Hello!

Thank you for attending the Campus Trash Pickup on 10/19! You were among more than 70 volunteers who helped make campus cleaner that day, a record turnout! Additionally, the data you collected about the kind of waste you found helps us characterize University of Illinois’ waste stream, so we can know what outreach we need to carry out in order to decrease waste and litter on campus.

In just an hour and a half, we collected enough waste to fill an entire dumpster (we had to put overflow trash in blue receptacles, too)! Data highlights include more than 300 plastic straws, cups, and utensils; 225 beverage cans, 35 plastic bags, and countless cigarette butts. This is amazing!

At the event, many of you had ideas about future trash pickups, such as adding an educational component before or after the event, and more. If you have any ideas and would like help or to collaborate, do not hesitate to reach out to this email! We can’t do this without your help!

We took a lot of awesome photos from this event, as well. Check out this Box Folder for pictures.

Looking for more ways to be involved in sustainability?

• Join the Zero-Waste iCAP Team or another team of your interest

• Come to the iSEE TED Talk Discussion on 10/26 (tonight) at 7:00 PM. Sign up here

• Sign the Use The Bin pledge, promising to always recycle your plastic waste

• Take the University of Illinois Drinking Water Behavior Survey

Thanks again for joining us during Campus Sustainability Month’s trash clean up. Please let us know if you have any questions or ideas for future events.

Meredith Moore, iSEE Sustainability Programs Manager

Emily Dickett, iSEE Sustainability Intern