Colleges and universities are leading the way to Zero Waste. In this session we will hear about two innovative efforts:
- Boston University is moving up the Zero Waste hierarchy to focus on reuse and reduction. In this session, Gabrielle Brewer and Sarah Healey will explore program-specific examples—ranging from easily reportable data to more decentralized or assumption-driven efforts—and share the challenges the university faced and the solutions that were implemented. By highlighting both the practical and theoretical aspects of their approach, the university aims to spark conversation, collaboration, and ultimately, progress toward more standardized zero waste reporting practices around reuse and reduction.
- The Post-Landfill Action Network (PLAN) is laying the groundwork to achieve full elimination of single-use plastics from college campus dining operations. In this session, Savannah Robledo will cover the history of Reusables-To-Go programs on college campuses, the challenges leading to lessons learned and new opportunities, and the introduction of new technologies (container tracking apps) that have significantly increased the opportunity to achieve zero waste by achieving documented 96%+ return rates. She will present the outcomes of Return-on-Investment analyses conducted through PLAN’s course and dive into specific cases, including the first campus that successfully eliminated all single-use plastics from dining – College of the Atlantic.
Speakers:
- Gabrielle Brewer, Sustainability Analyst, Boston University
- Sarah Healey, Zero Waste Manager, Boston University
- Savannah Robledo, Plastic Campaigns Director, Post-Landfill Action Network