Hobart and William Smith Colleges
OP-19: Waste Minimization and Diversion

Fiscal year 2008 is the first year for which we have comprehensive waste management data.

In addition to batteries, light bulbs, ink cartridges, and white goods, HWS responsibly recycles or resells all unwanted electronics through a third party e-waste vendor.

The Office of Sustainability often partners with the course, ENV 204, “Geography of Garbage,” to hold waste audits in front of our main student center, the Scandling Campus Center. The Colleges held two waste audits in spring 2015, one in March and one during Earth Week in April. Waste audits are used to raise awareness of “disposal” habits and also as a means of data collection to better understand residential recycling and trash. This information is used to improve sustainable materials management education, programming and infrastructure.

The Colleges have long-term storage for potentially reusable office furniture and materials. For all faculty and staff material requests (e.g. chairs, cabinets, furniture), HWS Facilities first checks our surplus storage area. When office furniture and materials have met their useful life here at HWS, our Facilities department then explores other reuse outlets, such as other regional colleges/universities, hospitals, etc. The used office supplies or materials are sent to the landfill only if they are deemed beyond reusable. The Facilities team exasperates all reuse options before sending anything to the landfill. Additionally, faculty and staff use the HWS Community Board to advertise: items for sale or items an employee wishes to give away; items an employee wishes to buy, rent or borrow; services or products an employee is able to provide; upcoming events (e.g. fundraisers, garage sales) or; other information an employee believes would be helpful to co-workers. Many employees use the community listserv for the same means.

Students are given a limited number of print credits and are charged $.05 per page to print. Double sided printing is the equivalent to printing one page (incentivizes paper conservation).

All major print items are available online and are only printed upon request. Departments/students are charged for printed items.

Every spring semester there is a large campus community effort to repurpose items through the “Community Barn Sale,” a garage sale-type event. The sale provides a means to repurpose items and directs them away from the landfill. It’s also used as a fundraiser for a local nonprofit. This fundraising aspect helps to incentivize students to take the extra step to donate. The 10th anniversary for this very popular and successful event, was in 2015. During the last couple of weeks of the spring semester bins and donation areas are placed/created in residential halls throughout campus. In addition, Facilities assists in moving large items such as couches, TVs, etc. from the residential halls to the Barn Sale location. The Colleges’ Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning hires students to collect, organize and price materials for resale. Students know that they can donate items at the end of the semester to the Barn Sale. The Barn Sale collection also includes unwanted electronics, which are either resold or responsibly discarded using a third party e-waste service. In spring 2016, the Barn Sale raised more than $10,800 for Geneva 2020, an HWS partnership with Geneva City School District using a collective impact model to improve student success in the local school district. Since 2006, the Colleges have raised more than $67,000 for the community. The Office of Sustainability works with Residential Education to coordinate distribution of blue recycling bags and clear trash bags to all residents during end of semester floor meetings. In addition, a reusable item and e-waste collection is coordinated leading up to and during move-out. During first-year move-in, the Office of Sustainability and EcoReps monitor first-year residential halls. They assist students with any sustainability questions, but specifically focus on educating new students about the proper waste streams at HWS.

Grounds to Grow On program: During summer 2014, more than 15 HWS offices and departments participated in the Grounds to Grow On program through Keurig. The Grounds to Grow On program recovers used K-cup packs to prevent them from entering landfills. Used K-cups are placed in a bin, the bin is shipped to Keurig, then Keurig separates the components, composting the grounds and incinerating the plastic pack to generate electricity. In addition to preventing K-cups from entering our nearby landfill, the Grounds to Grow On program was used at HWS to better inform offices and departments of the responsibility they have for the waste they create. Reusable Water Bottles: Since fall 2009, all incoming first-year students are given a free reusable water bottle. The water bottle is an indication to first years of the Colleges’ commitment to sustainability, but also a practical gift for students to use while on campus. The reusable water bottles significantly decrease the purchase and disposal of single use water and beverage containers. Drink Local Campaign: Through the Carver and DeLaney Family Environmental Studies Endowment, two HWS students started the Drink Local campaign on campus during the fall of 2013. The campaign resulted in the installation of nearly 10 new water bottle refill stations across campus, the distribution of more than 150 Nalgene water bottles, a campus map identifying all refill stations, and a Facebook page to increase awareness. The campaign is another effort at HWS to decrease the purchase and disposal of single use water and beverage containers.

For figures needed to determine “Weighted Campus Users,” HWS does not currently track full-time equivalent of employees. HWS FTE employees is best represented by a head count of faculty and staff, as well as FTE employees of Sodexo Dining and Facilities.