Waste Reduction in the Greek Community
Selected as a TGIF Project for 2011-2012
FINAL REPORT
STUDENT GROUP:
Greening the Greeks
PROJECT LEADERS:
Kelley Doyle, Greening the Greeks’ Co-Founder
Morgan Fabian, Greening the Greeks’ TGIF Liaison and Data Specialist
PROJECT SUMMARY
Goals of the project
1. Educate Greek-affiliated Berkeley students about waste reduction
2. Establish and improve recycling, composting, and re-use systems in fraternity and
sorority chapters
3. Increase recycling, composting, and re-use rates to reduce total volume of waste
sent to landfills
4. Train sustainability chairs to conduct waste audits and educate fellow chapter
members
5. Support campus zero-waste initiative with universal signage in Greek chapters
Accomplishments and Successes
Distribution Of Supplies
 Each participating chapter was surveyed to assess what types of bins and how many
of each type were needed. After purchasing all lids and bins, Greening the Greeks
officers organized a “pick-up” day where all chapter sustainability chairs were
required to pick up their bins and educational materials from a designated location
within the Greek community. Over 300 bins were distributed to 16 fraternities
within one afternoon.
Educational Outreach
 The waste reduction committee created educational “411” fact sheets that explained
Berkeley’s recycling procedures and provided contact information to facilitate
setting up recycling and/or compost systems in chapters. The committee also
created a PowerPoint presentation and hosted a mandatory meeting for all
participating sustainability chairs. After the sustainability chairs were trained, they
were expected to pass along the information to their chapters in whatever
educational medium was most effective for their chapter. This reduced the number
of people that Greening the Greeks had to directly educate and improved the
efficiency of educational efforts. By pairing our efforts with campus signage, we
were able to market our efforts in all houses in a uniform style and educate Greek
community members more effectively.
Support With Other Campus Projects
 To train sustainability chairs, Greening the Greeks invited representatives from
various campus sustainability groups such as ReUse, Little Green Book, STeam, and
Green Campus to give educational presentations. Greening the Greeks further
supported campus waste reduction initiatives by purchasing universal signage from
Campus Refuse and Recycling Services (CRRS).
Challenges and Obstacles
Officer Transition
 Communication with sustainability chairs became particularly difficult during the
transition phase between old and new officers. Because fraternities and sororities
follow different systems for their transitioning officer core, every semester there are
problems with who to contact and how to contact them. This is something that was
not considered in the timeline of the project, but should be considered in future
Greek-affiliated projects.
Waste Audit Metrics and Methodology
 For our first round of waste audits, we came up with our own system on how to
perform waste audits, but we now realize there are better methods of data
collection, such that campus organizations such as the Compost Alliance and BS@C
follow. Our main problem was with the metrics. We used a volume percent method
rather than a weight method, which in the end proved unhelpful in understanding
how much waste was diverted. Had we consulted other campus organizations prior
to our data collection, our data would have been more quantifiable.
Feedback to TGIF
More Involvement With The Other Projects
 Looking at the posters at the CACS sustainability summit, many of the other posters
were very interesting, and we perhaps could have collaborated with some of them if
there was more chance for involvement with one another. Something like an initial
meeting with all the groups to introduce the project and what your upcoming plans
are might be an event to consider in future years.
More Guidance on How to Project Sustainability Impacts (how to quantify metrics)
 As said before, we struggled in the end on how to quantify the impact we made over
the year. It would be helpful to target this problem early on or brainstorm several
ideas on what the best method might.
SUSTAINABILITY IMPACT
What quantifiable sustainability impacts did your project have?
Before Programming
After Programming
This data show the diversion of non-landfill waste into the newly installed recycling and
compost bins.
Do you expect on-going benefits (annual cost savings)?
If chapters reduce their dumpster size and replace it with compost and recycling bins, then
there will be significant reduction in landfill waste and better data. One fraternity, Fiji,
replaced their dumpster with smaller bins, which also resulted in significant savings for
their chapter. Unfortunately, there are many bureaucratic obstacles with a Greek house,
making it hard to get recycling and composting systems started. TGIF can follow up with
Greening the Greeks Co-Presidents for on-going benefits of this project.
VISIBILITY / OUTREACH
Signage
To visually support our waste reduction efforts, Greening the Greeks purchased clear
signage from Campus Refuse and Recycling Services (CRRS). These signs distinguished
between the following waste streams: “Trash”, “Cans/Bottles”, “Mixed Paper”, “Compost”,
and “E-Waste”.
Waste Audits
Club officers conducted waste audits at all participating chapters with sustainability chairs.
During these audits, officers consulted chapters about bin set-up and education strategies.
Officers were able to provide specific feedback and answer any questions.
Events
Greening the Greeks hosted two events: a “pick-up” day where chapters were required to
pick up their recycling and compost bins; and a training day where club officers gave an
educational presentation. These events were publicized via e-mail (see attached).
Educational fact sheets and presentation are also attached.
See attached report items for outreach examples and photographs of the project.
CONCLUSION AND NEXT STEPS
The waste reduction committee will continue this project by conducting waste audits,
training sustainability chairs, and ensuring proper use of recycling and compost bins. The
committee will use the remaining funds to purchase more recycling bins for newly
participating Greek chapters. Overall, Greening the Greeks will continue to reduce the
environmental impact of Cal’s Greek community through a variety of sustainability
initiatives. Next year, the club will build upon its sustainability efforts with another TGIF
grant to host a water conservation competition.
BUDGET SUMMARY
Item
Cost per Item
Quantity
Total
Expense
$2.37
1,070
$2,530.55
$1,000
1
$1,000
Recycling and compost bins and lids
Varied
$11,230
E-waste recycling bin
$19/10-pack
386 bins
79 lids
4
Biodegradable bags for compost bins
$103/case
4 cases
$412
Re-usable shopping bags
$3.28
200
$655
Re-Use shelving units (salvaged from Campbell Hall)
$0
10
$0
Free pile clothing racks
$33
10
$330
1
$20
Publicity and Communication
Educational posters (Purchased from CRRS)
Personnel and Wages
TGIF Liaison position ($500/semester)
General Supplies and Other
Zip Car rental to pick up bins
$76
TOTAL EXPENSES: $16,253.55