Zero Waste Move-In Success
Inspired by her first-hand experience with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s Zero Waste move-in program in action, CSD Climate Manager and Zero Waste Coordinator Darcy Everett decided to take action in creating CofC’s first official Zero Waste Move-In with the incoming Fall 2020 class. This meant partnering with facilities management and housing to prevent the vast amount of cardboard from getting thrown in the landfill.
Interns and staff members from the CSD, recycling shop manager Jerome Smalls, faculty members, and the housekeeping staff collected cardboard for transport to recycling instead of being taken to the municipal landfill. Residence Hall housekeeping supervisor Cynthia Rivers and her team helped pull the trash out of the boxes and brought the cardboard out to the corrals.
Climate Manager, Darcy Everett transporting donations and other items across campus.
While there was a large community of volunteers assisting during move-in weekend, the number of volunteers was limited each day. All volunteers stayed outside of the dorms and wore heavy-duty gloves and masks while social distancing.
A total of 5,440 Ibs, approximately 2 ½ tons, of cardboard were collected from Friday-Sunday. After the cardboard was collected, it was then transported to Sonoco, where it will be turned into new cardboard or chipboard.
Darcy Everett plans to make this an annual occurrence and was pleasantly surprised by “the family of student participation.” Everett shared that the toughest part of the weekend was “the amount of cardboard that was coming out of the Res Halls.” Everett said both the students and parents
moving into the dorms thanked her team and were eager and willing to recycle their cardboard. The weekend was a great success, and Everett and her team could safely help our campus divert a large amount of cardboard from the landfill.
About the author:
Isabel Crews is studying International Studies, French, and Communication at the College. Her endeavors with Zero Waste at her high school and her passion for sustainability led her to the Center for Sustainable Development. She volunteered as a Bonner Leader Assistant and later took the Editorial Content Intern role during the Summer of 2020. As the current Editorial Content Intern, she hopes to continue learning about sustainability and coordinating events to educate and engage the greater campus community. She also hopes to inspire others to live sustainably and get involved in the campus and the Charleston community. Outside of her involvement at the Center for Sustainable Development, Isabel spends her time volunteering with Bonner, discussing social justice, writing articles for Her Campus, exploring Charleston with her friends, and biking throughout the city.
