Poughkeepsie High School Waste Audit
Waste is defined as anything that is not wanted or is no longer useful. However, many things that we have thrown out as waste can be reused again through recycling or composting. These salvageable items can often be found in landfills, where they can cause potential harm to the Earth. Many establishments are unknowingly throwing these items out, unaware of the negative effects on their community, profits, and institution. A waste audit can help an organization or individual determine the potential items that can be saved and reprocessed. A waste audit is a formal process used to identify the different types of waste being produced by an organization.
In October 2015, the NCLI team worked together and completed a waste audit at Poughkeepsie High School, and has since come up with viable solutions for reducing the total weight of trash, ways to increase recycling in the school, and demonstrating the usefulness of a waste audit and all of the information it provides an organization. With the waste audit, NCLI gained insight on what should be done to resolve some of these issues.
Organics weighed the most at 260 lbs. (55% of all waste) and proved our hypothesis correct. We are proposing solutions to reduce the weight of organics, as well other trash that was found (recyclables and other waste), so that they wouldn’t cost anything or be too difficult to achieve. We recommend putting up give and take tables for perishable/unwanted food, a place to put unfinished milk, and bins to recycle paper and other recyclables.
With these solutions being set in place, we hope to reduce the cost of what the school pays for getting rid of trash and reduce the school’s overall negative environmental impact. To educate the school body about what to do about the trash and recycling, we suggest putting up fliers that would encourage recycling, reduce the amount of intact food thrown away, showing a short educational video to further implore students and staff to be conscious of what they’re throwing away and where they throw away their trash, and to share our waste audit results with the entire P.H.S. staff. Through our efforts we hope to educate a variety of people on the importance of knowing what is actually in the trash and what can we do about what’s in it.
If you would like to see a copy of the entire waste audit, please email ds778@cornell.edu
2015-2016 NCLI Crew
Christopher Cortez Brianna Estrada Odaliz Garcia Luvia Lopez Karen Simonson Shanoya Russell Rommi Veter