After three consecutive major weekends at Ohio University – Homecoming, Halloween and Dad’s Weekend – trash has piled up across campus, worsened by seasonal winds that scatter litter throughout the area.
Steve Mack, Executive Director of Facilities Management, said OU has increased the number of outdoor trash and recycling receptacles in recent years. Facilities staff also perform daily litter pickups to prevent waste from accumulating.
“During major campus events, our Zero Waste and Recycling department will place additional temporary trash and recycling receptacles to help mitigate any additional waste during these high-traffic periods,” Mack wrote in an email. “If needed, we will also schedule additional staff to perform litter pickups following these events to help keep our campus clean.”
Despite those measures, trash cans across campus overflow with Earl’s Coop takeout containers and other waste, and the addition of Raising Cane’s on Court Street seems to be contributing to the litter.
Kati Zonner, a sophomore studying outdoor recreation and education, said she has noticed overflowing trash cans and litter on campus.
“I noticed right after Cane's opened how much trash there was from it, filling up already overflowing trash cans, and people littering it on the streets, and abandoning cups,” Zonner wrote in an email.
Zonner said litter also collects near residence halls, where trash cans are limited.
OU identifies sustainability as a core goal. The university’s Sustainability and Climate Action Plan focuses on waste management and aims to increase the diversion of waste from landfills to reuse, recycling and composting.
In all buildings on campus, trash is collected once a day and recycling is collected three times a week, except in Parks Hall on West Green, where the recycling is collected daily.
Outdoor trash cans are also emptied daily, but with winds also picking up, trash left outside the cans gets blown into roads and walkways.
“Regarding our roadways, the City of Athens handles all of our campus and local community’s street cleaning needs across both City-owned and University-owned roadways,” Mack wrote in an email.
The Sustainability and Climate Action Plan, approved in 2021, outlines ways for OU to be more sustainable and eco-friendly. The university has been able to institute initiatives, such as the Ohio University Compost Facility and Campus Recycling and Zero Waste.
However, Mack encouraged students to report areas where waste accumulates.
“We are always open to suggestions on where additional units, collection sites or when increased pick-up times may be needed,” Mack wrote in an email.
Zonner suggested the university add more trash cans, particularly in high-traffic areas and near residence halls.
“It is impossible to find a trash can on East Green besides at the bottom of Morton Hill,” Zonner wrote in an email.
OU’s sustainability efforts also include reducing carbon emissions and improving air quality.
“We have transitioned many of the hand tools and vehicles utilized by our Grounds and Maintenance crews to electric, and we will continue to look for innovative opportunities to further expand our growing portfolio of sustainable resources,” Mack wrote in an email.
Despite those steps, students say more needs to be done.
“Trash on campus is frustrating, especially with OU being the #1 green campus in Ohio,” Zonner wrote in an email. “They need to do better.”
