Welcome to Talking Trash, a new series uncovering the hidden journey of post-consumer waste at Middlebury. From food scraps and compost to recyclables and landfill-bound trash, we’ll trace the path of discarded waste after it leaves the hands of our community, revealing the impact of our waste habits and the systems managing them.
As the academic year comes to a close, the student body begins to pack up and head home for the summer. But each year as people take their belongings with them, many things inevitably get left behind.
The Middlebury Sustainability Solutions Lab tries to minimize the negative effects of move-out week, and student interns are working on waste management projects throughout campus to neutralize the college’s environmental impact. The lab’s main focus during move-out week is to communicate with students and the administration.
This past summer, our basement flooded. We had rented a house with five friends here in Middlebury, and were looking forward to Vermont’s sunny days, swimming holes, cookouts and hikes in the woods. Instead, we were met with wildfire smoke, monthslong rainfall and flooding. Carrying wet, moldy furniture up and out of the swamped basement to a nearby dumpster, we wondered — “Is this what it means to live in a climate crisis?”
As a month-long celebration of Earth Day, Middlebury Athletics took on the “Green Initiative,” a sustainability challenge spearheaded by the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). The program harnesses the competitive spirit of Middlebury’s student-athletes, who have battled this month to see who can pick up the most trash on campus, or which team can get the “perfect sort” of collected waste. More notably, each team has brought their own unique angle to sustainability.
Educational Integration, Justice
Terry Tempest Williams, celebrated author, naturalist, and social justice advocate, will give the 2024 Middlebury College Commencement address on Sunday, May 26.
From Facilities Services to Environmental Affairs at Franklin Environmental Center to the architects designing our new buildings, people across campus have been working toward energy conservation. This behind the scenes work is one of the four core pillars of Energy 2028, Middlebury’s sustainability initiative. Among other goals, the college is seeking a 25% reduction in energy usage on the core campus by 2028 and 100% renewable energy sourcing by 2028.
Educational Integration, Justice
Middlebury recently participated in Worldwide Climate and Justice Education Week, a global initiative of hundreds of educational institutions around the world that encouraged conversations about climate change and justice across college campuses.
The initiative at Middlebury included a teach-in during classes, climate-oriented events at the Knoll, a talk on climate anxiety and the Holistic Future Circles series.
100% Renewable Energy, Educational Integration
Vermont isn’t what we think it is. At least, Vermont isn’t the place I thought it was or the place many of my peers think it to be. Coming to Vermont as a student from the Midwest, I was eager to become immersed in the land of politicians like Bernie Sanders, activist companies like Ben and Jerry’s and values of environmentalism and justice. These, along with maple syrup, mountains and cows, are the basic traits of the Vermont stereotype and likely are some of the things that drew many students to Middlebury. In fact, a key pillar of the admissions info session I attended back in the summer of 2019 was that a prospective student could not understand the college without understanding the context of the wonderful state in which it exists.
Educational Integration, Justice
Members of Middlebury’s Sunday Night Environmental Group (SNEG) held an Empower Vermont event in conjunction with 350Vermont, a climate justice non-profit organization based in Burlington, Vt., on Tuesday, Dec. 5 in Axinn 229.
350Vermont, founded by Schumann Distinguished Scholar of Environmental Studies Bill McKibben and a group of Middlebury students in 2007, was the first global grassroots climate campaign. The organization works toward climate solutions by running campaigns and workshops throughout the state, according to its website.
