Students get sustainable with campus move-in
Source: https://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2022/08/university-sustainable-move-in
Author: Sofia Casini
Still, Olivia Gambocarto, interim program manager for UNC's waste reduction and recycling department, said that being earth-friendly during campus move-in can be difficult given the culture surrounding consumerism. “There’s a lot of messaging out there before you go to college that 'you need this and you need that,' you need this specialized box to carry X, Y and Z," Gambocarto said. "I don’t think you always need that." “Based on move-out last year, we didn't see nearly as much donatable items go in the trash —which was great," Maturano said. "We want to see that people are keeping their stuff and reusing that year after year and not having to buy new things each year. That's great, and we encourage our students to keep that in mind while they're on campus." Maturano said that the main goal this year for a sustainable move-in was making sure cardboard gets recycled rather than thrown into the trash, and minimizing the amount of waste that is brought onto campus by unpacking at home.