Prior projects have scraped around the surface of why Cal Poly’s waste situation is as it is today. You only see what’s visible to the student body at large: trash bins, recycling, compost bins in certain locations, custodial staff, green groups and clubs, etc. What you don’t see is the behind-the-scenes relations that make up the core of Cal Poly’s waste stream and how it relates to post consumer waste.
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Project Overview
Institutional Context
The need for this project arose from an observed lack of communication between the the stakeholder’s in Cal Poly’s waste stream. There are so many moving parts, so many projects that have tried to create positive change, and most importantly, there is so much at stake for the future of our sustainability. Join us in our quest to make institutional change and demystify the waste stream.
Project Description
Our aim is to foster a better understanding about the strengths and weaknesses of the Cal Poly waste stream at an institutional level. This includes students, faculty, facilities, and all interested parties and stakeholders. Ultimately, this will allow for better communication between stakeholders and will facilitate more sustainable policies on campus regarding consumer waste.
Goals
Comprehensive Resource
We strive to improve transparency by providing concerned students, faculty, and staff with a comprehensive resource regarding Cal Poly’s waste stream.
Inspire Future Projects
We hope that the framework provided on this site will inspire future EDES 408 teams and other groups of passionate individuals to take action.
Instigate Meaningful Change
By demystifying the Cal Poly waste stream, we ultimately seek to instigate meaningful change on campus regarding sustainability and waste management.
Map of Waste On Campus
This map displays the locations of all collection bins on campus and records data on the volume of waste collected from each one. This information will update regularly as Facilities personnel input daily collection data into the GIS (Geographic Information System) network. Click on a blue bubble to see more information regarding that bin.
Past Projects
There have been many projects in the past conducted by ambitious Cal Poly students that have taken a stab at making Cal Poly’s waste management more sustainable. However, we believe that demystifying the waste stream is the critical first step that must be taken in order to instigate meaningful change. The work from previous teams is therefore an invaluable resource we have at our disposal to begin chiseling away at Cal Poly’s poorly understood post-consumer waste stream.
Below are examples of three previous student-led projects related to campus waste. Click on each project to explore the work that students have already done and discover how you can get involved.
Plastic Bag Ban
Winter 2011
E-Waste
Spring 2013
Campus 2 Compost
Winter 2015
Battle of the Waste
Spring 2015
CAED Waste Stream
Spring 2016
Waste Warriors
Spring 2017
Three Phase Project Timeline
Present
PolyWaste Website
We have created a web resource to educate all interested constituents about the specific flows of Cal Poly’s waste stream. The central component of this site is a GIS map that allows viewers to easily understand and interact with the waste stream data.
Phase I
Update GIS Data
The last waste audit and bin location analysis was conducted in 2015. As a result, the data on the current GIS system is outdated and provides few insights. This first phase involves streamlining the means of uploading data to the GIS system and identifying locations of new waste bins.
Phase II
Overhaul Waste Recording System on Campus
Facilities currently has no system in place to measure quantitative and qualitative waste data. Facilities managers should be given iPads so they can easily upload quantitative (waste bin volume, expressed as a percentage) and qualitative (contamination) data into the GIS system. This will enable trends in the waste stream to be readily apparent over time.
Phase III
Conduct Campus Wide Waste Audit (Fall 2019)
The final phase includes a waste audit that will be conducted during the next academic year (2019). The data from this audit will be uploaded to the existing GIS portal so that key players can compare the strengths and weaknesses of Cal Poly’s waste stream between all on-campus buildings. The audit can be implemented as an annual event, as the locations of bins, waste content, and waste collection points will change continuously.
How can
you get
involved?
You don’t have to be an EDES student to be involved in the sustainable solutions moving forward regarding Poly and its inability to creatively solve its waste stream management. What’s trackable is not the concern, it’s the things that are not controllable by the university that may be scaring them. And this is where you, the student, consumer, and a power player, can have a role in bringing forth new ideas and change that may slowly change the way Poly addresses its waste stream as a whole and not just from one easy perspective. You are the innovative geniuses who can exhibit Learn by Doing.
Future Project Inspirations
Bin Identification System
Currently, there is no efficient system in place to identify waste receptacles on the Cal Poly campus. A critical first step is to develop a waste bin identification system. Without an identification system, it will be difficult to effectively manage post-consumer waste. Although many organizations use RFID tags to optimize efficiency and traceability, such a high-tech system is not necessary for Cal Poly. Future students could create waste bin labels and a corresponding database. This database should include location data, collection data, and receptacle type.
Update Bin Locations
Once a waste bin identification system is in place, another team of ambitious students could take on the task of updating the location of waste bins in the GIS map. Since the initial waste bin location audit in 2015, new waste bins have been added and locations of previous bins have been changed. One component of this project would involve physically noting the updated location of each bin and linking this information to the database. Another component would involve uploading the updated waste receptacle locations to the GIS map.
Build Waste Audit Manual
A comprehensive waste audit will be conducted during the next academic year (2019). In preparation, a future EDES408 team or other group of passionate Cal Poly students could build a waste audit manual. This would include recommendations for weight vs. volume based assessments and methodologies, supplies, labor, and health and safety precautions, and follow-up audit recommendations for efficient waste management on the Cal Poly campus.
On Campus Resources
Meet the players involved in improving Cal Poly's waste stream and organizing related data.
Director of Energy, Utilities, and Sustainability
Dennis Elliot
805-756-2090
delliot@calpoly.edu
Zero Waste Coordinator
Anastasia Nicole
805-756-1029
anicole@calpoly.edu
Data and GIS Specialist
Russ White
805-756-2380
rwhite@calpoly.edu
Cal Poly Zero Waste Club
zerowastecp@gmail.com
@CalPolyZeroWasteClub
Senior Custodial Manager
Monica Cantu
805-756-5932
mmcantu@calpoly.edu
Facility Management - Custodial Services
Cindy Lowe
805-756-5226
clowe@calpoly.edu
Our Team
We are an interdisciplinary team of Cal Poly students who are passionate about addressing the issue of sustainability in waste management on campus.
Miri Taple
Architecture
William Kwon
Environmental Management & Protection
Sonya Bengali
Business
Holland Bool
Sociology
Eli Mayerson
Architecture
Anita Souv
Computer Science
Contact Us
If you have any further questions, comments, or suggestions regarding the Cal Poly Waste Stream or PolyWaste, please let us know by filling in the form below.
Battle of the Waste
Green Campus Waste Challenge!
Two different areas on campus with concentrated waste stream sourcing had their waste breakdown in the spotlight with a sorting competition. This highlighted the difference in which housing area had the ‘best’ waste stream composition. Ultimately, Battle of the Waste provides a glimpse into the future for a campus-wide audit and by laying out a framework for action.
Campus to Compost details the history of composting on campus, it's unfortunate closure, the current conditions of our limited compost infrastructure and operations, and how to bring back composting to its former glory. We hope composting can return with the current regeneration of the Master Plan and we encourage students to fight to add composting to the Master Plan agenda.
Analyzing Cal Poly's Waste Stream: Moving Towards Zero Waste
This project aimed to grasp the extent of post consumer waste on Cal Poly’s campus. They accomplished this through a detailed catalogue of various foods and associated waste from each dining center. Waste Warriors serves as an important precursor and framework to conduct a future campus wide audit and inventory of Cal Poly’s waste.
Inspired by San Francisco’s county wide ban of plastic bags in 2007, this team sought to retell the story of plastic bags through the light of a PSA. Inciting an emotional appeal by creating startling visuals regarding the devastating effects of plastic bags, team “Rebag” crafted a useful framework for instigating change on a local scale. The Rebag team understood that meta-environmental change must begin at the cultural level. We recommend that a similar strategy be used when tackling the post-consumer waste stream issue at Cal Poly.
An Educational Guide Regarding Proper E-Waste Disposal
The aim of this project is to be an educational guide about e-waste and its proper disposal. The website provides an overview of what e-waste is, some organizations that manage it, and how to be a responsible consumer in general. The site also exhibits compelling photography of e-waste being illegally dumped in countries throughout the developing world.
SCRAPI was designed in order to address the waste stream being generated from the College of Architecture and Environmental Design, in the form of model material scrap storage over waste bins within the department. The aim was to raise awareness about the footprint of model-making within a school that supposedly cares about sustainability.
SCRAPI was designed in order to address the waste stream being generated from the College of Architecture and Environmental Design, in the form of model material scrap storage over waste bins within the department. The aim was to raise awareness about the footprint of model-making within a school that supposedly cares about sustainability.
For instance, you may have seen or heard prior projects proposed or conducted by classes such as EDES 408, or even from student run organizations such as the Zero Waste club, and from facility groups such as the Energy, Utilities, and Sustainability organization. That being said and done, those are small actions that have yet to trigger change on campus. Why?
The obvious problem, is money. Money is a primary driver of projects to take off, as you can only do so much with limited funding. It may be assumed that Cal Poly does not allocate sufficient levels of funding to address the issues surrounding waste ranging from logistics to implementation. After all, the decision-makers on campus have their own priorities and leadership scope, and some may not see eye to eye with those lower in the campus hierarchy. So politics and leadership are segway problems to waste.
Then we look at the environment at Cal Poly. We are no different from other colleges in that we sell to our students waste. Our consumerism loop is not sustainable in that we are not offered sustainable goods and services, and all we do once we consume those consumer goods is it ends up in a landfill like Cold Canyon. Some groups in the past have tried to address sustainable products and goods, but that’s a drop in the consumerism ocean here at Poly.
Infrastructure is a glaring problem as well. Cal Poly’s waste is collected and transported to the Cold Canyon Landfill for waste and a facility that handles compostables down in Santa Maria. SLO does not have infrastructure in place to help facilitate sustainability of the city and the campus, and thus our waste stream, even if the interior is reworked, means nothing if the external systems cannot follow up.
Student habits are another aspect of the waste environment at Poly. We are raised from different cultures, backgrounds, and we carry on our consumerism and waste habits we learned from our parents. Not everyone will have the same sustainability mindset when it comes to waste and consuming.
In the grand scope of this problem, we as Group 8 of EDES 408 Spring 18, have started this project from questioning the other wastes besides food that is handled via Campus Dining. But as the research and questions started to dive deeper, and past projects started to surface, it was then clear that although people understand the issues related to waste, there was no clear nexus between the players involved. Similar ideas, visions, and challenges were repeated as common themes in past and present projects, and some ideas, though innovative as they sound, are not accessible to the greater Cal Poly audience of students, faculty, facility, decision-makers, and visitors. Lack of effective communication and nexus seemed to be the core problem in trying to address Cal Poly’s post consumerism waste stream. Note that communication and nexus is not the end-means of solving this problem. It is meant to instill and inspire dialogue, ideas, collaboration, and get people to see connections and ideas that have existed before their time, so that effective action and progress can truly be achieved going forward.
