Zero Waste

Decisions that meet a triple bottom line - with careful consideration to cost-effectiveness, environmental safety, and the health and happiness of our campus community - are mission-driven here! With bottle filling stations in nearly every campus building, campus sales of single-use plastic water bottles have declined more than 80% since 2011. To meet residual demand, the College Store is transitioning to Proud Source. In other news, Dining Services has banned single-use plastic bags, plastic straws, and Styrofoam packaging. Want to change the world? We're listening!

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), each year Americans throw away more than three billion batteries. We are all about not contributing to that statistic! The Center for Sustainability has placed battery recycling bins in every dormitory and major academic building campus-wide. Spent batteries are sent to AirCycle, a subsidiary of TerraCycle®, "a social enterprise on a mission to eliminate the idea of waste." Did you Know: In 2019, Principia recycled 1,359 lb of alkaline batteries, 135 lb of NiCd batteries, and 11 lb of lithium batteries.

We partner with Better World Books, a zero landfill company, to give our used books new life. The Sustainability Club hosts a book drive at least annually, keeping thousands of books out of the landfill over the years. We love that every time you purchase a book from Better World Books, a book is donated to someone in need. Through a variety of special projects and literacy grants, this company is really making a difference - and we encourage everyone to become a customer! Did you Know: A portion of the income generated from our used books is donated to Room to Read, a global literacy charity.

Who knew there was such a thing as a bulb eater! This powerful waste reduction tool was consuming as many as 250 fluorescent lamps daily, saving space, time and cost, during the 2019-2020 campus-wide transition to LED lighting. By reducing lamp volume by 80% or more and detoxifying mercury (a carbon filter captures the mercury vapor and converts the vapor to a non-hazardous substance), this helpful machine protects maintenance workers and the environment. When full, the 55-gallon drum of crushed glass is collected by AirCycle, a subsidiary of TerraCycle®, "a social enterprise on a mission to eliminate the idea of waste."

In 2013, Dining Services embraced composting and soon achieved 100% pre- and post-consumer composting as part of routine operations, earning the highest level of recognition from the Illinois Food Scrap Coalition (still the only college outside of Chicago to have done so). In 2015, students led the charge to implement voluntary composting in residential housing - and major academic buildings in 2018. According to data available from our hauler, Total Organics Recycling, our volume varies seasonally with the level of campus activity and increases approximately 10% per year.

We aspire to be a Zero Waste institution, and we're all in! We not only compost organic (food) scraps, but the Piasa Pub has standardized on 100% compostable service ware, including paper products, utensils, clamshell to-go boxes, and hot and cold drink cups, lids and straws. All compostables are certified by the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) as suitable for commercial composting processes and safe for return to the food system. Next steps? Expand our collection capacity to incorporate single-use paper towels from kitchens and bathrooms.

In spring 2022, the planet got a hug from our Women's Varsity Tennis team, who had just donated their 7,250th used tennis ball to RecycleBalls! The Athletic Department also collects gently used athletics shoes for donation to the More Foundation Group, where they become assets in the "fight against poverty, hunger, and global warming" (and ensure that we're not contributing to the one billion pair of shoes landfilled each year.) Did you Know: Some 125 million used tennis balls wind up in U.S. landfills every year; that is 20,000 metric tons of near non-decomposable waste.

Every student residence has a "Care and Share" space where students exchange books and clothing, and recycle batteries and electronics. Sometimes the Share Boxes provide inspired fodder for creative endeavors, such as an Earth Day Runway Show featuring outfits redesigned and sewn from gently used clothing, or the upcycle event (shown here) at the 2018 Public Affairs Conference, where students used glue, scissors, stencils and fabric paint to reimagine Share Box castaways! At the end of the academic year, remaining items are donated to local charities.

To achieve our Zero Waste goal, we must divert a minimum of 90% of waste from the landfill. We're halfway there and striving for continuous improvement! Recycling began in 1990 as an early partnership between Principia College and Madison County, and continues today with Republic Services. Building entrances feature clearly marked receptacles, and the Center for Sustainability has provided every dorm room, classroom, and staff office with a recycle bin. Paper and cardboard, glass, aluminum and metal, and plastics (#1 - #7, not #6 - click here to learn about #6) are accepted.

"Everything but the kitchen sink" ... ok, maybe the kitchen sink, too. The reuse culture is alive and well, and it isn't just for students! Everything from concrete manholes and garage doors to chalkboards and bicycles to chandeliers and kitchen cabinets, you name it, the creative folks in our Facilities Department offer it up at the annual White Shed Sale. It's the ultimate landfill diversion ... and the last stop before unsold items are sold at a local auction house or donated to local charities. For details, contact Trebe Bradfisch, Receiving & Purchasing Manager x5097.