Students Discuss Sustainability at Kick-off Workshop

A SustainIT workshop was the first of a series this year to educate students about sustainability and reducing waste. 

Some 20 students showed up to the Friday, Sept. 14 workshop, titled “Waste Minimization.” The workshops are organized by the Center of Sustainability Education (CSE), and this kick-off event focused on four student-faculty projects recently launched on campus to minimize unnecessary waste. Event leaders discussed effective recycling of reusable materials to create more awareness about Dickinson’s yearly waste production. 

The workshop started with a report on the volume of waste Dickinson created last year compared to previous years. According to the data, though recycled waste has increased in 2017, the amount of waste in general has also increased.

“Recycling waste is not enough; we need to reduce the amount of waste we produce for these actions to be effective,” said Giuseppe Colia ’20, a current CSE intern. Colia was also manager of one of the four projects presented. His project, “Single Use Plastics,” encourages students to use less plastics by carrying reusable containers and reducing plastic packages on campus. 

Three other projects implemented include “Choose Your Portion” which encourages students to ask for different serving sizes in the Dining Hall; “Free xChange” a free clothing drop-off and pick-up station in Allison Hall 123; and “Cardboard to Share,” a program to collect used cardboards to the HUB for recycling. 

The first project aimed to encourage students to try new foods and personalize their portions sizes, hopefully minimizing food waste. Students now have the option to order a taste, half, whole or double portion according to their needs or preferences. Similarly, Luke MacCormick ’20, who organized the “Free xChange” project, intended to reduce clothing waste and ensure clothing is a resource always accessible to students.  

Attendees broke into small groups with project leaders and discussed waste-minimization practices. Participants in the workshop were able to brainstorm ways to encourage students to be more involved in these four projects.

The workshop wrapped up with students signing-up to volunteer for the projects, a successful outcome according to Lindsey Lyons, assistant director of CSE.