Vassar’s 2020 Climate Action Plan established a target of reducing our total annual campus waste tonnage while sharply increasing our recycling and composting rates. Vassar is addressing this challenge in a number of ways, including by better educating the campus community about how to properly dispose of waste, recycling, and compost.

The Office of Sustainability conducts frequent audits of campus waste bins to track recycling and contamination rates. A report was completed in Spring 2020 (available here) that summarizes the state of campus waste management prior to the revised practices put in place in response to COVID-19.

We began a new series of waste audits in the Fall 2021 semester, with a revised set of practices to ensure participant safety, and will continue later in the Spring 2022 semester. If you’re interested in helping us out with one, please email sustainability@vassar.edu.