The Sustainability Service Corps is a group of undergrads working with the Yale Office of Sustainability to reduce Yale’s environmental footprint from the bottom up. Trumbull’s Sustainability Coordinator is Parker Chang ‘25 . Feel free to contact him with any sustainability questions or ideas.
Q: What is sustainability, and why should I adopt more sustainable practices?
A: To quote the EPA, Sustainability creates and maintains the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations. But the simplest answer is, it’s just practical! Most often, sustainability doesn’t mean cutting back, it means reducing the amount of energy, food, and resources we waste, all while saving Yale money.
What’s Trumbull Doing? What can I do?
Trumbull dining hall was one of the first at Yale to go almost completely trayless. Along with the compost bin next to the dish return, trayless dining helps reduce waste and save Yale Dining money, so it can offer even more delicious meals than it had before. But sustainability matters all across Trumbull. SSC is developing initiatives for the whole College, from the buttery to the library, but here are some opportunities you can take advantage of right now:
The most important things you can do right are 1) to recycle your paper, glass bottles, cans, or plastic cups and bottles, in the big blue bin provided to each suite (not in the bathroom trash cans!) and 2) unplug your phone charger, microwave, and any other large appliances when you’re not using them. Just about anything without a physical on/off switch will keep sucking up useless energy even if it looks like it’s turned off!
Eli Exchange is a program through which Trumbullians can leave gently used clothing (no socks or underwear, please!) in a specially marked cubby in the laundry room. These clothes are then absolutely free to take. Those left will be donated at the end of the year.
Got ink cartridges, phone batteries, or other electronic waste? Return it in the Technoscrap Bin on the publications shelf outside the dining hall, so it can be disposed of safely.
If you like saving cold hard cash money, remember to use double-sided printing with the computer cluster printer. Double-sided printing costs 40% less than single-sided!