Working towards a zero-waste campus

Linnea Goh ’25, left, and Léo Charbonneau ’27 are working as Zero Waste Fellows with the Post Landfill Action Network's Atlas Zero Waste Project to develop a Zero Waste Strategic Vision for COA.Léo Charbonneau ’27 and Linnea Goh ’25 are both passionate about social justice and the environment, and see this work as an extension of their academic and co-curricular pursuits. They are working with Post Landfill Action Network (PLAN) staff to take part in training, discussions, workshops, and activities as they hold visioning sessions with campus stakeholders in preparation for drafting the strategic plan.

“I believe that we have a responsibility, as an institution and individuals, to minimize the negative impact we can have on our community, and this goes for the way we manage our waste,” Charbonneau said. “Zero waste is a relatively easy climate action strategy that communities can implement to drastically reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. I am hopeful that this work will bring lasting sustainable changes to the college, and to the wider community.”

An example of material flow options through an idealized version of a soft goods system map from the Post Landfill Action Network's Atlas Zero Waste Project.The visioning stage (phase two) that Charbonneau and Goh are engaging the COA community in is a follow up to the Atlas Zero Waste Assessment conducted on campus by students in the summer of 2020 (phase one). This assessment led to the COA Discarded Resources and Materials Management Plan, passed by All College Meeting in 2022.

“I am hopeful that this project will help COA better identify a path to meet the goals we outlined in the management plan,” Goh said. “We have been Princeton Review’s number one green college for several years; Creating concrete zero-waste goals is an opportunity for COA to lead by example and prove that we are truly committed to sustainability.”

Goh, who co-chaired the COA Campus Committee for Sustainability for a year and a half, plans to continue as an ATLAS fellow and to utilize her capstone senior project to complete the third ATLAS stage, which is a fully realized zero waste action plan for the college.

“I think some stakeholders might find it hard to think outside of limiting barriers such as funding, staffing, and space,” she said, “but I’m excited to hear all the ideas and different perspectives that will come out of the visioning sessions.”

To establish a zero waste campus, according to PLAN, materials management infrastructure will need to be implemented at the campus-wide level. Policies and purchasing need to be streamlined, collection systems need to be standardized, disposable plastic needs to be eliminated, reusables need to be implemented, and services to collect surplus and hard-to-recycle materials need to be available throughout all areas of campus.

The zero waste vision statement will include a high-level overview of the infrastructure, staffing, logistics, programs, and systems that are needed to achieve zero waste on campus, summarizing all the proposals and ideas that came out of the facilitated visioning conversations. It will be organized following the Atlas Zero Waste Scopes Methodology with a clear analysis of how each proposed initiative will improve the campus’s zero waste score.

An example of material flow options through an idealized version of a hard goods system map from the Post Landfill Action Network's Atlas Zero Waste Project.Importantly, the vision does not contain the key characteristics of a strategic plan: a budget, timeline, and details for implementation. These are all components that would be worked out during the Stage three process that Goh will lead during her senior project. PLAN recommends moving into the strategic planning process only after the vision has been approved by college administrators.

The zero waste vision and subsequent strategic plan could have a far-reaching impact on campus life, Charbonneau said.

“Zero waste can be viewed as a holistic approach to the practices we do on an everyday basis, increasing our mindfulness to the products we eat, as well as the products we use, and where we dispose of them. Zero waste promotes safer environments, and it also means avoiding negative health impacts from incinerators and landfills,” they said.

College of the Atlantic already scores high with the Post Landfill Action Network's Atlas Zero Waste Project, but hopes to improve systems with the creation of a Zero Waste Strategic Vision.The ATLAS fellows are participating in 30 hours of training and activities to guide them through this process, covering topics including zero waste theory and practice, environmental justice, mapping material management decisions, campus zero waste case studies, campus decision making and navigating bureaucracy, anti-oppressive facilitation strategies, guiding stakeholders towards a vision, and the language, style, and approach of a fully realized strategic vision.

“After graduating from COA, I aspire to someday work as a marine planner. Through this fellowship, I am hoping to strengthen my facilitation and planning skills,” Goh said. “I recognize that some of the conversations we will facilitate through this program may be difficult, and I hope to apply what I learn from navigating these situations to my future career plans.”

Click here to learn more about PLAN and the ATLAS Zero Waste Project.