Boxes, Boxes, Everywhere!

by Dawn Quirk

The beginning of a new year- the smell of an empty dorm room, soon to be filled with junk. But not all that junk carted up by the parents stays in the room. What happens to the box from the new printer, the shoe rack, the Costco-sized snacks? Thanks to Tufts Recycles! 39.45 tons (that’s 78,900 lbs) were recycled during upperclassmen move-in and the first week of classes. Just during freshman matriculation week 38.50 tons were recycled. That’s 78 tons in all!Here’s a little sample of where all this is coming from. On Wednesday, September 2nd the freshman moved in to their dorms. Also that day were a lunch and dinner on the President’s lawn at which a total of 6 cubic yards of cardboard, 96 bags of compost, 350 lbs of pure food leftovers and 25 bags of glass, metal and plastic were collected.

Here’s the breakdown!

Lunch:

* 71 bags compost

* 2 cubic yards cardboard

* 10 bags of bottles and cans

* only 3.5 bags of trash

Dinner:

* 15 bags bags of bottles and cans

* 4 cubic yards cardboard

* 350 lbs + 25 bags compostables

* The amount of trash is unknown all together because the stations closed down but we estimate it to be little over the 4 bags that we collected before.

Everyone had fun, and we are very happy to have done our part in diverting so much waste from the landfills.