waste diversion

Sustainability at the ‘Shoe

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OSU Sustainability Specialist talks on SWACO podcast

The Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO)’s WastEd podcast featured The Ohio State University’s Environmental Sustainability Specialist (and Green Team ERG Advisor) Cecil Okotah, to discuss how the university practices environmental stewardship at the Horseshoe.

 The Zero Waste initiative started in 2011 and has grown exponentially since then. Game days are filled with prominently displayed zero-waste stations and recyclable or compostable food ware. A new edition was installed in 2024 to further implement recognizable zero-waste bins in the club spaces. This campaign aims to divert 90% of the waste created during game day from the landfill.

Thank you, Cecil for everything you do to promote sustainability at OSU!

 Click HERE to listen to the full podcast episode! 

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Looking for more sustainable tips during football season? Check out these tips from SWACO:

Free Curbside Composting Pilot

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The Compost Exchange in Columbus will be launching a FREE pilot program for the Clintonville, Olde Towne East, Westrville, Powell, and Delaware Neighborhoods. The program includes free four week curbside pickup for composting material!

This program will run from Sept 22 through the week of Oct 27.

Service includes:

  • Weekly pickup at your service address.
  • One (1) 5-gallon container with airtight lid.
  • Fresh compostable liners provided each week.
  • Free compost for your garden each year.

Pilot details:

  • This is a free trial program starting on September 23rd, 2025 and lasting for four (4) weeks.
  • You will automatically be billed after the pilot ends on October 28th at the rate of $23/month.
  • You can cancel anytime during the pilot, and we will collect your bucket on the next service day.

The Compost Exchange will continue it’s program for drop-off through this pilot if you are not in one of these neighborhoods.

Sign up before Sept 21 for the Fall Pilot Programs in your neighborhood.

Learn How to Divert Items from the Landfill

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Office Cleanouts with Facilities Operations and Development make a sustainable difference

In 2024, the Recycling and Refuse Services team helped divert more than six tons of hard cover books from the landfill through our hard cover book recycling program, thanks in large part to faculty and staff who reached out during office cleanouts.

These cleanouts provide an excellent opportunity to responsibly recycle large volumes of materials that accumulate over time. Whether you’re moving offices, clearing out storage, or just doing a bit of spring, or (fall) cleaning, Ohio State’s Zero Waste team is here to help make your efforts more sustainable.

Planning an Office Cleanout? Here’s How We Can Help:

If you’re preparing for a cleanout – big or small – contact the Recycling and Refuse Services at recycle@osu.edu to request additional recycling and disposal capacity. They can provide extra containers for collecting recyclable items and coordinate pickups to keep your workspace clear.

Commonly recycled items from cleanouts include:

  • Office paper and file folders
  • Soft cover and hard cover books
  • Cardboard
  • Magazines and journals
  • Certain office supplies and packaging

By working together, we can ensure that reusable and recyclable materials stay out of the landfill.

To request support for your cleanout, contact recycle@osu.edu.

Let’s build on last year’s success and make this year even more impactful!

More Information and Resources

Local Bench Creator Featured on Podcast

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Meet the creator of Marble Plastics who built our Earth Day Park benches from donated plastics that you provided!

Hopefully, you have heard of Earth Day Park by now. This park was created as a green space on the medical campus for everyone to enjoy. (Read more here.)

The Green Team ERG has been requesting the donation of #6 plastics to help local sustainable businessman Joseph Klatt create beautiful furniture pieces through his company Marble Plastics. You can see his benches at Earth Day Park made entirely from hard to recycle plastics.

Recently, Joseph Klatt was featured on the local SWACO podcast WastEd, a monthly waste and recycling education podcast. In this episode Joseph talks about the process of turning discarded materials into stunning countertops, furniture and building materials.

The Green Team ERG is so proud to partner with this company and showcase their creations on campus.

Listen to the full podcast.

CFAES August Tip: Keeping It “Fresh” All Year Long

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College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences shares tips on food preservation

With the summer comes gardens flourishing with fresh produce. It can be difficult to keep up with the harvest, resulting in unpicked veggies going to waste. A wonderful way to prevent such food waste and to enjoy the fruits, or vegetables, of our labor all year long is to preserve them. There are multiple food preservation techniques that are suitable for even the novice.

The College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) shares some of the most popular food preservation techniques including canning, freezing, and other tips to keep food fresh. 

Check out the full blog here. 

Live Healthy Live Well and subscribe for more great tips and articles!

Original Article

Written by: Jennifer Little, Extension Educator, Family and Consumer Sciences and Elizabeth Burkhalter, Dietetic Intern, OSU Extension, Hancock County.

Reviewed by: Shari Gallup, Assistant Professor, Family and Consumer Sciences, OSU Extension, Licking County

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Donate Your Trash to a Summer Camp

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Combine Zero Waste with helping kids. Donate the following items to help summer camp kids build robots!

  • Cylindrical Oatmeal or similar boxes
  • Coffee cans
  • Wrapping paper tubes
  • Paper towel tubes
  • Cardboard boxes that are roughly cubic and smaller than a cubic foot
  • Scrap fabric ( like, a yard or more)
  • Fake fur
  • Feathers
  • Craft supplies your kids no longer use
  • Building kits your kids no longer use, such as erector sets, Lincoln logs, and similar- great for building rigid robot frames
  • Styrofoam balls, Ping-Pong balls, or any other type small balls
  • Tissue paper

 

Things that are NOT needed:

  • Popsicle sticks
  • Toilet paper tubes

Contact Betty Lise Anderson with questions and drop off information.

Betty Lise Anderson, PhD,  Professor and Associate Chair
Electrical and Computer Engineering
205 Dreese Laboratory | 2015 Neil Avenue Columbus, OH 43210
614-292-1323 Office | 614-292-7596 Fax
anderson.67@osu.edu

Donate Your Live-Cut Christmas Trees to Build Habitat for Wildlife

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After the holidays, live-cut Christmas trees can be repurposed as habitat for various species of animals, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. Before you discard your tree, remember that it can find life after the holidays for Ohio’s birds, fish, mammals, and more.

Each winter, recycled live-cut Christmas trees are donated to the Division of Wildlife and placed at select wildlife areas and public lakes around Ohio. The trees are bundled together and weighed down so they sink to the bottom of lakes, attracting fish and providing cover. Many species are attracted to this dense cover, including crappie, bluegill, and largemouth bass.

An interactive lake map showing where trees are placed to attract fish is available at wildohio.gov and on the HuntFish OH mobile app.

Private pond owners may also want to consider repurposing trees to add habitat to their ponds.

A live-cut Christmas tree can also be recycled as the centerpiece of a wildlife-friendly brush pile. Place the tree in a desirable location and layer limbs around it in a square arrangement. Cover the top with additional brush to create a unique and valuable shelter for small animals.

Songbirds including cardinals, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, and wrens travel in and out of brush piles for food, nesting, and to escape predators. Small mammals such as rabbits and chipmunks also use brush piles for shelter and raising young. Brush piles are valuable shelter for overwintering insects like bees, moths, and butterflies, as well.

Live-cut Christmas trees are also useful as compost, mulch, and more.

Here are some options for your live-cut Christmas tree following the holidays:

Central Ohio

  • The Morrow County Soil and Water Conservation District accepts live-cut trees to benefit wildlife at the Headwaters Outdoor Education Center, 151 Home Road, Mount Gilead, until Jan. 20, 2025.

Northeast Ohio 

  • The Mahoning County Green Team accepts donated trees at designated drop-off sites until Jan. 31, 2025. The Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office Community Service Program collects and prepares trees to be used for fish and wildlife habitat in partnership with ODNR.

Southeast Ohio

  • The Athens-Hocking Solid Waste District will collect trees between now and January 22, 2025 at the Sutton Road Recycling Center (Logan), Southeast Ohio Recycling Terminal (The Plains), and Rural Action Zero Waste/Upcycle (Athens). The trees will be used for fish structure in coordination with ODNR.
  • City of Athens residents can arrange pickup on Tuesdays and Fridays through Jan. 31, 2025. Call the city at 740-592-3343 and leave undecorated trees on the curb. The trees will be used for fish structure.
  • City of Chillicothe residents can drop off trees at the Yoctangee Park Annex between now and January 24, 2025. The trees will be used for fish structure.
  • Lawrence County residents can drop their trees at designated locations for collection by Wayne National Forest staff. The trees will be used for wildlife structure.
  • Drop off trees at the park administrative office at Salt Fork State Park, 14755 Cadiz Road, Lore City, until Jan. 31, 2025.

Southwest Ohio

  • Drop off your undecorated tree at the North Pool Boat Ramp at Caesar Creek State Park, 8570 E. State Route 73, Waynesville, until Jan. 19, 2025. Trees are used to create fish habitat.
  • Eastwood MetroPark, 1401 Harshman Road, Dayton, accepts undecorated live trees until Jan. 28, 2025. Trees will be used as fish habitat in the lake.

Before repurposing or disposing of a live-cut Christmas tree, remember to remove all trimmings including tinsel, garland, lights, and ornaments as these can be harmful to the environment and wildlife. Please obtain proper permission before discarding your tree on public or private property. Discarding trees without permission could result in a litter violation.

Post-Holiday Cleanup with City of Columbus Convenience Centers

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When it’s out with the old and in with the new after the holidays, residents can use the City of Columbus Waste and Reuse Convenience Centers as a one-stop solution for environmentally friendly cleanup, reuse and recycling.

Residents may drop off a variety of items at the Convenience Centers, at 2100 Alum Creek Dr. and 1550 Georgesville Rd., for reuse, recycling, composting and proper disposal. After the holidays, households may have more trash, including cardboard and gift wrap, old electronics, bulk items and food scraps that don’t fit, or shouldn’t be disposed of, in their city refuse and recycling containers.

The Convenience Centers accept these items and more, including string lights, donated bicycles and gently used clothing and furniture for reuse. The centers are operated by the city’s Division of Refuse Collection, and staff is available to assist residents with proper sorting when they drop off items.

The city service diverts the amount of trash tonnage taken to the Franklin County Sanitary Landfill to help extend its life and support Columbus Climate Action Plan goals.

The Convenience Centers are open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. but will be closed on Christmas, Dec. 25, and on New Year’s Day, Jan. 1. Get more information here.

Refuse Collection also offers seven drop-off sites for food scraps composting collection that Columbus residents can access seven days a week, 24 hours a day. The designated outdoor collection containers are located at these city Recreation and Parks sites:

  • Bill McDonald Athletic Complex, 4990 Olentangy River Rd., 43214
  • Dodge Park and Community Center, 667 Sullivant Ave., 43215
  • Scioto Southland Park, 3901 Parsons Ave., 43207
  • Beatty Park and Community Center – 247 N. Ohio Ave., 43203
  • Northeast Park and Howard Community Center – 2505 Cassady Ave., 43219
  • Linden Park and Community Center – 1350 Briarwood Ave., 43211
  • Carriage Place Community Center – 4900 Sawmill Rd., 43235

Get more information about what you can drop off at the food scraps collection sites here.

Get WastED With SWACO

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SWACO has launched WastED, a waste and recycling podcast to give voice to many of the innovative sustainability and recycling initiatives taking place across central Ohio. By sharing these stories with listeners, we demystify the recycling process and build confidence in the recycling system.

This month’s episode includes guests from Rumpke Waste & Recycling and Coca-Cola Consolidated chatting about Ohio’s circular economy and what, exactly, happens after families put their metal cans and plastic bottles into their recycling bin each week.  Join the conversation. Download the podcast below or listen wherever you stream.  

City of Columbus Opens Four More Food Waste Drop-Off Sites for Residents’ Use

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The City of Columbus has opened four more community locations where residents can take food scraps for composting.

The Division of Refuse Collection services offer residents convenient, sustainable disposal options to divert these materials from the Franklin County landfill. The four new food scraps drop-off sites feature marked collection containers in outdoor enclosures at these Recreation and Parks locations:

  • Beatty Park and Community Center – 247 N. Ohio Ave., 43203
  • Northeast Park and Howard Community Center – 2505 Cassady Ave., 43219
  • Linden Park and Community Center – 1350 Briarwood Ave., 43211
  • Carriage Place Community Center – 4900 Sawmill Rd., 43235

“We are excited to expand accessible drop-off services in more neighborhoods throughout Columbus as residents look for options to sustainably dispose of food waste and divert it from the landfill,” said Mayor Andrew J. Ginther. “Expansion of residential services marks our commitment to meeting the city’s Climate Action Plan goals to reduce landfill waste and greenhouse gas emissions for a healthy, clean Columbus.”

The new drop-off sites build on the success of three food scraps locations launched in 2023 by Refuse Collection. Since then, residents’ usage at the Bill McDonald Athletic Complex, Dodge Park and Community Center, and Scioto Southland Park has diverted more than 100,000 pounds of food waste from the landfill.

Residents may also bring food scraps to Refuse Collection’s two drive-through Waste and Reuse Convenience Centers, at 2100 Alum Creek Dr., and the newly opened location at 1550 Georgesville Rd.

Visit columbus.gov/foodwaste to learn what food scraps items are accepted for drop-off.

*****To reduce contamination, pumpkins should not be dropped off at the city’s food waste sites.