Waste Minimizations on Campus Again!
Now that the restrictions of the pandemic have been reduced, many of our waste minimization programs have been able to resume. Here are some of the programs available on campus that you should be sure to take advantage of!
Reusable Mug Program
This semester the Reusable Mug Program was relaunched, meaning that anyone can now bring their own reusable cups/mugs to any coffee shop on campus to get their drink in. For warm drinks, doing this also includes a $1.39 discount!
The Clamshell Program
Another program that was relaunched this semester was the Clamshell Program. For this program, everyone should have received a clamshell that lets them bring their food to go from any campus dining hall. Once that clamshell is used, it can be returned to the dining hall where it will be cleaned, and in return, you receive a keychain as a claim to a clean clamshell or you can grab a clean one upon drop-off of the used one. Essentially, this creates a cycle where the clamshells do not get thrown away so they can endlessly be used, and students do not need to clean them. For sophomores that did not receive a clamshell, extra clamshells have been added to the circulation to accommodate this.
Reusable Dining Flatware
After the pandemic required the dining halls to use more single-use food containers last year, reusable flatware has again been introduced. Plates, utensils, cups, etc. now do not have to be thrown away anymore!
Nike Reuse-a-Shoe
On Earth Day this year, we relaunched our Nike Reuse-a-Shoe program, a program where we collect unwanted sneakers, from two dop-off locations, to be recycled as sports arenas (e.g. a running track). The two drop-off locations consist of one on the River Campus, in the Goergen Athletic Center in the Alumni Locker Rooms, and one on the Medical Campus, at G-7528C by the Yellow Elevators.
Please take advantage of all of these programs as they do reduce a tremendous amount of waste from ending up in the landfill!
Written by Zein Tynon, Class of 2024.