If you’re like me, when you moved in to your dorms in August, you were overwhelmed by the change in scenery, change in environment, and change in structure of your living arrangement. I remember hauling in my massive boxes and duffel bags of clothes, food, decorations, school supplies, and everything that I would need to survive my first semester of college and frantically trying to unpack and settle in. After the chaos of moving in, I was left with figuring out how to get rid of all the packing material I was left with.
Proper disposal of all waste is crucial to Cal reaching its goal of zero waste by 2020 and can only be achieved if we all know which bins our waste goes into. This is not limited to our trash disposal within the dorms, but also with our disposal on the UCB campus. In the 2012 waste audit on conducted by studying the previous two years of waste in Mulford, Barrows, University, and Sutardja Dai Halls, it was found that with the proper sorting of waste into the existing recycling and composting bins, 81% of the waste that was headed to the landfill could have been diverted away from the landfill to recycling or compost facilities. 81% of the waste in these buildings was not in fact waste, but could have been kept from going to the landfills! 81%! It is crucial that we spend the time to familiarize ourselves with the waste sorting program here at UC Berkeley.
So let’s all take a minute to learn about our waste disposal system in the dorms! We’re each given one compost bin, recycling bin, and landfill bin. Each building has a set of bins to sort your trash into. The compost bin, is where all food scraps, paper coffee cups, paper towels, napkins, and compostable utensils and containers may be disposed of. The mixed paper bin, is where all paper, cardboard, newspapers, post-its, junk-mail, and magazines may be disposed of. The cans/bottles bins, is where plastic bottles, glass bottles, aluminum foil and cans, and ONLY plastics 1 and 2 (found in the recycle triangle usually at the bottom of a container) may be disposed of. Finally, all other waste that does not fit into these categories may be disposed of in the “landfill” bins.
The simple act of properly sorting our waste may be responsible for diverting upwards of 80% of our waste away from the landfills, saving tons and tons of garbage from being sent to fill up our landfills. Waste is never “thrown away” it is just put in a new place; out of sight is never out of mind. We are responsible for all of the materials we use, so be mindful of the waste you do produce.
You made a good point that it’s important to find know where your waste goes. I would think that, when it comes to rubbish removal, you should make sure to find a company that can quickly remove the waste, but still recycle and makes use of the usable things. There are probably many options.
This is an educative post. It helps us to store waste properly.If we recycling it properly we will be benefited otherwise it may be harmful to us.
Great post and I respect the zero waste goal. As far as finding the right junk removal company that recycles, just ask. A lot of junk removal companies do not recycle, why? It takes time and resources to do so which means less money in their pockets. Don’t go with the cheapest price. Go with a company that would do the right thing.
Great Post!! This is a very informative blog, Thanks for sharing.
Fantastic post. Awesome.
Major thankies for the post. Keep writing.