Pictured above, left to right: Emma Stanfield (Team Leader), Maia Rodriguez-Choi, Caroline Schreck, and Elizabeth Popescu. Not pictured: Zachary Devereux (Team Leader) and Cali Ngyuen.
SAR University Apartments Waste Diversion Team:
Rethinking Trash: Understanding the Value of Food Waste
Project Description:
The goal of this project is to successfully implement a composting system in University Apartments of UCLA’s campus. We will take a two pronged approach to this goal by providing adequate composting infrastructure and working with the maintenance staff, as well as establishing educational outreach. The infrastructure will include composting bins and coordinating with an off site waste disposal company to gather statistics about waste produced in each building. We will also be in correspondence with the Housing and Hospitality (H&HS) administration at UCLA as well as the maintenance staff active at target buildings. We will be conducting two waste audits (pre and post implementation) of target buildings landfills. We will conduct surveys, focus groups, interviews, and possibly a send off event to spark involvement in the program and generate feedback. Overall, we hope to foster mindfulness of waste diversion and create awareness among residents of the waste they produce as well as support UCLA’s goals of Zero Waste by 2020.
Stakeholder: Erin Fabris, UCLA’s Sustainability Manager for Housing & Hospitality Services
Team Leaders: Emma Stanfield and Zachary Devereux
Team Members: Elizabeth Popescu, Caroline Schreck, Cali Ngyuen, and Maia Rodriguez-Choi