As the Recycling and Solid Waste Coordinator, my responsibilities here on campus are to manage trash and recycling. Although we recycled about 33% of the waste we generated here on campus last year, we can do better.
No Impact Man highlights some of the same key messages that I try to get across to students. Yes, recycling is important, but it is more important is to reduce the amount of trash you generate. Yes, it’s fantastic to put that plastic water bottle into the recycling bin, but what’s even better is to not use a plastic bottle and drink out of a reusable container. Even if you drop that bottle in the recycling bin, it still took energy to produce it, and the bottles are "downcycled" into fleece jackets, park benches or toothbrush handles, all of which eventually ends up in the trash. This means that new plastic is required to make every bottle and every bit of plastic used to make that bottle—even if you end up wearing it or brushing your teeth with it for a while—ends up in the landfill in Johnston RI.
The top of the pyramid is Reduce. That means, not consuming what we don't need to. It is followed by Reuse, which means once we have it, we use it as often as we can before we get another. Finally comes Recycle. Interestingly, I just learned of another “R”: Refuse. Refuse to purchase or use anything with excessive or non-reusable packaging. I like that concept. Just remember that recycling is at the very end of the list; it is a last resort. That doesn't mean that recycling isn’t a worthy cause; what it does mean is that recycling is not without environmental cost, though it has less cost than just throwing stuff away.
My message to you all: Do the planet a favor: think before you act. Refuse to buy anything you don’t need; reduce the amount of packaging you use; reuse what you can; recycle the leftovers.
If anyone has never seen a landfill, you'll get a chance this Fall. As part of a five-week Sustainability Program, Mary Brennan will lead a tour to the Johnston, RI landfill on the afternoon of Thursday, October 6, 2011. Stay tuned for more info on the tour and all the events inspired by the Common Reader, No Impact Man! In the meantime, post your comments and questions about URI's recycling practices to Mary Brennan.
Does URI compost their natural waste created in the dining hall (food scraps , paper napkins etc..) ?
ReplyDeleteEmily, Great question! If anyone else has a question for Mary, please do not hesitate to ask!
ReplyDeleteHere is Mary's response:
Unfortunately, we do not have a composting project at the dining halls on campus. We have had several meetings about composting, but because of various health and safety rules it’s just not as easy to compost at a dining hall as your home. Permitting, transportation, odors, storage, etc all become factors. Food waste does make up a large percentage of our waste stream, so it is definitely an area that we will be working on in the future.
Hope dining hall is is equipped with a pulper, which pulverizes waste materials in the kitchen, reducing the need for water in the disposal system. It also significantly reduces the volume of waste materials trucked to the landfill.
Hope Commons is LEED silver certified. LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is an internationally-recognized green building certification system. LEED promotes sustainable building and development practices through of rating systems that recognize projects that implement strategies for better environmental and health performance.
A few other high points include:
• Reflective coating on roof that prevents heat absorption
• Energy efficient heating and ventilation system
• Energy efficient lighting
• Located on bus route
• Bike racks and showers for cyclists to promote environmentally friendly transportation.
• Landscaping that includes drought tolerant plants and preserves trees for shade over the building.
• 94 percent of the demolition materials from the old Hope Dining Hall were recycled.
question: In order for reducing waste, it must present a threat, I speak just for my self in saying that I reuse the plastic bags from the supermarket, to be used as a garbage bag, If a re-usable garbage bag were created, it may harbour harmfull bacteria, what I'm getting at here is what is the dividing line between efforts to save the planet, and endagering our lives?
ReplyDeleteFrom Mary Brennan,
ReplyDeleteHi Ian,
Health and safety issues are of course paramount. Being “green” doesn’t mean taking health risks. It’s great that you are re-using the grocery store bag as a garbage bag. However, I ask you to really think about plastic bags. Are they really necessary? When I was a child we took the brown paper bag from the grocery store and placed that in the trash can as the garbage bag. Sometimes it might leak, but if you took a moment when disposing of the trash and sorted the liquid out, the container was generally clean (no harmful bacteria). If it got messy you rinsed out the garbage can. Before brown paper bags, there were no garbage pail liners at all. Kitchen food scraps were fed to the chickens or the family dog, there was no plastic or aluminum, glass containers were reused to store leftovers, and paper was generally repurposed. Plastic garbage bags really aren’t necessary, just convenient. Remember, just about 95% of our garbage can be recycled. If we all just took a few moments, thought about our trash, segregated it properly, we probably would all be healthier and wouldn’t have to worry about plastics leaching into the environment for hundreds of years.
After reading "No Impact Man" I felt guilt about all of the waste I've been creating without notice. In my home we usually buy two or three 24 pack cases of water a week; although we do recycle the bottles afterwards, I have come to the realization of how much easier and helpful to the environment it would be to invest in a reusable water bottle. The day after I finished reading "No Impact Man" I informed my family that using reusable water bottles are very beneficial for the environment because they don't create any waste, I also included all of the money we would save. Almost instantaneously we transformed into a much more environmentally friendly family; not only do we use reusable water bottles, but we've also become fond of reusable shopping bags. Now that I've gotten into the rhythm of helping the environment I hope I won't have to change my ways when I arrive at URI. Are there multiple recycling bins in the dorms/library/dining halls? Does each dorm have an area where students would be able to re-fill their reusable water bottles? (Such as a water fountain or a small kitchen area) Also, does URI offer reusable shopping bags in their takeout and merchandise stores? If not I feel as if that would be an easy step to significantly cutting down the amount of waste on campus.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading No Impact Man and your blog, I find myself coming up with things that I can do to help reduce, reuse and recycle. I have already converted my plastic water bottle habits to that of a reusable container, which during these hot summer months was my best friend. I went from recycling at least two water bottles a day to just refilling my container. Since my conversion from recycling to reusing I would say that I have saved myself and the environment 200 plastic bottles from recycling. The great thing about the reusable container is not only is it saving the environment but saving my family money from buying cases of water after cases of water at the grocery store.
ReplyDeleteReducing plastic water bottles is not the only thing that I have caught onto. Recently the town that I live in has enforce a rule were you have to purchase your garbage bags in order for the town to pick up your trash. Since this enforcement my family has spend time buying less packaging, recycling more products, and becoming more aware of what we can reuse. I hope that I can continue to help reduce, reuse, and recycle at URI!
I think Colin Beavan was very brave for starting the no impact man project. In the beginning stages of reading the book I was a little perplexed and surprised when he cheated on his project on his first day and on some other stages of the project. For example the first stage of his project was producing no trash, yet on his first day he used a tissue. As my reading continued and I began to put myself in Colin's shoes, I realized it is not easy to go forth with the project head on. Colin eased his way on through each stage of the project which I respect. It gave him a chance to deeply understand the importance of each stage and how he has morphed into a dedicated environmentally friendly person. Even before finishing the book I started to change my everyday living to be more environmentally friendly because some information presented in the book distrubed me. For example the fact that most humans have plastic inside of them due to the chain effect of leaving a plastic bag on the floor, did not sit well with me. I began to recylcle paper more and use plastic cups throughtout the day for beverages instead of throwing paper cups away each time. At the University of Rhode Island I can use what I have acquired from "No Impact Man" to help URI became/stay environmentally healthy. I will consever energy and recycle in my dorm room. I also can encourage my roomates to do the same. I am glad I read the book because I used to think that what I did did not make a huge impact on the environment. I realize now that the little each person can do to help the environment does make a difference. I know that I am doing my part and it feels good.
ReplyDeleteI was intrigued by the section of No Impact Man that focused on websites like freecycle.com. I think that trading goods and services and reintroducing the barter system would be a beneficial way to reduce the amount of new items we buy. On campus, we could have our own trading network. College kids usually do not have excess money to begin with, so the thought of exchanging products vs. having to buy new ones has the potential for being successful. This has the capacity to be even better than websites like freecycle.com because we live in such close proximity and could arrange to meet and view the items before swapping. We also would not have to pay shipping costs or use cardboard boxes, which would reduce the cost for us and the environment. Additionally, this would be a way to meet new people and become more community oriented. - Alex Geremia
ReplyDeleteI think I can safely assert that the tone of the book was manifested immediately with the onslaught of its superfluous and pretentious title. The author did, however, pursue in an unyielding quest to quench his ferocious appetite, apparently feeding on self-righteous gibberish and absurdly constructed do-good nonsense. Practically speaking, Colin Beavan was accurate in the respect that he had “no impact.” His efforts were in no conceivable way going to “save the world”, but rather inflate his own bloated ego and add to his condescending claims. The ironic part is that I do believe that issues concerning the environment are matters that can be taken seriously; however, it is supercilious and pompous people like Beavan that give environmentalists a bad name and propel the cause into a distinct and darkly fringe territory. I thought it was amicable that Michelle, his wife, played along and made significant sacrifices. As for the “no impact man”, I recommend that he consider living with the Khmer Rouge next time he wants to “save the world”.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading No Impact Man, I thought about all the waste that I produce each and every year. When we throw away trash we do not really think about where it goes, all we care about is that it is no longer our problem, but in reality this trash does not simply disappear. It sits in a landfill for many years and before this waste decomposes even more waste is pilling on top of it. As the world continues to expand more waste is collected and something needs to be done to stop this downward spiral. One step that I have made this year is to stop using disposable plastic bottles. To school this year I only brought reusable bottles and a brita filter so I can drink the cap water. If everyone in the world simply made one step toward reducing their waste, we could reduce the amount of waste in the world significantly.
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