Students make their way out of the lecture hall. Behind them, a few programs litter the floor, the garbage pail is full of paper sandwich wrappers, some soda cans sit propped on the armrests of chairs or just underneath them, even a lone apple core is on the floor near the lectern. In short, it’s a mess. To Nicole Leung, it’s also a waste.
She’s aware of the sheer amount of stuff that is headed to landfills after any lecture, demonstration, or student concert. Leung, a Heinz College public policy and management student, also knows about making things greener. During her undergraduate years, she worked on sustainability efforts and green project funding. So, she takes action. After getting the go-ahead from Heinz administrators, she networks with other classmates, building a group who can help.
Soon, students find something new when a Heinz College event, luncheon, or orientation ends: Trash Talkers. These ambassadors of green behavior help students to recycle everything possible and direct them to dispose of food waste in compost bins. There are about a dozen Trash Talkers, all with the same Zero Waste mission. They’re part of the Heinz Green Team: a group of faculty, students, and staff working together to make the university more sustainable.
Zero Waste impact is already making a difference. By composting, recycling, and picking up after a dozen events held at Heinz College buildings throughout the year, the group has collectively saved 70 pounds of waste from reaching local landfills.
Leung says it’s a small but powerful step. After students interact with the Trash Talkers at Heinz College functions, Leung says they become more aware of how to properly dispose of waste, and some have even asked about getting composting bins for a variety of activities. “They know to talk to us when they have questions about waste,” she says proudly.
Leung has also campaigned to get donations of biodegradable flatware and plates for all campus events. She’s started a Heinz Green Team blog—heinzsustainability.wordpress.com—that is focused on green living; she writes to educate her classmates on everything from where to donate unwanted items when they’re moving out to the latest environmental issues being discussed on Capitol Hill.
Now that she is at Heinz College’s Washington, D.C., research center full-time, she says she’s ready to start a Zero Waste initiative there, too.
—Michelle Bova (HS’07)
