A commitment to sustainability spurred a team of Darden students to conduct the School’s first trash audit Oct. 2.
The formal title of the event belies the reality of the students’ task: they climbed into a dumpster, removed garbage, then sorted and separated the recyclable material by categories. The audit was conducted throughout the day in front of the parking garage facing the School’s Wilkinson Courtyard, where plastic tarps were arranged on the pavement to hold bags of garbage, which the students, wearing work gloves, tore open and examined the contents within. A dumpster was hauled to the location specifically for the audit. Students donned safety apparel, removed trash from the dumpster and sorted it by plastic, paper, glass, food waste, and Styrofoam. One observer commented in gratitude for the breezy, unseasonably cold day.
Second year student Zoe Robins, who organized the trash audit, said the overriding goal is to illustrate in a graphic way the amount of discarded material that could be recycled, but instead is hauled to a landfill. The dumpster contained garbage from Sponsor’s Hall, an executive residence center for guests of the School. During the morning hours, Robins said it was too early to estimate with accuracy the volume of refuse that could have been recycled but was instead tossed away, although the early going suggested that nearly half the waste in the dumpster could be diverted to recycling centers instead of a landfill.
The waste not only contributes to environmental problems but adds to the School’s operating expenses, she said, noting that it is less expensive, more efficient and cost effective to recycle.
Robins and her team plan to present their findings in a report to fellow students and the broader Darden community, along with tips on how to recycle. Their effort may also form the basis for a Darden Business Project, for which the students could receive academic credit.
The trash audit is one of the first student-run events to demonstrate Darden’s commitment to becoming a zero waste school by 2020. A second audit is tentatively planned for Spring 2009.
Founded in 1955, the University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business improves society by developing principled leaders for the world of practical affairs.