American University Zero Waste

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05/27/2026

🌿💧♻️ Last month, the AU Zero Waste Office took a field trip to DC Water’s Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant for an extraordinary guided tour with Stephen Ayereko, Community Affairs Specialist!

Our staff and interns explored how Blue Plains is leading the way in sustainable waste management through Bloom Class A biosolids reuse, the Clean Rivers Project, nutrient-removed effluent, green building design, combined heat & power systems, and thermal hydrolysis technology. WOW! 🌊🪴

A huuuge thank you to .water for the incredibly inspiring behind-the-scenes look at innovative sustainability solutions that protect our waterways and advance environmental justice in and around Washington, DC. 💚

Attendees included Zero Waste Office staff John Boyle Ruiz and Owen Krzywda, alongside beloved interns Trish, Jalyn, Celeste, Adriana, Mariah, Alice, Ada, Nohe, Coratta, Princess, Aram, Andres, and Finnian. 🌎🏭🌱

04/29/2026

♻️ Project Move Out is BACK! 📦🌿

Throwback to last year’s incredible efforts (📸: Jeff Watts) as we kick off Project Move Out 2026 — starting TODAY, April 29 through May 8, 9am–5pm!

Unlike Move In, this is your chance to give items a second life: donate gently used goods instead of sending them to incineration — and volunteers can take home free items too. 💚 In 2025 alone, we kept 18 tons of usable items out of the landfill and redistributed them to AU students!

📍 Drop-off locations: Letts-Anderson Quad, East Campus Parking Lot, McDowell Hall, Nebraska Hall
🎒 Donate: clean clothing, school supplies, storage items, unopened toiletries, nonperishable food, furniture, room decor & home goods
🚫 Please NO mattress pads or opened food!

Donations support Goods Recycling (clothing) and The Market at AU (food), with furniture and home goods saved for students in the fall. 🙌

Huge thanks to our partners in the Zero Waste Office, Housekeeping, Office of Sustainability, Housing & Residence Life, and Grounds & Facilities staff for making this possible! 🌎✨

04/23/2026

Spring Semester 2026 shot in action here at AU’s Zero Waste Office!! 🌿♻️🙌

From waste audits and cardboard bales to compost routes, bin cleaning, and even snow removal — this semester was powered by an incredible team of student employees and staff working together every day to move the needle toward sustainability. 💚🌎

With a current diversion rate of 47%, we’re proud of the progress — and even more grateful for everyone on campus who properly sorted, composted, recycled, reused, reduced, repaired, repurposed, or simply took the time to learn. Every action matters!

Special thanks to our dedicated Compost Crew and full-time staff for making it all happen: Ada, Adriana, Alice, Andres, Aram, Celeste, Coratta, Finnian, Gloria, James, Jalyn, Mariah, Merrick, Nohe, Princess, Randy, Trish, and Wes, as well as Caroline B., John B., Owen K., Andrew W., Bradley B., Francisco S., Greg K., and Laura M. You are all the heart of Zero Waste at American University! 🌱✨📸

See you soon for Project Move Out starting April 29th...

02/11/2026

Happy Valentine’s Day from the Zero Waste Office! 💚😘

Love is in the air, and at AU, it looks a lot like sustainability! 😍 On this Valentine’s Day, we aren’t just “talking trash”—we’re sending a whole lot of gratitude to the partners who make our green hearts skip a beat. 💓♻️ Check out our valentines to our campus allies who help us keep AU beautiful and waste-free:

💌 Facilities Management – You’re “wheelie” the best, thank you! 💌 Office of Sustainability – We’re a perfect match for a greener future. 💌 Arboretum & Gardens – Our love for you is evergreen. 💌 Center for Environment, Community & Equity (CECE) – You have our hearts and our support! 💌 Center for Environmental Filmmaking – You show us the best sides of Mother Earth. 💌 Earth Scholars – You make the future look bright and sustainable. 💌 Department of Environmental Science – We’ve got great chemistry! 💌 Airlie Conference Center – Thanks for being our sustainable getaway. 💌 Department of Environment, Development & Health – Healthy planet, healthy hearts!

To our staff, students, and campus partners: thank you for “reducing” our stress and “reusing” your passion for the planet every single day. We love you a ton! (And by ton, we mean a metric ton of diverted waste!) 🚛🌱

What’s one thing you LOVE about sustainability at American University? Let us know in the comments! 👇✨

02/05/2026

When the “Snowcrete” hit, our teams hit back even harder! Over the past week, our dedicated staff and students have powered through 4 full days and 3 intense overnights—from Saturday evening all the way through Tuesday and beyond. With some team members clocking over 100 hours in a single week, their commitment to keeping American University safe and accessible has been nothing short of heroic. 🧤🏔️🏢

From boots-on-the-ground labor with metal and plastic shovels to operating skid steers, Kubota trucks, and plow/salt attachments, our crews tackled heavy snow-ice conditions with precision and grit. We utilized de-icing agents to ensure our pathways stay clear, showing what true essential work looks like in the District! 🌨️⛏️

A massive shoutout to some of our incredible “Snow Heroes” pictured above:
-Staff: Caroline B., John B., Owen K., Andrew W., Augustine E., Marlon C., Mike F.
-Students: Mariah N., Alice Y., Aram E., Andres J., Nohe M., Finnian W. ❄️🚜💪

A huge Thank You to our partners in the cold:
-Facilities Management’s Groundskeeping, Zero Waste, Vehicle Maintenance, 2-Fix, and Building Maintenance teams for the seamless collaboration. 🛠️🤝
-AU Dining for keeping us fueled and fed during those freezing long shifts! 🍳☕

Snow Heroes of AU—We weathered the Storm! We are so proud of this team’s resilience and professionalism. Rain, shine, or “Snowcrete”—we’ve got your back, AU! 🦅✨♻️

02/02/2026

The AU Zero Waste Office teamed up with the brothers of Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity Inc, Epsilon Alpha Chapter to get our hands dirty and take a closer look at what our campus throws away. 🦅🌎 Throwback to an impactful collaboration last semester! 🤝

Big shoutout to our waste warriors—Caroline B., John B., Andres J., Nohe M., Dalvin P., Finnian W., & Merrick C.—for suiting up and helping us analyze our impact! 💚

🔍 What is a Waste Audit? A Waste Audit is a physical sorting and analysis of a building’s waste stream. We open up the bags, sort the contents into categories (compost, recycling, landfill), and weigh them to compare.

♻️ Why is it important? You can’t manage what you don’t measure! Audits reveal:
-Contamination Rates: Like how often food or liquid ruins our recycling.
-Missed Opportunities: Like how many recyclable or compostable items are accidentally thrown in the trash.
-Impactful Data: Numbers help us improve signage and education to boost AU’s waste diversion rate! 📉

📢 Get Your Group Involved! Does your class, club, or Greek Life organization want to learn more about sustainability operations at American University? Book a Waste Audit to gauge your specific impact. Schedule a Zero Waste Tour to see how our system works behind the scenes. 🌱🐢

Sort Smart, AU! Every time you take a second to sort your waste correctly, you are actively reducing our carbon footprint. Let’s keep AU green together. 🌲🍃🍏🔋🌳

01/14/2026

From the TDR kitchen to our neighbors’ plates, this fall 2025 semester has been one for the record books! We are beyond thrilled to announce that our partnership has recovered a staggering 6,590 pounds of high-quality, delicious food for local DC nonprofits. 🦅💚

Instead of heading to the compost bin, thousands of pounds of prepared chicken, roasted turkey, penne pasta, and fresh vegetables have fueled our community this semester. This effort is a true logistical sprint that wouldn’t be possible without an incredible team:

- Gabriela Selmonosky (SIS/BA ’26) — Our fearless FRN leader who has spent many hours bridging the gap between campus waste and community need. Your perseverance made this expansion possible! 🌟

- Teri Homicile (SOC/BA ’28) — A huge shoutout to Teri for capturing the heart of our mission in this video! Her storytelling helps us show the world that food insecurity is a challenge we can tackle together. 🎥

- The Office of Zero Waste — A giant thank you to the powerhouse team -Caroline B., John B., Owen K., Andrew W., Francisco S., Laura M.- along with all the student employees and FM staff who manage the heavy lifting, the temperature logs, and the van runs. You are the backbone of this operation! 🚛

We’ve proven that these problems aren’t insurmountable, but we need YOU to keep the momentum going for 2026. Whether you have an hour a week or a passion for sustainability, there is a seat at our table. 📩 Email [email protected] to sign up as a volunteer!

🥦 🍎 🌍 🍱 ♻️ 🤝 🥗 🚛 🌱 💚

12/12/2025

Ready to be inspired? 🦅 AU’s Zero Waste Office is bringing you 5 TED Talks that will fundamentally shift how you view your consumption habits! Let’s power up our commitment to a greener campus and planet. 🌎🌱 From plastic pollution to fast fashion, these talks offer actionable wisdom for minimizing your ecological footprint:

1. Emma Bryce (4 mins): Discover the shocking reality of “What really happens to the plastic you throw away”—from toxic landfills to microplastics in the ocean. https://youtu.be/_6xlNyWPpB8?si=YNOL53NQknFGRHTL ♻️

2. Lauren Singer (13:30 mins): Learn “Why I live a zero waste life” and how she fits three years of trash into a single jar by following the “5 R’s” (Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot). https://youtu.be/pF72px2R3Hg?si=R28Izd3RM0GVapwX 🗑️

3. Bea Johnson (14 mins): The pioneer of the Zero Waste Home shows you how living with less has led to “Two adults, two kids, zero waste” and a more joyful life of voluntary simplicity. https://youtu.be/CSUmo-40pqA?si=k139h5gBOyosJIpq 💰

4. Molly Steer (5:30 mins): This young activist explains why “Straw No More” is a crucial movement, revealing how one small item contributes to massive ocean plastic pollution. Just say no! https://youtu.be/Rr5Py1r9xjw?si=p4l4iJURP4YcwNTt 🌊

5. Josephine Philips (8:30 mins): Uncover “The Simple Solution to Fast Fashion” and learn how valuing, repairing, and altering your clothes is a powerful climate solution. https://youtu.be/Bh8dnw67rE0?si=hSXAlMD-yXD-HJRg 🧵

Feeling motivated? Every step counts! 💡 Tell us below: What is one small immediate change you’re inspired to make for Zero Waste? Let’s inspire each other today! 👇💚🌿 Compost, reuse, or refuse—what’s your move? 🍎

11/18/2025

Before you head home for the holidays, help keep our community safe by turning in your old and used batteries!

We’re teaming up with the National Waste and Recycling Association, , and .owl owl to host a Battery Take-Back Event on the Quad on November 20th from 9am-2pm.

Why it matters: Old or damaged batteries can spark dangerous fires when tossed in trash or recycling, especially during winter travel and holiday cleanouts. Turning them in keeps our campus, our homes, and DC’s recycling workers safe.

Find us on the Quad, enjoy some hot cocoa, great photo opps, free give-aways and learn more about battery safety.

11/03/2025

🌿✨ Zero Waste Office launches NEW Plastic Film Recycling for AU community! ✨🌳

We’re thrilled to announce a major upgrade to our campus recycling program! Thanks to the hard work of our dedicated staff (Owen K., Andrew W., Caroline B., John B.) and students (Augustine E., Andres J., Wes F.), we’ve placed 15 brand-new bins across campus specifically for plastic film recycling! This material can’t go in your typical blue bin, but now we can keep it out of the landfill! Let’s work together to make this program a huge success! Every properly recycled bag makes a difference. 💚🌎

📍 Find a Plastic Film Recycling Bin near you:
-Bender Library (basement, in “Recycleland”)
-Mary Graydon Student Center (Information Desk)
-Spring Valley Building (lobby)
-Mail & Package Center
-Federal Hall
-Constitution Hall
-Letts Hall
-Anderson Hall
-Leonard Hall
-Hughes Hall
-McDowell Hall
-Cassell Hall
-Nebraska Hall

♻️ What to Recycle (Plastic Film Only!):
Keep the stream clean! Only recycle plastic film here, and make sure they are clean, dry, and free of food residue:
-Plastic bags (e.g., grocery, takeout, dry cleaning)
-Plastic wrap (e.g., produce wrap, pallet wrap)
-Plastic shipping envelopes
-Bubble wrap
-Zip-top bags (e.g., Ziploc)
-Cereal bags
-Bread bags

🛑 Avoid Contamination (5 big culprits!):
Even small amounts of contamination can ruin an entire batch. Please DO NOT include:
-Liquids
-Hard plastics (e.g., water bottles, containers)
-Mixed recycling (e.g., paper, glass, aluminum)
-Dirty plastic film (anything wet or sticky)
-Organic waste (food scraps)

What is one type of plastic film you are now excited to recycle? Let us know below! 👇

🌱💧♻️🌍☀️🗑️💡🙌✨😀

Address

4400 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington D.C., DC
20016

Telephone

+12028852351

Website

http://www.american.edu/zerowaste

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