Windward CC Campus Overview

Windward Community College’s (WCC) baseline waste audit was conducted on September 4th and 11th, 2019. Over these two days 18 volunteers sorted through 680 pounds of trash. The most surprising thing they found–15 pounds of pet waste!?

Navin Tagore, a team member with UH Sustainability Office, took the lead on organizing the audit. Navin was supported by a whole team of folks, including: WCC operations staff Sherry Ching and Andy Li,  the Natural Sciences Department, UH Mānoa Buildings and Grounds Management, WCC Student Life Coordinator Kaʻahu Alo, the Student Sustainability Hui, and the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs office. Faculty from the Sustainability Curriculum Committee even offered extra credit to students who participated in the audit!

For more information, check out these two article in Ka ‘Ohana, the WCC Newspaper:

1. “WCC had a waste audit: Now What?” by Navin Tagore
2. “Waste audit reveals that WCC disposes of lots of food” by Jenesis Ellis, Haley Roback and Bo Wong

Total Waste Audited by Weight: 680.20 pounds

Top  Categories by Weight

1. Paper and Cardboard (recyclable and non-recyclable): 204.30 lbs.
   • 108.80 pounds of this paper were recyclable
2. Food Waste and Napkins: 163.40 lbs.
3. Take-out Food and Bev. (cups, utensils, containers): 86.90 lbs.

Total Waste Audited by Volume: 1875.00 gallons

Top Categories by Volume: 

1. Paper & Cardboard: 567.50 gal.
   • 270.00 gal. of which were recyclable
2. Take-out Food & Bev.: (utensils, cups, containers): 412.50 gal.
3. Plastic (all types): 395.00 gal.
4. Paper Towels: 225.00 gal.

Priority Actions to Reduce Campus Waste

1. Create a Zero Waste Plan, including measurable timelines and goals, for the campus.
2. Assess printing protocols in order to reduce the amount of paper waste and set-up clearly marked paper recycling bins.
   
3. Create and incentivize a re-usable take-out container program for on-site dining.
   
4. Reduce plastic waste by requiring on-site single-use containers to be compostable and creating ways to collect the compostables.
5. Address food waste through on-site composting, including waste separation stations to collect the food waste.
   
6. Address paper towel waste by installing energy efficient hand dryers, switching to BYO personal hand towels, or collecting and composting paper towels.

Project Lead(s)/Contact(s)

Christian Palmer, Faculty and WCC Sustainability Coordinator
ctpalmer@hawaii.edu
(808) 236-9239

Navin Tagore, (former) Sustainability and Resilience VISTA and (current) UH Office of Sustainability Staff
dpierson@hawaii.edu
(808) 734-9353