021. In total, we sorted 35 pounds of collected trash samples from across central campus.
We sorted trash into recyclables, food waste/liquids (compost), batteries (e-waste), and single-use coffee cups. We found that roughly 38% of items (by weight) placed into the trash were not trash items. 35% of the waste was compostable, 1% of the waste was recyclable, and .02% of waste was single-use coffee cups. We measured that roughly 64% of items in the trash were actual trash that could not be separated into the other categories. Additionally, we found just a few batteries that should have gone to e-waste and no significant usable items in our trash samples. Our separate categories do not add up to 100%, and we recognize there may have been a miscalculation in weighing our samples.
We have a few general observations about the contents of the trash samples. So many, many paper towels! We believe that some of the samples came from bathrooms,and likely those without collection bins for composting paper towels. Thankfully, we did not find any bottled water bottles, but were saddened to find several beverage cans and bottles, which are widely known to be recyclable. There was still a fair amount of single use coffee cups, and we encourage people to use refillable mugs whenever possible.
Our Trash Bash 2021 has shown us that many items placed in the trash at Champlain College are actually not trash waste. With this sample in mind, our campus community is placing about 38% of their recyclable, compostable, or single-use materials in trash bins from around campus. This does show improvement from prior years, and we can still do more to encourage personal accountability and systems improvement in waste reduction and sorting among our students, staff, and faculty at Champlain College.
Finally, we appreciate our JaniTech custodial team for providing the trash samples for us.
