Operating a campus necessarily comes with an environmental impact from the everyday use of buildings and resources. The more than 2,600 daily users of our campus create 800 tons of waste each year and reducing our total waste by at least 20% is a key goal in our Campus Sustainability Plan. Here’s how you can help us get there.

Recycle on Campus

Recycling can be confusing because what is accepted varies between areas. Connecticut College follows the same recycling guidelines as the City of New London and collects “single-stream” recycling where paper, plastics and other recyclables are all mixed together. Reducing contamination is key to making recycling successful, so please make sure to follow the guidelines shown below. 

Recycle (blue bins w/ paper liners):

recycle
  • Paper (office paper, newspaper, magazines, notepads, post-its, books)
  • Rigid plastic containers (plastic bottles and jugs)
    • Emptied and rinsed
    • Leave caps on bottles 
  • Cardboard and paperboard
    • Please flatten boxes before putting them in the bins
  • Aluminum (cans and foil)
  • Steel and tin cans
  • Glass

Trash (gray bins with plastic liners):

Trash Guidelines
  • Hot coffee cups
  • Chip bags and food wrappers
  • Styrofoam
  • Plastic straws and silverware
  • Food (outside of Harris and JA dining halls)
  • Plastic film (bags, wrap)

E-Waste (green cabinets in Cro, Shain and Cummings):

  • Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFLs) and LEDs 
  • Batteries
    • Tape the end of all batteries that are NOT alkaline
  • Printer ink cartridges 
    • College-purchased toner cartridges should be returned to Kyocera through the Print Shop
  • Small electronics

Questions about specific items? Visit Recycle CT.

 

Donate to Give ‘N Go

At the end of each academic year, you can donate clothing, household goods, kitchen supplies, bedding, furniture and appliances to Give ‘N Go. Donation boxes are set up in house common rooms from the last day of classes until Commencement. You can place small items into the boxes, and large items into the designated area next to the boxes. Give ‘N Go is a partnership with the United Way of Southeastern Connecticut and Safe Futures. Many items are donated to local community organizations through two agency days held in May. Items particularly useful to first-year students are stored for a low-price “yard sale” for students during orientation. Each year we collect over 11,000 lbs of donations.