USU races to zero waste in nationwide sustainability challenge

Along with a goal to be carbon neutral by 2040, Utah State University is racing to zero waste this semester.

Campus Race to Zero Waste is a collegiate sustainability competition measuring the waste generated on college campuses across the country.

Maggie Eguko, marketing and community outreach director for USU Sustainability, said USU has participated in the competition since 2018.

During the competition, which started on Jan. 28 and runs until March 19, the sustainability office submits a weekly report of how much waste the campus has generated.

“We actually weigh all of our waste here on campus, so we know the exact amount of tons that we have in waste on any given week,” Eguko said.

One competition category measures waste diversion, or how much material is recycled instead of trashed.

“Every single week, we report how much of that is recycled, and whichever campus is the highest increase in recycled material receives national recognition and a bunch of other benefits in grants and money,” Eguko said.

According to the facilities website, USU currently recycles around 26% of its solid waste stream.

“If we were to jump that to 50, or even 60%, for just these eight weeks, we’d be in the top fifth percentile for this competition,” Eguko said.

USU is the only university in Utah registered for the competition, but several universities in the Mountain West Conference are participating: California State Fresno, Colorado State, University of Nevada-Las Vegas and Wyoming.

Current standings in the challenge are public and can be viewed at campusracetozerowaste.org/scoreboard/current-results.

“When you’re on campus, make sure you’re aware of the waste that you’re creating,” Eguko said. “It’s really important to make sure that as many people as possible understand what’s happening that way. Even if it’s only for eight weeks in the year, they’re looking at their bottles and figuring out whether it’s recyclable or not.”

As the competition goes on, the sustainability office will be hosting events and Snacktivities to inform and encourage students to have more sustainable habits.

On Feb. 8, in conjunction with the annual Sweater Swap, free soup was served with sustainable bowls and spoons.

Vegan Recipes and Collages night, an activity focused on reducing food waste, will be held on Feb. 27.

In partnership with True Blue Reuse and the Christensen Office for Social Action and Sustainability, the sustainability office will hold a book swap on March 6 to decrease paper waste.

“Every person who brings a book, gets a book,” Eguko said.

Along with waste diversion, the competition also has a few special categories. One of these is Game Day Basketball, a one-day challenge measuring the waste diversion from a single basketball game.

To promote the challenge, Eguko said the sustainability office will be hosting a sustainability tailgate in partnership with the HURD before the men’s basketball game versus Air Force on March 1.

“We’ll have fun games — sustainability themed, we’ll have sustainable foods. We’ll be using recyclable materials,” Eguko said.

Caitlin McLennan, sustainability program manager, said one of the engagement activities at the game, called Trash Talking, is designed to help fans think more about their waste.

“We staff each waste place, like each trashcan, and we co-locate it with a recycling bin during the activity,” McLennan said. “We place volunteers throughout the stadium right on top so that way when guests come and they throw whatever they have into a receptacle, we can stop them and say ‘No, actually, that’s recyclable. This is the area where you put that.’”

Eguko said there will also be announcements during the game to remind fans to recycle their waste, which will be weighed after the game and reported to the competition.

“It’s a good way to, you know, intervene in fan behavior and get people thinking about where their waste goes,” McLennan said.

The competition also has a category for food organics. McLennan said USU processes pre-consumer organics in a large greenhouse airflow composter called The Pit. The waste is turned by a large auger, and the whole process takes about six weeks.

“We can only process veggie scraps, fruit scraps, tea bags, coffee grounds, eggshells — anything that is not a meat product or dairy and doesn’t have a ton of oil,” McLennan said.

USU Landscape Operations and Maintenance then uses the compost, along with other green waste from pruning, trimming and mowing, for fertilization around campus.

“Shane (Richards) is our LOAM manager, and he is very, very proud of our circular landscape system,” McLennan said. “It’s like 95% there, and we are working and interested in actively having conversations about expanding our compost program.”

McLennan said although there aren’t currently “diversion receptacles,” or recycling bins, in USU’s athletic spaces, it’s something she’s actively working on.

“You can’t blame fans for not participating in a recycling program if you don’t set the table,” McLennan said. “You have to have the infrastructure in place before any sort of measurement needs to happen.”

McLennan said USU President Betsy Cantwell recently moved her position as program manager from facilities to the Office of the President “to try and integrate sustainability more holistically throughout the university.”

The campus recycling team, which is staffed by two to four students each semester, monitors the bins around campus and sorts the collected materials. If students see overflowing bins, they can contact the team by calling (435) 797-2011.

McLennan said USU only recycles #1 and #2 plastics, which includes soda and water bottles, milk jugs and shampoo bottles. They also recycle cardboard, paper and aluminum.

“It takes a village,” McLennan said. “I totally understand where people will be confused and we’d have high contamination rates, because it’s different everywhere you go.”

To help reduce contamination in campus recycling bins and help the recycling team, McLennan said students should break down their cardboard, avoid recycling containers with a lot of food residue in them and double check the plastics number.

“Check before you chuck,” McLennan said. “When in doubt, throw it out.”

A chart of which materials USU recycling accepts and how to correctly recycle or dispose of them can be found at usu.edu/facilities/recycling/recyclables.

Beyond the competition, McLennan encourages students to get involved with sustainability in whatever way interests them.

“However it makes sense to you to participate in climate action is the way that I tell people to get involved — if that’s voting or organizing or getting involved with SOSNR (Student Organization for Society and Natural Resources) or the sustainability club,” McLennan said. “If you can get a sustainability course under your belt, try and understand how complex the problem is.”

Eguko said although students may find it hard to put forth effort into a place they are only living in for a short amount of time, sustainability and climate action matter all over the world.

“Sustainable efforts are something that affect everyone worldwide, not just little Logan,” Eguko said. “So even if you’re not staying here longer than six months, that waste that you contribute, those carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide emissions that you put out, they’re still going into the same atmosphere that you breathe when you go home.”

Ultimately, McLennan said when it comes to climate action, organizations have more obligation to act than individuals do.

“It’s not your responsibility to do anything,” McLennan said. “It’s an organization’s responsibility to decide that’s their prerogative, right — that that’s something that they’re interested in investing in and will make a priority for the whole institution.”