UNC CHARLOTTE |
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Zeroing In By Shelly Theriault
Waste reduction, recycling efforts are high University priorities What does 220 million tons of garbage actually look like? According to the Environmental Protection Agency, picture more than 82,000 football fields. Now, bury them six feet deep in compacted garbage. This is how much estimated waste is produced by the United States each year. Take this already staggering amount to a worldwide level and it skyrockets to an estimated 1.3 billion tons, according to the World Bank, a global development assistance organization. It’s not an exact number (data is based on large-scale, readily available statistics); however, there’s no argument that recycling and waste prevention is a modern day, Goliath-like global dilemma. And UNC Charlotte is fighting back. Efforts began in 1990 with a handful of concerned Niner students collecting aluminum cans. That grassroots effort has grown into a myriad of recycling and waste-management programs led by the University. UNC Charlotte now boasts an award-winning, nationally recognized Office of Waste Reduction and Recycling, several large-scale campus environmental initiatives and an ambitious zerowaste commitment that’s establishing its roots in the new football stadium. In 1992, the campus hired its first full-time recycling coordinator, a position that now manages a 16-member full-time staff. Last year, those individuals helped the campus reach its record diversion rate of 40 percent. “…that is, 40 percent of all material (trash or recyclable) discarded on campus was diverted from the landfill for re-use or recycling,” explained Devin Hatley, environmental educator with the Office of Waste Reduction and Recycling. The goal is to reach 45 percent within the next five years and incrementally increase thereafter. The more than 1,142 tons of these recycled materials includes everyday items from plastic and glass bottles to 26 UNC CHARLOTTE magazine
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Students from the Charlotte Green Initiative, Student Government Association and the EARTH Club collaborate with facilities staff to host the annual Sustainability Week.
Efforts began in 1990 with a handful of concerned Niner students collecting aluminum cans. compost from a growing dining hall food-waste program, construction and demolition debris, donated clothes, furniture and more. Waste diversion is only one of several projects. There have been “extensive cooperation and initiatives across campus,” said Kathy BoutinPasterz, recycling coordinator for the Office of Waste Management and Recycling, which is a part of UNC Charlotte’s Facilities Management Department. In partnership with student groups such as Charlotte Green Initiative, student government
and the EARTH Club, the office hosts Sustainability Week, an annual campus-wide event promoting waste awareness and ecofriendly activities. Last fall’s edition included a “Travel Green” information fair, an energy tour of the new EPIC building, a Climate Action Plan presentation and the popular bi-annual Campus Cleanup. HUNDREDS PARTICIPATE UNC Charlotte’s Campus Cleanup involves hundreds of students, faculty and staff joining together with a single purpose. “The primary goal of the campus community is to give back and show commitment to the land, the University and its mission,” Hatley noted. In its sixth year, volunteers are assigned areas and given supplies to remove debris and collect litter throughout the 1,000-acreplus campus. Another educational event, Earth Day, celebrates the work of several on-campus environmental student groups www.UNCC.edu