Campus Race to Zero Waste

1. Motivate students and staff to rethink material consumption, reduce use, reuse items, and increase recycling efforts and reduce waste generation.
2. Generate attention and support for UB's Zero Waste strategy and Climate Action Plan.
3. Encourage zero waste thinking.

Official CR2ZW weekly results are posted each Friday afternoon during the competition to the Scoreboard section of the Campus Race to Zero Waste website. 

Throughout the competition, here are some ways you can participate in our recycling and waste reduction efforts.  

Whether your beverage of choice is water, coffee or tea you can help the environment while staying hydrated or caffeinated--just lug a mug.  

Yes, you can recycle plastic bottles.  But, did you know that water in plastic bottles has been shown to contain microplastics--yuck! 

Unfortunately, you cannot recycle paper coffee cups because they have plastic sandwiched between layers of paper (that's why they don't leak). 

Refill a reusable, and ditch the disposables!     

Another easy, but impactful way to reduce your use of throw-away items, is to purchase a cutlery kit.  Toss it in your bag and you'll be able to forego plastic utensils when you're eating away from home.  

Plastic utensils cannot be recycled and end up sitting in landfills.  

Looking for other easy ways to reduce your impact?  Do your best to avoid wasting food.  Food has a huge impact on the environment from production, to processing, to transporting and prepartion. 

Make those calories work for you.  Take what you like, but eat all you take!  Food that is trashed produces methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. 

12 Easy Steps to Do Your Part :

1. Recycle! Recycle! Recycle!
2. Think before you throw something out: "Can this item be recycled?"
3. Place a work order to request recycling bins 
4. Add a tagline to ReThink, Reduce, ReUse and Recycle to your emails
5. Like our posts on Instagram!
6. Volunteer to hang posters around campus 
7. Create a video promoting how you reduce waste
8. Post recycling instructions near bins
9. Compost
10. Volunteer to be a Recycling Ranger at basketball games
11. Tell a Friend!
12. Rethink, reduce, reuse, recycle, and have fun!