What we do with our stuff when we’re done with it is a huge problem. Here in Connecticut, almost 75% of our waste is buried or burned, a process that pollutes our environment and damages our health. But the great thing is that we know how to fix this problem! Go Zero Waste.
Zero Waste is the idea of creating a closed system where everything we buy and produce can then be reused and recycled. It sounds crazy – but it’s actually entirely possible and already happening. At the University of Colorado Boulder, they have completely Zero Waste football games. In Nantucket, in just a couple of years, they’ve managed to up their recycling rate to 90%.
So this semester I’m working at University of Connecticut to prove to the university that this is possible and it’s possible now. I’m a Sophmore Political Science and Economics Major and I’m leading the ConnPIRG Zero Waste Campaign. I’m working with other student volunteers at UConnn to coordinate events to educate the entire student body about the hazards of landfills and incinerators. We’re doing a ton of stuff to make this a reality.
We’re planning to make Earth Day completely zero waste and organizing cool events like a ‘Die-In’ where dozens of students play dead to educate their peers about toxic pollution from waste. We’re going to build a Trash-Rex, a giant dinosaur of trash, to show students the sheer scale of our waste problem, and doing a photo project where we follow a piece of trash from the union, to waste management, to the landfill or incinerator. We’re also pounding the pavement, talking to thousands of students one-one-one about how they can help and collected over 1,000 petitions to the administration encouraging them to make a plan to go Zero Waste.
You can learn more and support our effort to go Zero Waste by ‘liking’ our Facebook fan page: Go Zero Waste UCONN