WILMINGTON, N.C. — The Environmental Protection Agency says that a single American creates about five pounds of waste per day. At the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW), there are over 17,000 students, which means that nearly 85,000 pounds of trash can be created each day.

That’s why UNCW is working to reduce that number and even hoping to produce zero waste in the future by recycling, composting and more. It’s a goal that’s within reach.

At a recent month long electronics recycling event, the school had a goal of collecting 15,000 pounds of waste. They greatly surpassed that goal and collected nearly 25,000 pounds of old electronics.

It’s an initiative that the students have really embraced. 

“People are asking more and more for composting whether that’s in their residence halls or just at lunch,” said Kat Pohlman, the chief sustainability officer at UNCW. “So now the students have really taken over and started their own program to help composting everyday at lunch time and we’re just hoping that it grows from there.”

With more and more students opting in on going green, that goal of zero waste seems doable.

One of those student is Avery Owen, a sustainability peer educator at UNCW. She’s been helping with the Race to Zero Waste program and piloted the Seahawks Compost Program, which offers a compostable collection four days a week. Her efforts have helped the school collect nearly 250 tons of compostable waste, saving the weight of about 150 cars going into landfills.

“Diverting that from the landfills to a place where it can return to the earth or return to a garden and contribute to these biological systems is something really great and green to do,” said Owen. “And plus, it’s just really fun.”

A major part of the program's success is how the campus community has embraced it.

“It’s really such a great community of people who are really interested in keeping the environment at the forefront of concerns at UNCW,” Avery said. “Since we are a coastal university, we do have a unique responsibility to keep in mind the health of the planet and the health of the ocean.”

Sustainability efforts on the campus don’t stop with recycling and composting. UCNW is also hosting a three week long closet clean out event that will start Wednesday, April 28.