Closing the Loop on Campus Waste

Written By: Erin Kelly and Rachel Kent, Program Assistant and Coordinator for the Dartmouth Sustainability Office

Photo Credit: Tobin Yates 25'

College campuses have a STUFF problem. Of course, as any college is a microcosm of the broader world around us, much of this is reflective of national trends of over-consumption and disposability. But, the constant turnover at universities can exacerbate these patterns as students take off-terms or graduate and no longer need their items. In the Sustainability Office, we’re hard at work trying to prevent items like bikes, clothing, and dorm goods getting tossed to the curb—but it’s not just about reducing the amount of waste Dartmouth sends to the landfill. Instead, we aim to close the loop, redistributing goods on campus to promote equity, and fostering a strong sense of community dedicated to sustainability action while we’re at it. And, in training student interns to actively manage and design solutions for sustainability systems, we’re hoping to shift our campus culture toward circularity, too, and encourage more students to think critically about consumption, reuse, and redistribution. Both the Free Market Thrift Store and Dartmouth Bikes exemplify our multi-solving approach to Dartmouth’s materials and waste systems. 

The notion of circularity is best seen when peering into the basement of Massachusetts Hall where the Sustainability Free Market Thrift Store is situated. Here, students and staff from all parts of campus can dispose of no longer needed clothing or miscellaneous household items. What began as a SAPling (Sustainability Action Program) first year project, became a movement in creating a circular textile economy on campus, that also generates mutual aid to those in need. Knowing the historic winter chill of the Upper Valley the Free Market team, comprising of Roan Wade 25', Isabelle Sullivan 26' and Kevin Engel 27', have made the market a hub for those that need access to warmer winter clothing and bedding. The past two winters, the students have prioritized keeping layerable clothing in the exposed hallway outside the locked portions of the store. This allows for students to both drop off and take what they need during non-open hours. Interlocutors on campus, such as the Guarini Institute for International Travel, OPAL, and the Student Wellness Center, have expressed how Free Market has meant a great deal to their students and their programs' missions to support waste reduction, as well as mutual aid to those that need it. Creating a road map for a closed system of waste has also had great impacts on our first generation student population, who have also reached out in gratitude for the abundance of items they otherwise would not have access to.

Dartmouth Bikes, our student-run bike repair and resale program, also puts circular materials and waste management into practice. Student mechanics maintain a fleet of bikes to rent or buy, collect and fix up abandoned bikes on campus—thereby diverting them from the landfill—and host pop-up bike shops to tune up students’ rides. In order to increase financial accessibility, First-Year Student Enrichment Program (FYSEP) students get priority access to bikes, and students on financial aid can rent bikes for half-price—no questions asked. Each winter, current team members host a mechanics course to train the next generation of Bikes interns to keep our community’s bikes on the road. 

In addition to fixing up bikes, mechanics seek to improve bike transit systemically. Members like Rai-Ching Yu ‘27 work hand in hand with local committees including Sustainable Hanover and Hanover Bike Walk to make Dartmouth and its surrounds more bike friendly, further encouraging sustainable transportation. After several years of troubleshooting rusty chains, Bond Almand ‘26 is collaborating with Dartmouth Campus Planning to map out existing bike infrastructure and strategize for improvements, like sheltered bike racks, that would protect bikes from the oft-inhospitable elements of Hanover. 

But perhaps one of the greatest strengths of the Bikes Program is the sense of camaraderie present among Bikes interns. Bikes Team meetings are always punctuated by a constant stream of laughter and jokes, and the interstitial moments between bike repair appointments are often where the magic of belonging happens. Additionally, the peer-to-peer mentorship integral to the mechanics training workshops fosters strong bonds across class years. Ultimately, the Bikes Team’s shared sense of purpose—reducing bike waste and increasing access to affordable, sustainable transportation across campus—has proven to be a strong unifier and foundation for a vibrant community within our broader intern and sustainability community. 

The Bikes and Free Market programs allow for our students to see tangible, in-person, reduction of waste, while providing services to their fellow peers. As collaborative long-term projects have impacts long past the lives of the students that work within them. The labor of love from our students and our sustainability team for stewarding them, does not go unnoticed in the momentum of sustainability change happening here on campus today!