Zero-Waste Initiative |
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As a part of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, Aquinas College committed to becoming a zero waste to landfill campus by 2020. The Center for Sustainability and Students Striving for Sustainability (S3) are partnering to further Aquinas’ commitment to sustainability by moving forward the goal to achieve campus-wide zero municipal solid waste by 2014.
A Zero Waste Team is in place to assist in educational programs concerning Aquinas’ waste streams. With collaboration of faculty, staff, and students, Aquinas will incrementally reduce our waste by 25% each semester for the next two years, by expanding campus composting and recycling efforts. With everyone working together, we can reach this aggressive goal and be a zero waste campus by 2014! |
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| Progress Update |
| The goal for the fall 2012 semester was to decrease our campus waste capacity by two trash dumpsters and we are happy to say we reached our goal. Landfill dumpsters next to Ravine Apartment D and the Cook Carriage House (CCH) were removed in January 2013. To adjust for our changing waste stream, a composting dumpster was added at CCH, and recycling dumpster was added at the apartments. With the dumpster removal and a few other dumpster changes, we are saving about $1,000 per month. |
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| Take the Pledge |
| Demonstrate your commitment to the Zero Waste Initiative at Aquinas by pledging to seriously address waste in your office. Sign the Zero Waste Pledge today! >Download the PDF |
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| Below is a listing of offices who have signed the pledge. |
| Academic and Learning Services: June Stevenson |
| Admissions: Angie Schlosser-Bacon |
| Business Office: Jessica Vaglica |
| Campus Safety: Mark McCann Sr. |
| Center for Sustainability: Deborah Steketee |
| Dean of Students: Brian Matzke |
| Grace Hauenstein Library: Francine Paolini and Shellie Jeffries |
| Phone Center (Aquinas Fund): Bridget Harrigan |
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| Collection Systems |
| Single Stream Recycling: Aquinas’ recycling program is a single stream system, meaning all paper, plastic, glass, and tin can be disposed of in the same bin. Blue recycling bins can be found in every building on campus. For more information regarding how to recycle at Aquinas, please click here. |
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| Composting: Aquinas College has partnered with Michigan-based, Spurt Industries to compost the campus' organic waste. Spurt Industries has built a business around recycling organic waste materials, helping to reduce the amount of waste that enters landfills while creating nutrient-rich soil products. The top soil and mulch products are sold for use in lawns, gardening, flower beds, and other applications. Like our recycling program, green composting bins can be found in every building on campus. For more information regarding how to compost at Aquinas, please click here. |
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| Paper Towel Composting: Did you know that the paper towels we use to dry our hands are compostable? We need your help to keep paper towel waste out of landfills and the local incinerator. All large cans in campus bathrooms are now designated as paper towel only, and a small trashcan is provided for non-compostable materials. Paper towels and other compostable waste will eventually become nutritious plant food instead of being trapped in a landfill for generations or incinerated, which releases harmful emissions into our air. |
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| Composting Crocks:
Composting crocks are provided for residents in all apartments and campus houses. These crocks are meant to collect kitchen scraps and offer a middle option for composting. It is the student’s responsibility to empty their composting crock into the larger centralized bin for their building. It is also their responsibility to assure the crock is clean and emptied regularly to avoid odors. |
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| Composting Coffee Grounds:
All coffee grounds and filters generated in the Moose are composted using a special collection container. |
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| Waste Competitions |
| Going on Now |
| TBA |
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| Past Competitions |
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| Battle of the Houses |
A waste competition was held from April 17th to April 22nd (2013) between AQ houses. All of the trash, recycling and composting generated at these houses was collected, sorted, and weighed. Please join us in congratulating Knape Hall, the winner of the Battle of the Houses waste competition! Knape won first place in both categories, and each resident won a $10 gift certificate to spoonlickers. The "Zero Waste Champ" category recognizes the house that recycled and composted (or diverted) the largest percentage of their waste stream. The diversion rates for each house is as follows:
Knape Hall 87.5%;
K House 83.0% ;
Woodcock 56.3% ;
Fulton House 44.3% ;
Meijer Hall 43.4% ;
Gate House 14.4% ;
Willowbrook 2.1%
The "Best Trashers" category identifies which house has the least amount of recycling and composting in their trash, that could have been diverted from the landfill. For this category, the lower percentage, the better! For example, Knape Hall could have recycled or composted 11.0% of the items they threw in their trash. Fulton House could have recycling/composted almost 80% of the items in their trash. Here are the full results for that category:
Knape Hall 11.0% ;
K House 53.0% ;
Woodcock 64.2% ;
Meijer Hall 70.5% ;
Willowbrook 70.6% ;
Gate House 74.5% ; Fulton House 79.9%
Please also join us in congratulating K House, as the runner up in both categories. Each resident of K House will also be getting a gift certificate from spoonlickers, in the amount of $5 each. Thanks for your support and congrats to Knape Hall! |
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| The Biggest Loser: Waste-Loss Challenge |
| Throughout the entire month of February (2013), "The Biggest Loser: Waste-Loss Challenge" was held in St. Joe. Each floor competed to recycle and compost the most waste (computed in pounds per person). Weekly "weigh-ins" were held during the St. Joe Staff Meetings. Third floor was the big winner,
recycling and composting a total of 140.83 lbs – or 2.82 lbs. per person. |
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| Education |
| If your department or office is interested in a personalized zero waste training, please contact Jessica Eimer or Kaitlyn Aholt in the Center for Sustainability. |
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| Test your knowledge about recycling and composting at Aquinas by downloading our quiz. >Download the PDF |
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| Rethinking Waste |
| Compostable Products with CDS: In response to AQ’s zero waste goal of 2014, Creative Dining Services (CDS) has phased out all disposable coffee cups to compostable cups (Insulair brand cups). CDS also made changes to the “to go” containers used on campus. We now use Pactive Earthchoice to go containers which can also be composted. To check out other sustainability initiatives of Campus Dining, please visit their website. |
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| One Saint’s Junk is Another Saint’s Treasure:
An online forum where members of the Aquinas Community can connect with others on campus to find items for donation and advertise unwanted goods. On the Moose, select "Sustainability Initiative" in the right hand navigation section to access "One Saint's Junk." |
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