The newest sustainability buzzword is "zero-waste," and Associated Students is getting on-board.
The A.S. Board of Directors passed a zero-waste resolution April 22 with a 7-0 majority. The day was historic for A.S. because the environmentally friendly policy was passed on Earth Day, said Julie Wright, current A.S. executive vice president.
"Zero-waste is the next step for sustainability," Wright said. "It just makes sense for us to get an early start on it with our image of being a sustainable campus."
The measure is a commitment to divert at least 90 percent of waste in A.S. from landfills to compost and recycling by 2015, said Eli Goodsell, A.S. recycling operations coordinator.
Though the plan to implement this policy still needs to be worked out, it will be presented to the board next year.
The zero-waste commitment is one of the first in the California State University system, and is following in path of the University of California system, which has pledged zero-waste by 2020 on all its campuses.
Currently, A.S. is at a 65 percent diversion rate, meaning that 65 percent of materials coming in and out of the organization are compostable and can be recycled, Goodsell said. The waste amounts to 35 percent, with most of the waste being food products.
Many different areas of focus are being considered to reach this goal, including buying sustainable and recyclable products, and collecting these products along with food waste, to compost at the University Farm, Goodsell said.
Collecting and composting food waste in A.S. Dining Services is the major focus to reach the goal, and consists of 44 percent of waste in the organization, Goodsell said. With collecting food waste alone, A.S. diversion rate would go up to 88 percent, only 2 percent shy of the zero-waste goal.
Last year, A.S. recycling and sustainability collected 150,000 pounds of pre-consumer food waste from A.S. Dining Services, and composted it at the University Farm, Goodsell said.
"I believe if we could collect the post-consumer waste as well, that number would jump up about 50,000 pounds," Goodsell said.
Though plans still need to be worked out on how the waste will be collected, there are some suggestions, Wright said.
These plans would include putting separate bins to collect food, compostable items and recyclables in common eating areas, Wright said. There may also be more emphasis on referring to the trash bin as the landfill bin, to promote the idea that waste does not just go away once people throw it in the garbage.
"This isn't trash, you can't just throw something away," Wright said. "There is no away, it just gets reallocated somewhere else."
Though collecting the food waste poses some problems to A.S. as well, said current Jesse Eller, A.S. president. One concern is that the goal of zero-waste depends solely on the University Farm's acceptance of the compost.
If the University Farm doesn't accept the compost from A.S., it will have to find other venues to dispose of the material, and could slow down the process of reaching zero-waste by 2015, Wright said.
But A.S. recycling and sustainability are working with the farm currently, and over the summer, to test and research the compost to ensure it will be sufficient of the farm to use, Goodsell said. They will also be hosting a meeting in the fall to invite any student who wants to get involved to help with creating the plan.
"This really is a student initiative, and we want to get as much student involvement as we can," Goodsell said. "Student input will help us know what students want to see happen on campus."
The zero-waste resolution only affects the A.S. organization, but there is some talk that the university is on board for adopting a campus-wide zero-waste policy in the future, Goodsell said.
"This is a big project, it's not going to happen over night, we have to take baby steps," Goodsell said. "But it really is the best move for A.S. and hopefully, eventually the university as a whole."
Delaine Moore can be reached at
dmoore@theorion.com
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