Hanley Sustainability Institute

By Shannon Dennemann

“Mom, Dad, why don’t you take these boxes out and just give me a minute in my room,” is something I said while moving in, as do many other first-year students.

The parents then wander to find a trash room, toss it in and head back to the room. College is starting, and there are too many things to think about. Sorting a few boxes and plastic wrapping is often not the priority.

First-year move in is an exciting and nerve racking period of time. New friends, new opportunities, new homes, new classes. These items can take most of students’ brain capacity, and the rest is filled with other nerves.

You know what there is no room for, both physically and mentally? Packing waste.

Students and parents just want to get it out of the way and move on to the next, and, honestly, more exciting task. Even those who do care about sustainability may be so focused on the next important event they neglect to sort their waste.

This is where the University's move-in collection comes into play, to help divert waste from all ending up in a dumpster to the landfill. This collection is in partnership with Hanley Sustainability Institute (HSI), Office of Energy and Sustainability and Housing and Residence Life. 

On Friday, Aug. 16, first-year students moved into their residence halls. To ensure an easy transition, many students and faculty are involved in all areas of the process, including HSI at waste collection.

The waste collection is supported by dozens of students who volunteer to stand by the dumpsters outside of the residence halls and assist families with disposing of their packing materials. This included separating plastic from cardboard and paper, breaking down boxes so more can be put in the dumpsters and sorting the types of materials into their respective containers. This year, over 1.06 tons of cardboard was collected for recycling.

A new addition to this year’s collection was a partnership with Rumpke’s Hefty Renew program, which handles “hard to recycle” plastics, including styrofoam, soft plastics, plastic bags and other materials along those lines.

Over 25 contractor-size Hefty Renew bags were filled to the brim with various styrofoam and plastic packaging, which would have otherwise ended up in the landfill. It is a frequent misconception that most types of plastic can be recycled when they actually cannot, and sometimes even cause recyclable materials to be thrown into landfills. These bright orange bags are very noticeable, which helps remind people to sort their waste properly.

Having the opportunity to ensure that waste is not forgotten and thrown away, while simultaneously educating and modeling for first years and their families how to properly dispose of their waste brought me hope that they will be able to do it themselves in the future. The University of Dayton places an emphasis on learning outside of the classrooms and how to be responsible members of society, which I was proud to help continue this mission.