Katherine Johnson
Becoming a zero-waste campus is one of UK’s sustainability goals. Actually its one of our five guiding principles;
- Make the pursuit of these goals an integral part of the UK student experience
- Decarbonize campus operations
- Become a zero-waste campus
- Model environmental excellence
- Reinforce the University’s commitment to our people
UK Sustainability and UK Recycling partnered with UK Housing and Auxiliary Services on two initiatives during this year’s Big Blue Move-in to encourage students to help with our goal of becoming a zero-waste campus: hydration stations and cardboard recycling.
Zero-waste means at least 90% of all waste produced will no longer be sent to the landfill. Instead, the waste will be diverted via recycling, composting, donations, and reuse.
With help of students, families, and volunteers, 20.81 tons of cardboard were recycled during this fall’s move-in compared to 17.41 tons of cardboard in 2022. That’s a 20% increase in cardboard recycling!
While UK has been recycling carboard during move-in for 20 years, the hydration stations were a new addition. As most of us have experienced, move-in week is almost always accompanied by hot temperatures and heavy lifting. After piloting the initiative in 2022, UK Auxiliary Services, UK Recycling, and UK Sustainability partnered to expand the program to eight locations around campus to serve all residence halls. These hydration stations were not only devised to hydrate, but also to contribute to the university’s goal of becoming a zero-waste campus by 2030 by reducing the number of single-use water bottles provided to families and volunteers.
Emails were sent to parents and students before Big Blue Move-In dates, informing of the hydration station expansion. The emails encouraged people to bring their own reusable water bottles and let them know that reusable cups would also be available. The reusable cups provided were made of aluminum, which is an infinitely recyclable material. Over the record braking four day move-in, (more than 7,000 students moved in!), the hydration stations dispensed nearly 2,000 gallons of water, enough to offset approximately 21,000 single-use 12 oz. plastic water bottles.
To learn more about UK’s efforts to become a zero-waste campus, follow UK recycling on their social media!
