Clamshells have also been the bane of many campus environmental groups, a very visual sign of the wastes associated with grab-n-go dining, and the target of many environmental initiatives.

Wanting to divert something is very different than being able to viably do so. Without an understanding of logistics, you run the risk that your recycling/solid waste/sustainable materials management master plan has little more viability than a condo-dwelling child’s “I want a pony” wish list to Santa.

Food waste is one of the largest components left in the waste stream, especially in regions that have already enacted other recycling programs. As such, composting and related activities are one of the most popular “next steps” to many campus and municipal recycling program

I want to change the world. It has been a rallying cry for folks entering the environmental field for a generation. As I near 25 years in this field, I realized something. That I have seen more programs fail, not because of a lack of big ideas, or great ideals, but because of mundane details.

Before embarking on such a program, you need to understand that composting is not the art of making food waste disappear out of a trash can. Composting is a specific biological process. Unfortunately, there are a lot of similar and related processes that too often get lumped together under the compost name.

There are a lot of different materials to recycle on a college or university campus and a lot of steps needed to make recycling work. So how do you decide who does what tasks?

OK, so here’s the mea culpa where I realize that I have probably skipped a step during the time that I have been writing this blog. If you have never seen me speak publicly, there is a core tenet that I often talk about that I have found in my 20+ years of implementing recycling and materials sustainability programs. That is that there is a bell curve of participation.

How resilient is your campus? In part 1 of this post, I addressed some headwinds for the sustainability movement and suggested that resiliency may be a better alternative for many campuses.

Cardboard is coming. A lot of it. On campus terms, for many schools, you are looking at as much as an extra month’s worth of cardboard that arrives the first week when students move-in. So what do you do with it all?