Zero Waste

What can you do?

Invest in reusable shopping bags, straws, travel mugs, and tupperware to cut down on the between one and five trillion single-use plastics thrown in the landfill each year.
If you can do without the plastic straw, grocery bag, and produce bag, do so. Politely refuse unnecessary plastic.
Rather than buying a plastic water bottle every time you’re thirsty, purchase a reusable water bottle and fill it up from the tap.
Shop secondhand and only buy things that you love and know you’ll wear or use for a long time.
Purchasing items like shampoo, cereal, and detergent in large quantities rather than continuing to buy small packages reduces the amount of plastic waste you accumulate.

Use reusable items such as bags, water bottles, and mugs for as long as possible.

If something in your home breaks, consider repairing it rather than purchasing a new one and throwing it away.
Purchase rechargeable batteries rather than one-time use ones.
If you have a baby or toddler at home, opt for washable cloth diapers rather than disposable ones. Disposable diapers are responsible for a significant chunk of the waste in our landfills.
Save cardboard from Amazon boxes and reuse them for gifts or storage. Consider wrapping gifts in newspaper or already used paper instead of purchasing new wrapping paper.
Reuse old clothes, towels, or sheets as cloth napkins or cleaning rags as a sustainable alternative to paper towels.
Use your electronics until they’re worn out, even if the new model is tempting. You can donate old electronics or go to an E-Waste center.

Recycling reduces the need to produce new materials, conserving resources such as timber and water and preventing pollution.
Recycle whenever possible! CU Boulder Zero Waste provides a list of all recyclable materials at most trash cans on campus, as well as online.
Each residence hall on campus contains recycling, as does each on campus building. Recycling stations where you can drop off your items are located outside each building.
Recycling in the dorms is single stream, meaning that all recyclable items can be put in the same container. On-campus recycling outside of the residence halls is dual stream, which means that you have to separate papers from containers.
It is illegal to throw electronics in the landfill in Colorado. Instead, drop your cell phones and laptops, as well as other hard to recycle materials such as batteries, at kiosks located in the UMC or Norlin Library.
If you live off campus, the Boulder County Recycling Center accepts single stream recycling. You can also drop off your recycling at one of the centers in the area.
Visit the Center for Hard to Recycle Materials to recycle anything from yoga mats to porcelain sinks to bubble wrap in Boulder County. CHaRM also accepts compostable materials!

CU Boulder Zero Waste provides a list of compostable materials at most trash cans on campus, as well as online.
Every dining hall at CU has compost bins where you can sustainably dispose of your food waste. In the residence halls, compost is either collected in the restrooms or the lobby.
The city of Boulder has curbside composting! Let your trash hauler know that you would like to compost before you stick your food waste out on the curb.
Some papers and plastic are compostable. Make sure you see the words ‘compostable’ ‘#7 PLA’, or ‘BPI certified’ before throwing it into the compost.

University of Colorado was the first university in the nation to establish an on-campus recycling program!
CU Boulder’s Grounds Recycling and Operations Center, or ROC, diverted 51.32% of trash from the landfill during the 2017-2018 school year.
In 2008, the university founded NCAA’s first Division 1 sustainable athletics program, Ralphie’s Green Stampede. Since then, the program has established a zero waste program in all athletic venues, as well as zero net carbon emissions in all athletic facilities.