In preparing for Zero Waste Week, my colleagues and I in the Office of Sustainability had many conversations about how to hold “zero waste” events. What food should we buy? Should we rely on everyone to bring their own plates, cups, and cutlery or provide compostable options? But, we also confronted bigger problems, like how to communicate the global waste crisis without making the Zero Waste Challenge seem pointless. How can we be honest about the complexity and vastness of an issue like waste while inspiring our peers to take action in their own lives? After the election, tackling the feelings of hopelessness and searching for ways to act and do something that matters became the focus of our kickoff event. However, every issue we cared about was suddenly on the table. So if we have to fight for everything, why worry about waste? How can we actually make a difference? I was so grateful to have Prof. Cassandra Thiel with us to talk about how specific industries like health care can make valuable, tangible reductions in their waste streams and how they’ve already started. At the end of the event, I signed up for the Zero Waste Challenge and in doing so, pledged to carry all the waste I would produce throughout the week. Inspired by Prof. Thiel and the group discussion, I felt an incredible sense of hope, and I knew I would carry that with me throughout the week as well.

After Thursday’s Zero Waste Week Kick Off, I went straight to the Students for Zero Waste Conference in New Hampshire hosted by the Post Landfill Action Network (PLAN), and the hope I had multiplied. As an organization PLAN has found a way to communicate overwhelming problems in conjunction with concrete actions. I spent the weekend celebrating successful student zero waste initiatives on college campuses and reveling in the potential for more, surrounded by students more fired up than ever to make positive change. Then, I returned to New York to find my peers carrying and caring about their waste in new ways. We visited Action Carting to understand the recycling market and our impact on the sorting facility that accepts our waste. We sorted NYU’s waste in the Palladium loading dock and even made a trash Mona Lisa. Everyone believed, rightfully so, that the small things we did made a larger impact, now more than ever.

I was so worried about Zero Waste Week feeling pointless in light of the election, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. It means so much more now. Every positive step, every challenge, every small success has become invaluable as we continue to fight for our environment and work towards greater sustainability on campus. At the wrap up event we weighed our waste and we created roughly 3% of the American average weekly trash consumption. That is an incredible success!

I want to thank everyone who participated in Zero Waste Week for reminding me that change is important no matter how small. Let’s continue to promote zero waste on campus and see how much we can reduce and reuse!