| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 57.90 |
| Liaison | Jessica Bowen |
| Submission Date | Aug. 3, 2015 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Aquinas College
OP-23: Waste Diversion
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.64 / 3.00 |
Jessica
Eimer Bowen Director of Sustainability Center for Sustainability |
Materials diverted from the solid waste landfill or incinerator:
Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator :
A brief description of programs, policies, infrastructure investments, outreach efforts, and/or other factors that contributed to the diversion rate, including efforts made during the previous three years:
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) partnering in 2012 to further Aquinas’ commitment to sustainability by moving forward the goal to achieve campus-wide zero municipal solid waste by 2014. Composting and recycling already existed campus wide, so our efforts were focused on adding special collections (styrofoam, e-waste, batteries, ink cartridges, and goodwill bins) in every campus. All trash cans have also been removed from classrooms (with the exception of a few rooms like art studios), to encourage personal responsibility for waste and get us closer to our zero waste goals. More importantly, we focused on achieving zero waste at all major events (using our zero waste team) and educating and training. All staff and faculty have had small, hands-on sorting trainings, and all incoming students received the same training at orientation (except in a "waste relay" style).
A brief description of any food donation programs employed by the institution:
N/A
A brief description of any pre-consumer food waste composting program employed by the institution:
Composting is fully integrated into our kitchen for pre-consumer food waste, using color-coded bins. A "refresher" training is offered at the beginning of the school year, including a hands-on sorting activity.
A brief description of any post-consumer food waste composting program employed by the institution:
All food waste (and food soiled paper products) entering the dishroom is either scrapped into the composting bin in the front of the conveyor belt, or sorted by the dishroom staff. Composting bins are also located on every floor of every building across campus. Composting "Crocks"- to ease the collection of the compostables- are provided to every apartment and house on campus. Several DIY events are also held throughout the year to encourage the design and set-up of individualized compost collections for the rooms in residence halls.
Does the institution include the following materials in its waste diversion efforts?:
| Yes or No | |
| Paper, plastics, glass, metals, and other recyclable containers | Yes |
| Food donations | No |
| Food for animals | No |
| Food composting | Yes |
| Cooking oil | Yes |
| Plant materials composting | Yes |
| Animal bedding composting | No |
| Batteries | Yes |
| Light bulbs | Yes |
| Toner/ink-jet cartridges | Yes |
| White goods (i.e. appliances) | Yes |
| Laboratory equipment | Yes |
| Furniture | Yes |
| Residence hall move-in/move-out waste | Yes |
| Scrap metal | Yes |
| Pallets | Yes |
| Motor oil | Yes |
| Tires | Yes |
Other materials that the institution includes in its waste diversion efforts:
Aquinas offers "Terracycle" recycling (for snack bags, candy wrappers, brita water filters, writing instruments, granola and energy bars, cheese packaging, personal beauty items, cereal bags, drink pouches, and tape dispensers) across campus.
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.