Description:
The Pilot Dumpster Diversion Program at UWL aims to minimize waste and promote sustainable practices during campus move out events while enriching the surrounding local community. By implementing an effective waste diversion strategy, the program seeks to reduce the environmental impact of discarded items and encourage responsible consumer and disposal habits among the campus community. Through the donation of usable goods, it aims to provide resources to non-profits and charitable organizations to assist their humanitarian efforts. With the successful implementation of this initiative, we aim to provide a guide for other campuses and facilities who struggle with waste management during college move out and cultivate a county-wide circular economy that invigorates underserved populations.
Instructions:
We will be setting our "home base" in the Whitney Center/Hall (dining hall)! Please report there at the beginning of each shift. Monitors will be responsible for organizing the pods and notifying Habitat staff of any irregularities such as trash, strange smells, or large items that need to be removed and transported to the restore. They will spend time at each pod organizing items into their proper categories, walking from pod to pod, and repeating the process. Monitors will also assist students/people with making donations, ensuring everything goes in the right place: broken electronics to dynamic recycling pile, usable items in pods, and trash in the dumpster.
Volunteers are needed from when the pods get delivered (May 2nd) till the last day of move out on May 11th. The hours the pods will be open are from 10 am to 6 pm and we will need groups of at least 3 people to go from pod to pod starting at pod 1 to help insure things are running smoothly. If you are a group of 5 or more, you may decide as a group to man each pod individually or as a pair for the two hours instead of walking around. However, this must be a group decision.
Impact:
Thank you so much for your participation in this awesome event! Not only does it reduce waste going to the landfill, but it also helps to reinvigorate our communities' non-profits with much needed materials.
These collected materials will be donated to the following non-profit organizations:
Habitat for Humanity of the Greater La Crosse Region, The La Crosse Exchange, What I Need Now (WINN), Salvation Army, UWL Pantry, Wafer, Onalaska Food Basket, Catholic Charities, YWCA Reach, Family Promise, Coulee Cap Thrift Prairie Du Chien, and Logan Middle School.
Contact:
Should you have any questions about your volunteer activities, need to notify someone of trash or large items, or general questions, please reach out to:
Kaitlyn Wiehe - AmeriCorps Sustainability VISTA with HFH
Kaitlyn@habitatlacrosse.org or (608) 461-3372
