Every year at Occident College tons of waste is created (food waste, paper waste, water waste, plastic waste, etc.). Although a few percentage of students are from other parts of the world or try to not create waste, the majority of this school has an American mentality when it comes to waste. Americans do not see the potential in trash! Trash is a very resourceful tool if people learn how to utilize it correctly. According to Anne Leonard, "communities that own the least amount of stuff [is when you see] just how subjective [the] line is between waste and resources" (184).
Occidental college produces a lot of food waste. Luckily, the school is learning about composting and the benefits that come along with it. When the school composts wasted food, it goes directly to the school's garden. This creates an eco-friendly cycle of new food. However, Occidental College has not taken advantage of the garden per-say. The Marketplace (the school's Cafeteria) does not sell or cook the food from the school's own garden. Hopefully, this will change in the future to make the school more sustainable.
At the end of each year when students move out of their dorms and go home for the summer, they leave very useful "junk" behind for the trash people to pick up. Some of this "junk" may contain working ipods, lamps, sheets, school supplies, ect. Most of the stuff people throw out at the end of the year is in perfect condition and can be used by anyone. From personal experience, I know this junk is extremely resourceful. I got a nice lamp for my desk this year. To fix this problem, the school should sift through the stuff at the end of every year and possibly give it was to goodwill or sell it to students.
The United States produces about 254 million tons of trash every year and of that 254 million tons, only 85 million of it is recycled (229). Recycling is a very good step into the light of sustainability. Over that past couple of years, Occidental has been enlightened to recycle paper, plastics, glass and aluminum. In order to increase recycling on campus, colored recycling cans have been placed all over the campus. For the most part, this system is working for the campus, but there is not enough education on campus about recycling and there are not enough recycling cans in convenient areas. Students on campus need to be shown what exactly is recyclable and what is not. Often, student will throw trash in the recycling bins, defeating the purpose of the cans. The second problem is that students will not recycle a bottle if there is not a recycling bin in sight.
In the end, what is comes down to is that we should not be focused on how much we recycle or how much resources we can get out of trash, but how little we can waste. Leonard states that, "focusing on the wrong end of [waste and recycling] can point our efforts in the wrong direction" (229). I believe it is important for Occidental College to look into the Zero Waste programs to learn how to decrease the school's footprint. "Zero waste advocates look at the broader system in which waste is created, from extraction to production all the way through consumption and disposal. In this way, Zero Waste is a philosophy, a strategy, and a set of practical tools" (234). From these programs the school will learn to reduce consumption, make resources out of trash, recycling, ect.
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