Community Featured Food Waste

New Volunteer Program Launched for Peer-to-Peer Recycling Education

The Office of Sustainability is excited to introduce a new volunteer program, Recycling Geniuses, which has been developed to help address waste contamination on campus. Recycling Geniuses will receive training on new recycling guidelines and will help with a three-week education blitz in key dining areas. 

The Recycling Genius program was developed in response to recurring contamination issues across campus: loads of compost and recycling are being rejected from their respective collection facilities due to cross contamination with other waste and improper sorting. This problem primarily stems from a lack of education and outdated signage at the waste receptacles. 

The WashU community is committed to lowering contamination rates. The Office of Sustainability has selected America Recycles Day, which takes place November 15, as our deadline for reversing the trend of rejected loads. Recycling Geniuses will play a key role in addressing this important issue.

Recycling Geniuses will participate in a 30-minute training in early November and will volunteer in different dining halls across campus for at least three weeks. Geniuses will be stationed in front of the waste receptacles and will offer to assist people when they throw out their trash. They will also help with tabling to bring awareness to the new recycling guidelines. 

Education is incredibly important for achieving success in WashU’s waste reduction programs. For more information and to sign-up, click here