Earth Day Trash Audit

In celebration of Earth Day 2004, the Environmental Stewardship Program teamed up with the Student Environmental Advisory Board and KU Environs to demonstrate just how much trash students are throwing away – and how much they COULD be recycling. On April 20, student volunteers spent nearly 4 hours on the Stauffer-Flint lawn sorting trash that had been collected from the 4th Floor of Wescoe Hall the night before. In spite of the rain, volunteers and KU Recycling staff sifted through over 400 pounds of “garbage”, separating recyclable materials from the rest of the waste left behind in classrooms and trash receptacles.

The results were dramatically visible as the piles of recyclables grew throughout the day. At the end of the sort, 274 pounds of recyclables were recovered, while only 135 pounds of trash were returned to the dumpster. Of the recyclable material, the majority was newspaper at 188 pounds, followed by mixed paper (41 lbs.) and plastic bottles (24 lbs.). With a recyclable content of 67%, the trash from Wescoe Hall came in below an average of 75% collected in similar “trash audits” across the nation - possibly because of the visible presence of recycling bins on campus. That percentage could have been even lower, as much of the remaining trash contained #5 and #6 plastics (microwavable meal containers and Styrofoam) – materials that are not accepted by local markets.

Throughout the day, the trash audit drew the attention of many curious students and University Staff, most of them shocked by the amount of garbage – and recyclable “trash” – that is left on one floor of Wescoe in a day’s time. Recycling guides, Environmental Consumer Guides, and reusable mugs were handed out to passers-by to remind them to keep the environment in mind as they go about their daily lives on campus and in the community.

The Environmental Stewardship Program would like to offer a special “Thanks” to Machelle Puckett and the Housekeeping staff for collecting the trash for this effort, and to Mike Lang and the Landscaping staff for setting up tarps and fencing. The event wouldn’t have been such a success without your help!