Tiny Trash Implemented in Peabody

Peabody Hall has begun a pilot of the Tiny Trash program, one in which the residents have used plastic containers instead of trash cans. The former are decorated with stickers that read, “Exeter’s Tiny Trash: The Big Impact of Going Small.” The idea for Tiny Trash came from a group of custodians who attended a conference presentation about the program. According to Jill Robinson, the Senior Manager of Sustainability and Natural Resources, the group brought the idea to former principal Tom Hassan and the Sustainability Advisory Committee, who both supported the idea. Since then, the committee has met with offices on campus to adopt the initiative with different groups, such as the Environmental Proctors (E-proctors), to discuss the program.The purpose of the experiment is to keep students and faculty mindful of what they are throwing away. As the majority of waste generated on campus can be recycled or composted, the metal trash cans are larger than needed. Several benefits of the program include the usage of recycling bins, waste reduction and cost reduction, as less labor time is spent on taking care of the trash and on trash bag liners.

“I think it’s an interesting concept, but would be difficult to apply based on how much difficulty were already having with encouraging students to recycle.”

So far the program has been adopted into the offices of Facilities Management, Finance, College Counseling, Communications and Athletics, as well as the Dean’s Office and the Principal’s Office. When Peabody’s E-proctors heard of the idea, they asked their dorm faculty to see if the dorm could pilot the program.Through his participation in the experiment, lower Ben Harrison has become more environmentally aware. He believes it would be beneficial for all dorms to participate. “It has drastically decreased the amount of trash I produce, so I can only imagine it has had a better impact on the environment,” Harrison said.Upper Tyler Hou agreed that if all dorms were to participate, more people would be informed on how to properly recycle. Hou found that before Tiny Trash, many of his dormmates were unaware that food containers need to be washed out before being recycled. Both Hou and Harrison noticed that most things they once threw out had been recyclable or even compostable, such as paper towels in bathrooms. “In my home we try to compost or reuse our organic material, so it it feels weird just to just throw out a lot of organic waste from fruits,” Hou said.Another project that E-proctors have been working on this year is the expansion of composting throughout campus. In both dining halls, food waste, napkins, tea bags and coffee filters are all brought to a farm in Massachusetts for composting. There is also a compost pile behind Facilities that only accepts plant matter.According to Sustainability Coordinator and English instructor Jason BreMiller, the Grill will begin composting soon. Although the project is fairly new, the goal is to relabel the bins in Grill and minimize travel time of the composting bins to a composting site. Peabody will be the pilot for dorm composting. Several large bins will be placed on each floor and in faculty housing. The plan is to have a schedule within the dorm for taking the bins to Elm Street Dining Hall. According to BreMiller, one of the main difficulties with composting is that if you allow waste to sit for a long period of time, it begins to smell. As the push for composting in the dorm came from the E-proctors, BreMiller hopes there will be follow through from the students to ensure its success.Peabody E-proctor and upper Nate Bogardus commented on why he wants to expand composting across campus. The fact that all compostable food waste within the dorms is going straight to the landfills concerns Bogardus, and he believes that the composting infrastructure already set in place can grow beyond the dining halls. “Considering how [dining halls] are not just using one of those at-home compost barrels, I think it’s a pretty easy step to take in the right direction,” Bogardus said. “I trust that everyone will get on board.”Peabody lower Kalel Lopez thinks composting would work well within smaller dorms and houses. “I believe larger dorms would have a slightly more difficult time dealing with it, but it’s worth a shot,” Lopez said.Despite their desire to help the environment, E-proctors in Amen, Cilley and Wentworth, larger dorms than Peabody, are against the idea of in-dorm composting. Lower Emily Cardenas explained how most girls in her dorm would not participate. “I think it would be a bad idea because it would make hallways smelly, and no one eats that much fruit,” Cardenas said.Senior Brian Moriarty agreed with Cardenas that students in his dorm would not be willing to participate. “I think it’s an interesting concept, but would be difficult to apply based on how much difficulty were already having with encouraging students to recycle,” Moriarty said.In his first year as sustainability coordinator, BreMiller hopes to promote a culture amongst the student body and faculty and staff around environmental responsibility by establishing programs such as dorm clean out, composting and Tiny Trash. “I would like to see this ethic become more engrained in our daily behaviors whether that means being more responsible in our recycling practices, whether that means consuming less, whether that means, as a school, setting goals for energy use and our carbon footprint,” he said.In the past, E-proctors have made strides to towards creating a more environmentally friendly campus. In 2011, Exeter became a water bottle free campus in an attempt to reduce costs and waste. The Academy also joined hundreds of schools when it signed the Green Schools Alliance Climate Pledge as a “Climate Steward” in October 2008. This pledge requires schools to establish baselines for energy and carbon emissions. Exeter also participates in the annual Reduction Rivalry competition between Exeter, Governor’s School, St. Paul’s School and Brooks School. The goal of the event was to reduce the amount of electricity used on each campus. This past fall, E-proctors initiated the school-wide weekly dorm cleanup, an effort to help janitorial staff. Each Sunday, students take trash from each floor to a common place for easier removal. The E-proctors teach their dormmates about what is recyclable and what is not. Lower Emily Green shared how the event has helped bring her dorm, Amen Hall, together. “Dorm clean up is great because helps us stay environmentally conscious as a dorm, which is important to me since I like to stay green,” Green said.Both dorm clean up and Tiny Trash have had green impacts on the campus. Bogardus believes that if these projects, specifically Tiny Trash, move on to more dorms, they will help both the custodians and the environment. He understands that through these little projects the campus is becoming cleaner and greener. “It goes to show how easy these changes are to make anywhere,” Bogardus said.