“Your college tuition is literally funding climate change,” says Kira Wilson ’20, discussing the challenges of going zero-waste at a school where most of its donations come from major oil companies.

On April 18, Ozone House hosted a dinner and discussion in honor of Earth Week

that focused on the concept of going zero-waste. In order to live zero-waste, Wilson explained, the goal is to send nothing to a landfill, but composting and recycling are acceptable.

A large part of achieving that goal is only possible by purchasing all of one’s resources with the intent to reuse them.

Those attending the dinner discussed the common perceptions that people, particularly college students, have about going zero-waste. The group discussed how they believed that most people see going zero-waste as either impossible or impractical and as a result are discouraged from making an effort to reduce their impact.

However, the consensus from the people at the discussion was that any act of waste minimization, such as bringing your own cutlery to meals or using a reusable water bottle, makes a difference over time.

Union has made efforts to reduce its carbon footprint. Last year, Fox Hall participated in the nationwide Race to Zero Waste. This effort was not as successful as the school had hoped, with Union ranking in last.

This year, the school placed third in lowest waste per 1,000 feet and placed second in waste diversion. U-Sustain has also held various events such as iCommit, Mug Shots and a water taste test in order to spread awareness about environmental issues.

The last part of the discussion was centered on ways in which Union could do a better job in improving its sustainability. One idea was for the bookstore to charge for plastic bags and to send the receipts directly to the students’ emails.

The general theme of the discussion was the idea that, while it is apparent that Union is making attempts in order to be more environmentally friendly and is seeing improvement in the campus’ sustainability, the people present believe that the school still has a long way to go.