Third Year of Zero Waste on St. Andrew's Day

Dorothy Thompson, the representative of the Coalition’s campus events committee, met with the organizers of St. Andrew’s Day--Special Events Coordinator Jenna Filardi and SAGE Food Service Directors Sean Crudo, and Jeff Moll--to discuss possible sustainable choices for the event. Their main goal was to cut down on the amount of plastic generated from the event by using gallon-sized water bottles instead of individual plastic bottles, and compostable utensils and plates. Lastly, to ensure this was a zero-waste event, bulk chip bags were used, instead of individual bags, then shipped to Terracycle, a company that breaks down hard-to-recycle products.

 

On St. Andrew’s Day, Coalition for the Environment members Cailan Kelly, Jack Williams, Emma Erben, Max Grogono, Emma Schmidt, Dorothy Thompson, and Hannah Mitchel-Gevirtz manned the compost and recycling bins around the Nazro Green, weighing bags and instructing others on where to dispose their waste. Once the data was accumulated, the waste totaled 213.7 pounds of compost and 105.6 pounds of recycling, leaving zero pounds of waste for the landfill.

 

The Coalition also recently hosted their first of two Screen on the Green movie events for this school year, showing The Lorax. Students and faculty gathered with blankets, sleeping bags, and free pizza on the Nazro Green to watch a movie with an environmental message. Additionally, sophomore Caroline Parker, with the help of Mr. Mele, has organized a campus-wide day of service on December 13. In February, the Coalition will sell their annual Candygrams to students, parents, and faculty. Candygrams are Valentines made with a hand-written note on seeded paper with locally grown flowers and fair-trade chocolates. The Coalition has many plans for the future on how to expand their efforts, while bettering old traditions like St. Andrew’s Day, as well.