Our Ultimate Goal: Zero Waste
Agnes Scott College uses the Zero Waste International Alliance (ZWIA) definition of zero waste: “The conservation of all resources by means of responsible production, consumption, reuse, and recovery of products, packaging, and materials without burning and with no discharges to land, water, or air that threaten the environment or human health.” Using the ZWIA definition of zero waste aligns the college with the many other organizations that use this definition and brings attention to the global scale of zero waste efforts.
Zero waste implementation at Agnes Scott is intentionally framed in environmental justice, Agnes Scott’s values and ethos, and will consider the scope and context of Agnes Scott as an organization, including our impact and the impact of systems in which we operate.
Zero waste is only possible through active participation and buy-in from all parts of the campus community. All campus community members must strive to support the college achieve its zero waste goals.
We strive to attain zero waste by promoting waste reduction through reuse and repair, as well as waste diversion through recycling and composting. Zero-waste is commonly considered to be the diversion of 90% of the waste stream away from conventional landfills.
Single-Stream Recycling at Agnes Scott
Agnes Scott offers single-stream recycling throughout campus, for every community member and visitor. Single-stream makes it easy for you to recycle since all materials go into one container—no sorting required! Recycling is also available at all on-campus events.
- Plastics #1-2 (NOT STYROFOAM)
- Paper
- Magazines
- Aluminum cans
- Cardboard
- Newspaper/phone books
Recycling Locations
You can find blue bins or bins with blue bags located throughout the campus.
We have partnered with the City of Decatur for glass pick-up and recycling. During their weekly collection rounds in the residential community, the City of Decatur glass recycling team also picks up from our campus. We now have one large glass collection red bin on campus. You can find it next to Rebekah Hall on the side of the Gazebo.
When you drop off your clear, brown, and/or green glass in the red bin, we ask that you ensure it is clean and has no food or liquid residue. Please also note that this collection does not include ceramic material.
E-waste is considered anything that has a cord or needs to be plugged into an outlet to function. This includes materials like computers, printers, phones, chargers, etc.
Please bring your electronic waste to ITS, located on the ground floor of Walters Hall. ITS will also accept old ink cartridges and toner. Please call the ITS help desk (404.471.5487) to set up a time and day to drop off. If you’re unsure about where to put an item, please contact sustainability@agnesscott.edu.
Center for Hard to Recycle Materials (CHaRM)
Many items that we use on a day-to-day basis are materials that cannot get recycled through single-stream recycling. We have ensured that our community has an outlet for the hard-to-recycle materials. Our main partner for these materials is CHaRM.
CHaRM Accepts:
- Styrofoam
- Stretchy plastics: Plastic bags, bubble wrap, white and blue Amazon packages, etc.
- If the plastic cannot be stretched and sounds "crunchy" it has to go to the landfill
- Waxed cartons
- Batteries: non-alkaline, lithium, button, and rechargeable.
- Lightbulbs: CFL bulbs and fluorescent tubes
For other materials that CHaRM accepts, visit their site here.
CHaRM is a permanent drop-off facility that aims to improve environmental health by encouraging reuse and diverting thousands of pounds of household hazardous waste, bulky trash, and other hard to recycle items from Metro-Atlanta landfills and water systems.
The main drop-off location on campus is located in the Bullock Science Center on the ground floor at the loading dock. This on-campus drop-off spot is currently closed due to COVID, but we encourage those who are in the Atlanta area to make an appointment to go straight to CHaRM to drop off your hard-to-recycle materials.
Composting at Agnes Scott
Our new partnership with Goodr will allow us to divert more waste from the landfill by continuing to compost in Evans Dining Hall. As we tackle the challenges of the spring 2021 semester, composting will only be provided for materials in Evans Dining Hall. Goodr does industrial composting, which allows them to accept more materials than the typical backyard composting would.
Landfills produce Methane (CH4) which is a greenhouse gas that remains in the atmosphere for approximately 9-15 years. Methane is over 20 times more effective in trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide (CO2) over a 100-year period.
Seventy percent of landfills are in low-income and minority communities.
Landfills pollute the air, land and water causing health issues, eliminate green space, reduce property value, and impact the quality of life.
- Fruits, vegetables, and plant matter
- Meat, fish, bones, and tofu
- Pizza, pasta, grains, bread, and fries
- Tea bags and coffee, dairy products
- Waxed paper products
- Used paper plates and napkins
Reusing/Repurposing/Repairing at Agnes Scott
The Agnes Scott community has many formal and informal ways we intentionally reuse, repurpose, repair before we consider recycling or disposal. Below are the current ways our students, faculty, and staff have established systems to share resources.
Textbook Drive Locations
The Creative Innovation Studio and Workshop (CISAW) was established in 2022 through grant funding as a community workroom to encourage making and creative design-thinking to find solutions for unique problem-solving. The CISAW resources and ethos are managed by the Assistant Director of the Center for Digital and Visual Literacy (CDVL) with support from student employees and volunteers. Along with establishing a physical space, the grant provided opportunities to strengthen existing curricular programs with a focus on integrating concepts of climate action, justice and sustainability. In Spring 2023, a graduate student curated modules for faculty to plug into their coursework to encourage co-curricular use of the space with an emphasis on climate action.
Along with encouraging design-thinking to address global issues, CISAW hosts events, student-facilitated workshops and provides open work hours for students, staff, faculty, and alums. The space is supplied almost entirely by donations, centralizing material reuse as one of CISAW’s core operations. CISAW, as a material reuse space, helps divert waste from the landfill while serving as a teaching tool for zero waste strategies. Additionally, all materials in CISAW are free to use, lowering barriers to access for community members wanting to create.
CISAW Location
Styling Outstanding Scotties (S.O.S.) Professional Clothing Closet strives to empower students to achieve their professional and career development goals by providing a network of support, professional attire and access to clothing and accessories that better align what they wear with what they plan to accomplish. The closet is managed by the Career Exploration Center and has limited hours.
If you'd like to schedule a time to visit the S.O.S. Professional Clothing Closet or would like to donate professional attire, please contact hireascottie@agnesscott.edu.
S.O.S. Professional Clothing Closet Location
The Agnes Scott Green Team manages an office supply closet where students, faculty and staff can take and donate gently-used office supplies.
Green Team Office Supply Closet Location
The Agnes Scott Environmental Residents, Green Team, Office of Residence Life, Office of Facilities, and the Center for Sustainability collaborate to provide opportunities for students to donate gently-used clothing, home goods, and furniture as they leave for summer break. As part of the college's Community Day, faculty and staff sort the donations and collaborate with local non-profit organizations to receive the donations.