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Mount
Holyoke College's Environmental Action Coalition |
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Trash on the Lawn 2007
Trash on the Lawn Day 2006 EAC held its first garbage sorting on Feburary 13th for an event called "Trash on the Lawn" Day. We sorted out 172 pounds of student trash generated from three days. The trash was displayed the next day, Feburary 14th, on Blanchard Campus Center's back patio near the exit/entrance. In the end, 117 pounds of it was still trash but we found 55 pounds of it that could have been recycled. That's 32% or nearly 1/3 of the trash that had stuff that could have been in recycling bins! Of the recycables, 23 pounds of it was bottles, cans, and aluminum, 28 pounds was mixed paper, and 4 pounds was cardboard. For interest, EAC with the help of Roger Guzowski the Five College Recycling Coordinator, sorted out food scraps that could have potentially been composted. We found 33 pounds of food waste! That's 20% of the trash! Although there is no composting center in the student dorms, it is still amazing to see how much of trash is food waste. We also measured "To-Go" containers such as paper cups, tubs, and plastic utensils found in the trash. 8 pounds of it was found. That's nearly 10% of the trash! In the end, if people recycled, reduced their use of "To-Go" containers, and were able to compost their food waste...there would have been 60% less trash! This was just trash from two student dorms accumulated over just three days! IMAGINE...the rest of the CAMPUS's TRASH. This event was made possible
with the help of:
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