Editor’s note: Letters to the Editor reflect the opinions, concerns and views of University of Wisconsin-Madison students. As such, the information presented may or may not be accurate. Letters to the Editor do not reflect the editorial views or opinions of The Daily Cardinal.
Dear editor,
I am writing to express my concerns about the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s problem of residence hall move-out waste and the university’s inability to form a campus sustainability committee for all university housing. At the end of every school year, the dumpsters outside the dorms are filled with many reusable items that end up in landfills. This waste harms the environment and represents a missed opportunity to help others in the community.
UW-Madison presently has 21 residence halls, which house around 8,000 undergraduate students. Of those 21 residence halls, only 12 contributed to a sustainable move-out action plan that kept 97,000 pounds of materials out of landfills. We need all the residence halls to participate in the program for that number to increase.
UW-Madison needs to prioritize sustainability over more trash in landfills. The solution is simple: all residence halls must follow sustainability committee guidelines. By doing this, our campus can continue to move forward as a place of discovery and knowledge.
Yours sincerely,
Jared Gonzales
Editor’s note: This article was updated on Thursday, July 13, at 5:11 p.m. to add an editor’s note to the beginning of the article.
