Every year when students move out of their dorms tons of useable stuff is sent to dumpsters. At the start of the following year students and parents buy the same exact stuff brand new. Join us to end this cycle on your campus. This special workshop track is split into Fall, Spring, and Summer sessions, to cover all components of Move-In/Move-Out programs throughout the year.

Fall Sessions: Build your program strong by starting early. Whether it is a full blown program, a pilot, or even a proposal, learn to create a project plan, timeline, budget and stakeholders map.

Spring Sessions: Discuss next steps for collections logistics, volunteer coordination, spreading the word, taking inventory and preparing for summer and sale.

Summer Sessions: Strategize summer sorting, testing, cleaning and pricing of your inventory and set up for a successful Fall sale.

This session will guide you through what the Break Free From Plastic pledge is, how plastic connects to the Global Waste Crisis, and how you can influence and encourage a divestment from plastic on your campus. After attending this workshop, consider signing up for the next session installment entitled Break Free From Plastic 201: Campaign Strategy, where we’ll take a deeper dive into organizing around plastics.

We often say that waste is just resources in the wrong place, a logistical problem just waiting to be solved. These sessions will review the ins and outs of the commodities markets that create the demand for responsible management of hard-to-recycle items. Learn how to expand recovery efforts on your campus by establishing collection programs for these hard to recycle items, like electronics, textiles, Styrofoam, carpets and more.

Before you can work towards Zero Waste, you need some metrics on campus-generated waste. This session helps you to identify where to find information on campus waste management operations, and how to gather metrics on the types and amounts of waste generated on your campus. We cover volume vs. weight based audits, data analysis, and follow up for making waste management recommendations to your campus.
*Book this as an in-person training and we will work with you to conduct a live waste audit on site!

Move on down the food recovery hierarchy to divert any food waste that is generated on campus to be composted for landscaping, gardening, or agricultural application. Whether you are building a passive garden pile on campus, or hauling to an industrial composting facility, we’ll review best practices for collecting organics, educating for quality control, maintaining a safe and healthy compost system, and incorporating finished compost back into campus operations.

Zero Waste events provide an opportunity to educate members of your campus who may not otherwise interact with sustainability initiatives. This session will cover all of the logistics you should consider to make any campus event as close to Zero Waste as possible, including: proper waste station setup, “trash-talker trainings”, coordinating with caterers, vendors, and other event attendees, creative options for reusables, and more!

Prioritize reuse in your school’s dining program by setting up a campus To-Go Container Program! In this session, we’ll walk you through the process from determining stakeholders and budget, convincing administration and faculty, options for distribution, collection, ensuring student engagement, and more! For more information, check out our To-Go Container Program Guide developed in partnership with Preserve!

This session will guide you through zero waste best practices in athletic facilities, from recreations centers and gyms, to fields and stadiums. In addition, we will cover the logistics it takes to make your sporting events and tailgates zero waste.

Our current rate of plastic production and disposal could result in more plastic than fish by volume in the world’s oceans by 2050! These sessions will walk you through how to conduct an audit of all of the single-use disposable plastics present on your campus and create an action plan to incentivize reusables and eliminate plastic bags, bottles, microbeads and more!