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College Park Scholars - ETE Students Conduct Waste Audit to Measure Sustainability Practices

ETE News
ETE Students Conduct Waste Audit to Measure
Sustainability Practices
Wednesday November 19, 2014

Despite the freezing Sunday morning

temperatures and odor of post-football game
waste surrounding freshmen in the
Environment, Technology and the Economy
(ETE) Scholars program, the students
maintained a sense of humor as they dug
through the trash at the second annual ETE
waste audit.

ETE freshmen separate trash, recycling and compost to gain a

better understanding of the average day in a waste
management facility.

The students separated recycling, compost

and garbage outside Byrd Stadium after the
Michigan State football game in order to
analyze how much fans follow the signage for
recycling, compost and trash.

Students who sifted through the countless

bags of soggy french fries and discarded
game tickets aided the Drive to Zero Waste
initiative, which is a collaborative effort by facilities management, intercollegiate athletics and dining services.
The [Drive to Zero Waste] goal is to divert 90 percent of all the waste that comes out of athletic events from
going to the landfills, said Becky Archer, the director of ETE. So 90 percent should either go to compost or
recycling, which both save money, but also there is a big sustainability and eco-footprint thats involved with
that.
A major step for the zero-waste initiative was replacing condiment packets with condiment stations at the
stadiums concession stands.
In order to continue reducing the amount of waste headed to landfills, students and guests must be better
educated about separating trash from recyclable and compostable materials.
When you throw away trash you actually have to go through a process, said Jovany Joya, a freshman in
Letters and Sciences. Theres stuff that you can recycle and compost, and theres stuff thats just trash.
The results of the audit demonstrate how knowledgeable students and guests are about the sustainable
initiatives at the university. Analyzing the audits results fosters planning for the next steps toward achieving the

http://scholars.umd.edu/programs/ete/etenews/696-ete-students-conduct-waste-audit-to-measure-sustainability-practices?tmpl=component&print=1&layout=default&

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1/5/2015

College Park Scholars - ETE Students Conduct Waste Audit to Measure Sustainability Practices

Drive to Zero Waste.

If youre looking for a sustainable future, you need
to keep track of what waste goes where, and what it
is the most waste that people get rid of, said Katie
Holmes, a freshman environmental science and
policy major.
The Drive to Zero Waste positioned ambassadors
next to waste bins at the football game to direct
attendees to the correct bin for their waste.

Jovany Joya, an ETE freshman, finds humor during his

first experience digging through trash.

This universitys Sustainability Fund awarded a

$40,000 grant in support of the zero-waste initiative,
which will continue to implement changes at all
athletic events.

http://scholars.umd.edu/programs/ete/etenews/696-ete-students-conduct-waste-audit-to-measure-sustainability-practices?tmpl=component&print=1&layout=default&

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