College campuses go beyond the classrooms and facilities.  Most college campuses have athletic events, conferences, festivals, workshops and meetings.   All of these types of gatherings have the potential to generate tons of waste, including food and beverage waste, paper and beyond.

These gatherings hold a wonderful opportunity for campus recycling programs to reduce waste, institute food and composting collections, educate the campus community and demonstrate cost savings.  There are many other subtle benefits from these practices such as overall cleaner grounds, reduced clean-up costs and involvement of volunteers.

There are many strategies and considerations in creating an events waste reduction effort.  Each event has different variables, generate different types of trash and have various focuses.  There is no blanket set of procedures for maximizing waste reduction and recovery.  It is important to evaluate each type of event and make a determination on collection strategies.

General Guidelines for Events Waste Reduction and Recovery

Prior to Event:

1. Get a list of Annual and Special Events

*athletics

*conferences, meetings, training

*festivals and other large gatherings

Get a monthly list of all of the on-campus events from the campus scheduling office.  Get on a scheduling mailing list to get the calendars to stay current on these through on-line calendars.

2. Waste Assessment for Events

Create a spreadsheet that can act as a waste assessment tool and tracking mechanism.  This tool can be used to get organized, plan ahead, provide a historical perspective, track materials recovered and review for future implementation.

          Assess:

*location of where and when materials will be generated

*equipment needed

*event contacts, scheduled set-up and pick-up (who’s doing what when)

*add a notes section and keep a record through any photos collected from past event waste recovery operations

*determine if existing recycling collection would suffice

*track collected materials, compile with overall materials collected at all campus events

***Ideally, the best scenario is to set-up waste recovery as a regular part of events especially in Athletics.  Coordinate efforts with outside haulers. Work with Athletics personnel to handle collections as possible.  Work to minimize the amount of extra planning needed to provide a service.

3. Preliminary Contacts

Be aware of scheduled campus events.  At least one month prior to each event, make contact with the event coordinators and meet to discuss waste management needs.

Ideally, after doing one event, the coordinators will integrate waste management into future event planning.  Encourage event organizers to contact the recycling program prior to future events.

Even in the event planning process, contact all secondary haulers as needed.

4. Create Events Operations Manual and Set-up Kit

Incorporate an event assessment sheet into a manual.  For larger events, create a separate notebook to collect all of the information related to the event including:  past strategies, material tracking, volunteer list, contract information, etc...

5. Promotions and Education

Prior to events, especially larger events with food vendors, create a Vendor Guide to Waste Reduction at Event.  Incorporate this into any preliminary contracts as to create a serious requirement for vendors to follow.

During events, have well signed waste recovery stations. Place these signs above the crowd so stations can easily be identified during the event.   A good idea is to have wooden stanchions at each site with a simple identification sign "Events Waste Recovery Station".

Make sure to have stations at all garbage cans and likewise have garbage cans at all stations.

For places that there are permanent garbage cans, and no recycling collection, cover these during the events and put a sign on the covering that says something like "Please help us reduce waste, utilize Event Waste Recovery Stations for your disposal needs".

As is possible, make announcements during the event to encourage people to help out and recycle.  Announcers at Athletic Events and Festivals are usually happy to help. (Go TEAM!)

Encourage waste reduction at all events.  Ask event promoters to sell or encourage folks to bring their own refillable mugs to event.  Some events will even promote that if you don’t have a mug, no disposables will be available but mugs will be available for purchase.  This will also help advertise the event and reduce waste.

During Event:

*assess materials to be collected

*make sure signs and containers are easy to read and consistently labeled  (Use stanchions for easy identification)

*make sure recycling options are available at every garbage site and vice versa

*at larger events, provide vendor recycling/composting stations for vendor use only

*for vendor sites, include collection for: cardboard, glass, metals, plastic and low grade paper

(If possible, include food waste composting.  It’s helpful to provide each vendor with a composting bucket that is well labeled.   Workers and volunteers can help by doing compost collection at each booth if possible.  Community gardens always welcome additional compost.)

2. Collection and Maintenance

*assign workers/volunteers, monitoring and collection duties

*monitoring sites is very important to assist in reducing contamination and educating the public

*keep sites/signs well maintained

*keep good notes as to trouble-shoot operations and for future improvements

3. Tear Down and Clean-up

*know when to tear down sites,  remember materials are still generated in events clean-up process

*make sure materials are processed, containers are cleaned, re-label if necessary and record data in events and assessment documents

*make sure collected materials are weighed, including garbage,  create graphs/charts and data spreadsheets to track events collection and savings

*debrief with outside haulers, confirm pick-ups

From Recycling to Compostables to Reusables: the Road to Zero Waste Events

It is important to start with a pilot project, establish the idea of waste recovery at events, and continue to incorporate further waste reduction activities as possible.  There are different variables with each type of event, determine course of action based upon support from the event organizers.

Athletics:

For working with Athletic events, there are many areas generating waste: stadium, beer garden, sky boxes, parking lot.  Incorporating cardboard recycling into all athletic events is standard.  Evaluate materials generated at athletic events, propose any waste reduction strategies (bulk condiments for example), and encourage Athletics to purchase plastic cups that are recyclable especially in beer garden areas.  Though outside drinks are prohibited, encourage Athletics to allow the recycling program to establish collection for newspapers, event programs and bottles/cans around the stadium.

Participate in the clean-up process and evaluate additional recovery possibilities from there.  In the evaluation of the clean-up process, take an overview of the items that are getting collected, estimate percentages and propose a trial run where the clean-up crews are divided into trash teams.  Have each team collect one type of item, newspaper/events brochures, bottles/cans and garbage.  When these are in bags, determine percentage of waste stream made up by each item.  Demonstrate benefits of this process to Athletics and work with them to encourage some waste recovery.  Some schools (Penn State, University of Nebraska at Lincoln), have been successful in implementing biodegradable's at athletic events. Besides recycling, the move towards zerowaste is enhanced through a dedicated effort on compostables recovery.   Remember that every effort is an important one.  Start with collection within the stadiums and grow from there.

Ideally, the best scenario is to set-up waste recovery as a regular part of the events, especially Athletics.  Coordinate the efforts and have outside haulers handle as much of the collection as possible with assistance from Athletics personnel to centralize materials.  Minimize the amount of extra planning and work done by the recycling program.

Reducing:

Work with events to reduce the waste prior to the events.  The best way to approach this is through the vendors.  Create a waste reduction plan for vendors that is incorporated into their event contract.  Ideally, this will encourage vendors to generate items that are compatible with the event collection system.

Recycling:

Take existing campus recycling collection and implement it within events.  Generally, all events generate paper and bottles/cans.  This seems simple, but a good place to start.

With larger events, incorporate all the "kitchen recyclables" into a vendor waste recovery station.  Locate this in the food vendor area of the event.  Generally collection includes: cardboard, low grade paper, plastics, metals, glass compostables and cooking grease.

Composting to Compostables:

If the campus already has a composting program, then a mechanism already exists to include compostables in the events collection system.  Composting has been evolving and events are a good opportunity to incorporate this material.  With the development of new biodegradable foodware products, many campuses are looking at utilizing these items for events (and incorporating them into their food service areas as well.).

If there isn’t a food waste composting program on campus, check with local forest products companies to see if they would work with campus to recover compostables at these events.  Many forest products companies are needing more soil amendment and thus are looking at ways to increase yields through food waste and other festival type of compostables.

Before purchasing expensive biodegradable food ware, consider the compostability of existing foodware such as paper plates, napkins, chopsticks, waxed paper cups and festival/event pre and post consumer food waste.  Biodegradable food ware isn’t always necessary, is expensive and requires a change in thinking and purchasing practices for the event and vendors.  This could be a hard sell, so start with items that are already inherently biodegradable and focus on waste reduction (eliminate lids and straws for example).  Also note that to ease collection, purchase cornstarch bags or use plastic bags that you can easily empty onto a compost pile as these won’t degrade and will be a contaminate in the composting process.

When moving to a compostables collection, maximize the potential for success by utilizing monitors at each collection site. This will help reduce contamination, ensure proper disposal and educate the public.

Be sure and track collection of all recyclables/compostables. When moving to compostables, there will be a noticeable reduction of materials going to the waste stream.

If possible, set-up a list of acceptable items for vendors.  Remember that not all paper plates are just paper, some have plastic non-compostable liners.  Work with a local foodware distributor to identify what foodware is compatible with your waste recovery system and try and offer a vendor discount through the distributor.

The Ultimate: Reusables

The largest percentage of the events waste stream comes from plates and cups.   Encourage people to bring their own refillable mugs for drinks.  If it isn’t possible to eliminate disposable cups as part of an  event, work with event organizers to provide a cheaper drink for folks who bring their own mugs.   Don’t forget to promote this as people like the idea of saving money from refillables.  Provide reusable cups if possible and waste will be reduced.  Offer refillable mugs for sale at events.  This will generate some money for the recycling effort/event and provide an opportunity to educate the public.

The next challenge is plates.  Disposable plates make up the largest single item in the waste stream at events that provide food.  The challenge is in washing the plates or any reusables.  For events that are located or held in areas where there is access to a dishwasher, evaluate whether there is an opportunity to borrow, rent or purchase reusable plates (preferably plastic or melmack).  This is a very labor intensive process.  Assess labor needs, facilities and availablity of plates to institute this practice.

As with other events, reduce garbage collection areas and consolidate into waste recovery stations.  Create public waste recovery stations to collect recyclables, compostables and dirty plates.  For collection of the plates, be sure and have rolling toters for portability and ease in switching containers.  Have a crew dedicated just to plates.  This crew will focus solely on, switching toters, washing dishes and re-stocking food vendors.

It is difficult to do this at free events.  Ideally, charging a deposit will ensure that the program doesn’t lose plates and replacement costs are covered.

Charging Vendors an Environmental Deposit and Fee

Something to consider is to charge vendors a 2 part fee, one part is refundable, the other is a charge for the waste services.  When vendors leave events, they often are tired and want to get home as fast as possible.  Often this entails a "dump and run" mentality.  Encourage the event organizers to implement a cleaning deposit, that is refundable upon check out of each booth (this will create an incentive to clean-up and get the deposit back).

The other part of the fee would be a charge for waste reduction.  With reusables, food vendors can save money through savings in plate purchases.  This fee will help offset the large labor costs of managing waste reduced events.

Using Volunteers

Volunteers are plentiful on a college campus.  Also many areas have volunteer organizations that are happy to assist in an events waste recovery program.   Volunteers participate in a community event that creates visibility for their organization, gives them free entry to the event (football games are popular) and gives them a sense of satisfaction from doing something that is making a difference.

For larger events, create a training program for the volunteers.  Be organized and thorough.  Follow through with a survey for volunteers at the end of the event for some feedback. If possible, especially with the larger events, give volunteers t-shirts, mugs or a token item (or free food!) to thank them for this effort.

When doing general promotional events on campus, it is always good to get a list of folks who want to volunteer.  There are a lot of students who are interested in being a part of this.   Likewise, this experience is valuable in teaching students how to apply this strategy in other areas outside of campus.

Well Worth the Effort

Managing waste at events is a big job.   Events are an important opportunity for colleges to educate the public and to make a difference.  Gather data on these events to demonstrate that these efforts do work and make a big difference!

Events are a great place to test out more intense waste recovery efforts that can be applied back to a college waste stream.  There are many areas that have been a concern that can benefit from these projects.  Learn from events waste reduction efforts and evaluate/transfer these lessons to improve and increase existing daily recycling efforts.   Use this information to evaluate and improve recovery in food service areas, that have become increasingly geared towards fast food and disposables.  Additionally, events waste reduction efforts are opening the door to the next horizon, composting.  With the possibility of compostables, there is a new horizon ahead in waste management for all colleges.

Resources

The Center for Energy and Environmental Education at the University of Northern Iowa
http://www.uni.edu/ceee/

http://www.envirobrands.com/products.html

Simply Biodegradable, a good source of cornstarch biodegradables
www.simplybiodegradable.com

The Festival for the Eno
http://www.enoriver.org/festival/trash.html

Grassroots Recycling Network
http://www.grrn.org/

The Zero Waste Alliance
http://www.zerowaste.org/

Zero Waste at GRRN 
http://www.grrn.org/zerowaste/zerowaste_index.html

Zero Waste at Eco_Cycle 
http://www.ecocycle.org/ZeroWaste/

Zero Waste Picnic 
http://www.wsu.edu/recycle/zerowaste.html