Students can practice sustainability off campus through their neighborhood recycling center. Credit: Lantern File Photo
Practicing sustainability off campus can help students not only cut down on their carbon footprint but also save money, Tom Reeves, director of Sustainability with the Office of Student Life, said in an email. He said students can save energy by turning their thermostats back a couple of degrees, as well as opting to use public transportation and refrain from creating excess waste through thrifting and recycling.
“Culturally, we tend to focus more on what to do with waste once it’s created, but the best way to reduce what goes to the landfill is to not create waste at all,” Reeves said in an email. “Stop using paper plates and plastic forks and knives. Instead, get a reusable set to carry in your backpack.”
He said another huge source of landfill waste is “old stuff,” including clothing, household items and furniture.
“Consider donating these items instead of pitching them,” Reeves said.
Recycling is also a resource students can utilize off campus.
The University District Organization’s “Can Fairy” project gives students living between 16th and Chittenden avenues free recycling boxes. The “can fairies,” a team of the organization’s employees, then empty the boxes for the students every Monday during the academic year, according to previous Lantern reporting.
Nora Gerber, executive director of the University District Organization, said the project is a very easy way to be sustainable by diverting litter from the landfill, and it also helps cultivate pride in the community.
“One, it’s helping Earth be happy. And two, we have this really bad habit of excessive litter on lawns,” Gerber said. “So by having a way to really easily recycle and keep our lawns clean and our neighborhoods clean, I think it will show that we have a lot more pride in our University District.”
Reeves said anyone can recycle in their homes, sometimes it may just take a couple more steps, including bringing the bin to a neighborhood recycling center, managed by the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio.
Everyone needs to take responsibility for reducing litter, Reeves said.
Reducing litter can also stem from the process of composting.
Ohio State’s Undergraduate Student Government has partnered with the local nonprofit, The Compost Exchange, to make the process easier for off-campus students.
“The entire city of Columbus is doing what you should do. To get that apple core and banana peel out of the house, where do you put it?” Ray Leard, chief composter at the exchange said. “The trash. So, just change the path, it’s as simple as that.”
USG and the exchange’s off-campus composting initiative runs until Dec. 3rd, providing students free composting buckets with drop-off locations in Clintonville, the Short North and on Lane Avenue, according to the project’s guidelines.
“I think what’s really cool about this program is we’re getting students to engage with community members and local community-run businesses,” Lily Des Rosiers, the director of sustainability for USG, said. “Getting students outside of the Ohio State bubble is beneficial to bridge the gap between campus and Columbus.”
Composting food provides a plethora of benefits for the surrounding environment, such as taking food scraps away from landfills and decreasing produced emissions, Des Rosiers said.
While composting is good for the environment on its own, Leard said the main appeal is the ease of simply bypassing the trash can and going straight to a compost bin.
The act of being more environmentally conscious can seem overwhelming and daunting for many students, Des Rosiers said, but in reality that concern often stems from a lack of resources, an issue that Ohio State is directly trying to combat.
Ohio State also offers sustainability resources to students, faculty and staff regardless of where they live, Reeves said. The Willie J. Young Sr. Off-Campus and Commuter Student Engagement department provides sustainability resources, which can be found on its website.
“Ohio State offers composting services to all students [and faculty and staff] regardless of where they live,” Reeves said. “Students can sign up to receive a bin, which they can bring to one of several drop-off locations around campus, including ones that are right on High Street.”
Reeves said that the biggest way to make a difference is to slow down and think about how students’ decisions could impact the environment.
“But to me, it’s about protecting the environment. Let’s be clear: climate change is real, and it is caused by humans — this is scientific fact. And we are already seeing impacts of climate change through intense weather events around the globe and right here in Ohio. People have created this mess, and it’s up to us to clean it up.” Reeves said.
