FEB 6, 2025 | NEWS | By Julia Decker
College campuses nationwide are implementing new sustainability practices to manage
waste habits.
Initiatives range from going “tray-less” in the dining halls of Vermont’s Middlebury College to “crawfish composting” at Louisiana’s Loyola University.
Colorado College’s Office of Sustainability launched its first off-campus compost program in spring 2021, with about 20 off-campus student households participating. Since then, the program has nearly doubled, with 45 houses participating in 2024.
Chase Hetler ‘25, an environmental studies and political science double major, started
volunteering with the Office of Sustainability in 2022. Last year, she was officially hired as a
waste intern for the program.
The program could expand, she said, if more CC students got involved.
“This structure works well for our capacity at the office. If we had a couple more people, we
could pick up compost from people’s houses and take it to the facility,” Hetler said. “Or we could
have a more hands-on approach to make it even easier for people to compost.”
Hetler originally wanted to volunteer specifically with the waste team because she says waste is
often an “overlooked part of sustainability” that significantly impacts students’ lives.
“I wanted to see how I could make a difference in my community and with students on campus,”
Hetler said.
The program provides interested off-campus households with materials, training and education
on effective composting.
The Office of Sustainability operates according to the United Nations Sustainable Development
Goals, highlighting the connections between sustainable development, environmental, social,
and economic aspects.
“The Office of Sustainability is amazing because it takes a local application of sustainability on
campus and connects it to these global initiatives,” Hetler said, “showing us how these big,
overarching goals—ranging from clean water to human rights issues—can be solved at a more
local level through everyday actions and sustainability programs.”
To participate in the compost program, students must agree to a $10 cash deposit upon picking
up materials, including a compost lid and bucket, a map and a waste poster.
They’ll get the money back at the end of the spring semester upon the return of materials. Lastly, participants must drop off their supplies within the designated return window at the Office of Sustainability.
Last year, the office focused on outreach efforts to involve more of the student body in the
Program.
“It can be daunting for people to add another waste stream to their lives,” Hetler said. “They
don’t want to take that extra step of separating their waste, taking it to the dumpster or dealing
with the grossness of food waste, but overall, we have excellent participation.”