In an effort to save money and become more sustainable, all paper towels will be removed from the University’s residential hall bathrooms beginning next semester. The Recycling and Waste subcommittee of the Sustainability Advisory Group for Environmental Stewardship (SAGES) spearheaded the endeavor.
The University’s residential halls use 400 rolls of paper towels per month. Yearly, this corresponds to 727 miles of paper towels—the distance from Wesleyan to Montreal, and back. By removing paper towels from 167 bathrooms, the University will save approximately $20,580 per year, which could be redistributed to other programs around campus.
Over the next ten years, the University will eliminate 7,270 miles of paper towels from the waste stream and save approximately $205,800 from the operating budget.
During RecycleMania, sustainability interns Ali San Roman ’11 and Nora Christiani ’11 realized that something had to be done about the waste stream produced by students. Although the University was in the top ten for recycling numbers—the volume of recycled glass, metal, plastic, paper and cardboard—the University’s solid waste numbers were among the worst for amount of waste produced.
“What I’m trying to say is that if everyone thinks of their reduction collectively, it is a really significant reduction in Wesleyan’s solid waste,” San Roman said.
Not all students, however, are enthusiastic about the initiative.
“I can think of a lot of other things that the University can save money on that wouldn’t cause me to change my routine as much,” said Jed Rendelman ’12.
Students have also questioned the initiative based on their personal experiences with using hand towels in place of paper towels in dorms.
“I think that it’s a great idea but I know that in my bathroom now people also leave a bunch of hand towels,” said Rory Stamp ’12. “People in my hall were pretty upset that other people would use their towels.”
If the idea is met with significant resistance from students, paper towels will be reinstated in the spring term of next year. As a result, the dispensers will be left in place with signs explaining the removal.
Nevertheless, the Recycling and Waste subcommittee remains hopeful that students will be receptive to the idea.
“As with most sustainable changes, you have to expect some moaning and groaning because the change usually implies a change in convenience,” San Roman said. “I think after the initial annoyance wears off, it won’t be a big concern.”
Paper towels will remain in at least one location in each dorm, such as the kitchen or common area, so if a student needs paper towels they will be available.
“Weshop sells really good recycled paper towels that are way more absorbent than the ones we currently have in our residence hall restrooms,” San Roman said.
Currently, the sustainability interns are determining the best method for convincing the student body that this initiative is a good idea. Naturally, the environmental costs of using paper towels will be emphasized.
In a year of budgetary hardships and growing environmental concerns, an initiative that has the potential of reducing both waste and operational budget costs should be well received by many.
“I think the next logical step is if everyone brought their own cloth napkins to the dining halls,” Stamp said.