On a sunny Wednesday in the quad, the District Sustainability team and the Skyline Earth Day Every Day team led the student environmental club S.A.G.E. in a campus waste audit! The activity involved sorting through waste collected in the Building 6 dining hall to assess how well the Skyline College community is sorting with the 3-bin system (trash, recycle, and compost).
The main takeaway from the data: Skyline College could improve our messaging and action around what is compostable, as well as emptying recyclables before disposing.
Gloves and trash pickers were provided as the bags of trash, recycling, and compost were set up on a tarp in the quad for review. Each bag was weighed initially. Small groups of students were given a bag and set about sorting the contents into piles based on where they really should have been disposed of. Then, the sorted piles were weighed again to determine contamination rates.
Together, we diverted 10 pounds of organic waste from the landfill and contaminated recycling, helping reduce methane emissions.
Students had great comments on the experience, including:
“I noticed a lot of trash in the compost. I think as students here, we can try to educate people around us to move toward a greener environment.” – Sairra
“I thought it was disappointing that more than half the trash was compost. With how many signs there are on campus, it feels like it should be more obvious.” – Karmella
“I found out it was kind of technical what’s recyclable or not; like if paper is laminated, or if the packaging is hard or soft plastic” – Frankie
“Based on the distribution, it seems like everyone randomly guesses or is just not thinking. There was essentially a 33/33/33 chance of getting it right, maybe worse if the liquids boosted the compostable weight.” – Lee
“Our landfill bag was mostly filled with compostable things, a lot of food, a lot of soiled paper and cardboard, and some wooden-based utensils. I feel like a lot of people assume that when recyclable stuff like cardboard and paper gets wet/dirty with food are just assumed to be landfill instead of compost.” – Toby
“Too much food left in recyclable containers ruined the recycling.” – Emmie
Two sets of waste bins were collected from Building 6 at approximately 1pm on Wednesday, 2/5. Our focused audit resulted in the following data:
Contamination Rate:
The average contamination rate per bin, which is the amount of material that should have been sorted to a different bin, was 53.32%. Too high a contamination rate prevents compost and recycling from going to their appropriate spots and instead forces them into the landfill.
The contamination rates per bin were:
· Percentage of compost and recycling put in the Landfill: 90.91% and 47.62%
· Compost Contamination Rate: 17.24% and 37.5%
· Recycling Contamination Rate: 60% and 66.67%
Individual bin contents results:
· Compost Bin 1: 7% recycling, 83% compost, and 10% landifll
· Compost Bin 2: 0% recycling, 62.5% compost, 37.5% landfill
· Recycling Bin 1: 40% recycling, 40% compost, and 20% landfill
· Recycling Bin 2: 33% recycling, 33% compost, and 33% landfill
· Landfill Bin 1: 41% recycling, 50% compost, and 9% landfill
· Landfill Bin 2: 0% recycling, 52% compost, and 48% landfill
While picking through the trash may not sound like a great time, it is important to understand how our campus is interacting with our waste system and figuring out how to improve awareness and action around waste disposal.
“The Sustainability waste audit was a success. We engaged 21 volunteers and sparked interest among many students passing by.,” says Zero Waste Fellow Zoe Hanshew, who led the activity alongside Annalise Eder, the Earth Day Every Day team, and the S.A.G.E. club. “Participants observed waste-sorting behaviors in the dining hall and found that many compostable items were ending up in the wrong bins. These insights will help guide District Sustainability’s signage updates and waste-sorting education.”
Interested in joining S.A.G.E. or participating in environmentally sustainable activities? Join us at the next club meeting on Wednesday, February 11th from 1 – 2 pm, room 7-104!
Interested in participating in similar activities? Students are invited to become a Zero Waste Ambassador, and staff and faculty can join the District Sustainability Committee as well as Skyline College’s Earth Enthusiasts group, supported by the Earth Day Every Day team.
