The Eco House
Residents’ Guide to
ZER0 WASTE &
Living
Sustainably
Table of Contents
Living Sustainably………………………………..3
What’s New?................................................4
What is “zero waste”?................................9
Recycling 101………………………………..….10
Composting 101……………………………..…11
Gardening 101…………………………..……...12
Programming Ideas…………………...………13
SPARC……………………..………………..………15
Residents’ Commitment to Zero Waste.16
Contacts (2013-2014)
Leah Bryant ’13
Sustainability Fellow
The Office of Sustainability (BSC G-08)
sustainability@agnesscott.edu or lbryant@agnesscott.edu
Daisy Bourassa
Graduate Hall Director—Theme Houses
The Office of Residence Life (Alston 2nd floor)
dbourassa@agnesscott.edu
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AGNES SCOTT ECO HOUSE 2013-2014
Living Sustainably
Welcome and thank you for signing on to be a model for sustainable
living and zero waste! Each year we hope to build on our commitment to
make this house an even bigger example of how to conserve resources
and energy on campus. Here are the ten ways we hope you will
contribute to our vision and live sustainably:
1. Eliminate as much paper waste as possible
2. Limit showers to ten minutes (or less)
3. Collect gray shower water to use in the raised beds
4. Educate the campus on ways to reduce, reuse, recycle, and
repurpose
5. Compost all kitchen scraps
6. Air dry most of your laundry
7. Practice clean commuting methods
8. Dress appropriately for the weather to reduce the house’s
energy use
9. Adopt new living habits that you can ascribe to beyond this
year
10. Collaborate with your housemates on chores,
programming, and ways to live sustainably
What’s New?
This summer, the Office of Sustainability focused on installing several
new features to the house that would help make your commitment to
living sustainably bigger and easier. We’ve compiled a list of the new
additions and how you can use them!
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AGNES SCOTT ECO HOUSE 2013-2014
OUTDOORS:
RAISED BEDS
With the help of several ASC staff & faculty members, we were able to install two
raised beds on the hill next to the house. Leah, a Sustainability Fellow for summer
and fall 2013, has worked tirelessly to plant plants, vegetables, and fruits in the
beds. In order to keep our crops healthy, each resident will need to follow a watering
schedule every week.
GREEN CONE COMPOSTER
Thanks to Laura Ray in the biology department, we have upgraded our composting
system at the house! The Green Cone will store composted items (see Composting
101) and help speed the decomposition process. The best part? You don’t have to
stir the smelly compost!
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AGNES SCOTT ECO HOUSE 2013-2014
KITCHEN:
UNPAPER TOWELS
These are my favorite purchase of the summer. It’s a collection of cloths that snap
together like a roll of paper towels! Clean up spills, dry your dishes, toss the towel
into the wash with your clothes, and snap it back onto the roll when it is clean.
DISH TOWELS
No more paper towels!
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AGNES SCOTT ECO HOUSE 2013-2014
LAUNDRY AREA:
LAUNDRY SPINNER
The spinner is a great tool that you can use to cut down the time your clothes will
spend in the dryer or on the drying rack! After having great success using a spinner
in her own home, Dr. Amy Lovell was kind enough to donate one of these machines
to the house! When you take your clothes out of the washer, fold them and place
them in the spinner. Help the machine “balance” by evening out the placement of
your clothes. Place the bin under the spout on the front of the machine to collect the
water that has been wringed out of your clothes. Turn the device on and let it spin
for 20 minutes.
FELT DRYER BALLS
Use these dryer balls instead of dryer sheets to keep lint and wrinkles off your
laundry (when you have to use the dryer.)
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AGNES SCOTT ECO HOUSE 2013-2014
DRYING RACK
Try to line dry most of your clothes! You’ll save lots of energy in the process.
RESTROOMS:
HAND TOWELS
No more paper towels! Just remember to throw these in the wash with your laundry
after a few uses.
DINING ROOM:
CHORE BOARD
Create a watering schedule for the raised beds, designate who brings the terracycle
& plastic bags to campus, decide who will be in charge of the compost for the week,
and other duties.
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AGNES SCOTT ECO HOUSE 2013-2014
RECYCLING BINS
Drop your one-sided sheets of paper, plastic bags, terracycle, batteries, and
electronics in their respective bins.
CRAFT NIGHT SUPPLIES
In the left set of cabinets in the dining room, you will find a few boxes of craft
supplies that you can use for programming this year! We have also printed out
some tutorials that will give you ideas for cool, sustainable crafts. More ideas have
been included in the “Programming Ideas” page of this guide.
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AGNES SCOTT ECO HOUSE 2013-2014
What is “zero waste?”
Starting in the fall of 2013, we have a goal to make the Eco House a
model for a zero waste environment. This means that we will eliminate
unnecessary use of paper, energy, water, and emissions. Essentially, we
hope that you can maximize the use of all of the resources in the house
by reusing, repurposing, or recycling before designating them as waste.
Here are some ways that you can adopt these practices:
PAPER & PLASTIC





WATER
Recycle all paper & reuse onesided paper
No paper towel use
Reuse or recycle paper
packaging
Recycle all plastics (bottles,
packaging, utensils bags, etc.)
Toilet paper should be the only
paper product that is thrown
out

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ENERGY
Limit showers to 10 minutes or
less
Use shower timers as a guide
Collect shower water in gray
water bucket to water plants
Combine small laundry loads
with your housemates
Limit laundry loads to two a
week or less
EMISSIONS
Keep thermostat at 78° in the
summer and 68° in the winter
 Dress for the weather and
temperature

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

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Walk, bike, or run to campus
Carpool to off-campus
destinations
Use MARTA for group outings
AGNES SCOTT ECO HOUSE 2013-2014
Recycling 101
YES!
Item
Plastic containers
Paper (without stains or residue)
Cereal/food boxes
Cans
Drink lids & straws
Clean plastic utensils/plates
Glass
Cardboard drink sleeves
Chip bags, candy wrappers, pens,
markers
Where it goes
Recycle bin
Terracycle (take to Mollie’s)
(anything with a silver lining)
Batteries and dead electronics
E-Waste bin (take to Office of
Sustainability)
Cardboard boxes (break down)
Plastic bags
Styrofoam
Cardboard box pile
Plastic bag bin (take to Alston)
Styrofoam bin (take to Office of Sust. In
BSC G-08)
Rinse off food residue before recycling!
NO!
Item
Food
Napkins and paper towels
Plastic wrapping
Staples, paper clips
Where it goes
Compost
Trash
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AGNES SCOTT ECO HOUSE 2013-2014
Composting 101
“If it grows, it goes!”
YES!
Item
Fruits and veggies
Meat, fish, bones, and tofu
Paper plates, napkins, and waxed
paper products
Bread, pizza, pasta, fries, etc
Tea bags and coffee
Dairy products
Plants and flowers
Nuts
Cooking oil
Where it goes
Compost bin
1
Place compostable items in compost bin outside
2
Bring the compost to the Green Cone each week
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AGNES SCOTT ECO HOUSE 2013-2014
Gardening 101
In order to maximize the output of the crops and plants in the raised
beds, it is imperative that each person in the house cares for them. On
the chore board, come up with a watering schedule and who will be in
charge of watering each week.
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There is a hose located on the side of the house. Turn the faucet handle to
the right to start the flow of water and make sure the spigot is in “shower”
mode.
The beds should be watered twice a week unless it has been rainy.
It will probably be easiest for you to water once during the weekend and
another time during the middle of the week.
Give the entire bed a good drink. It should take about 2 minutes to water
each bed. Place the hose next to the house when you are done.
Here is a list of the crops that you can look forward to seeing in the
garden:
BELL PEPPERS BROCCOLI GREEN BEANS
KALE RADISHES POLE BEANS CARROTS
FENNEL LAVENDER BASIL
CHERRY TOMATOES
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AGNES SCOTT ECO HOUSE 2013-2014
Programming Ideas
You’ll find a supply of items in one of the dining room cupboards that
we’ve put together to help you plan craft nights and other programs.
Here’s a collage of ideas to give you some inspiration!
Upcycle a T-Shirt
There is a set of instructions for different ways to reinvent your old tshirts (using “no sew” methods) in the DIY folder.
(Recycled) Paper Flower Making
Make them for gifts or decoration. Bonus points for using paper from
the recycle bin!
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AGNES SCOTT ECO HOUSE 2013-2014
Trip to the Decatur Farmer’s Market
Address:
Walk together and take reusable shopping bags!
Open House
Idea!
Garden Party
Play music, make green mocktails, and have a
flower-shaped cookie decorating station for your
guests.
DIY Laundry Detergent
Concoct a dye-free, powerful detergent that is cheaper and more
environmentally friendly than the store-bought stuff. Use the recipe in
the DIY folder and prepare to “wow” your guests with how easy and
inexpensive it is make! P.S. It smells great and gets your clothes super
clean!
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AGNES SCOTT ECO HOUSE 2013-2014
SPARC
In the spring, each theme house is required to present what they have
learned in their new environment in the form of a poster at SPARC.
From the beginning of your time in the house, you should start
documenting your progress with implementing the new equipment and
making lifestyle changes. Here are some things you should do to make
the poster writing even easier when it’s time to submit.
 Create a Google Doc at the beginning of the year to write a
small description for each of your events. Share the link with
all of the housemates. Be sure to include how many attendees
you had at the event.
 Take pictures of your programs, the raised beds, different
equipment in the house and add them to the Google Doc.
 Split up the duties for making the poster: Who will design it?
Who will write the abstract? Who will compile the information
for the poster? Who will communicate with the SPARC
committee?
 Get someone to take a group shot of all of the housemates
(wear your Eco House t-shirts!) so that everyone is represented
on the poster.
 At least 2-3 people will have to “woman” the poster during the
poster session on the day of SPARC. Once you know which
housemates are presenting their personal work, create a
schedule.
 Data is very important! Send out a survey to your housemates
with how many loads of laundry they did each week, how long
their showers were, how often do they carpool, etc.
 Bring your poster to the Office of Sustainability (BSC G08) at
the end of SPARC… we’ll proudly display it!
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AGNES SCOTT ECO HOUSE 2013-2014
The Residents’ Commitment to
Zero Waste
As a member of the Agnes Scott Eco House, I commit to learning
healthy habits of reusing, repurposing, and recycling the resources that I
use in the house and on campus. By living in the house I will serve as an
example of how to conserve water, energy, paper, and gas. I have read
the Eco House Zero Waste Plan and the Resident’s Guide to Zero Waste
& Living Sustainably and commit to making changes to my own habits
as well as the habits of others.
Signatures of all the house residents:
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AGNES SCOTT ECO HOUSE 2013-2014