Program on the Environment

The issue of waste has never been an equitable one. Through my work, I investigated the barriers that families living in multifamily (MF) residences face to accessing, understanding, utilizing, and affording composting services across Washington state. As populations continue growing, so does the amount of waste generated contributing to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from organic waste in landfills. The purpose of this study was to reveal what barriers MF residents face so that legislators will write policy and legislation that can remove the barriers discovered in this study. To discover what barriers exist, I worked with Zero Waste Washington, a non-profit working to eliminate waste and increase sustainability through systematic and policy change. I performed over 100 surveys asking MF residents about their experiences with composting, compiled an excel sheet collecting variance in composting services across counties in WA state, and performed a literature review exploring composting and its relevance to urban life in WA. This work revealed that the biggest barriers faced are education, contamination, MF buildings not subscribing to composting services, and equity issues. As the world continues to develop and populations rise, we must be mindful of GHGs and alter our waste systems to combat global climate change. Composting can reduce GHG emissions significantly, while increasing sustainability and contributing to a circular economy. In order to increase our rates of composting, we must mandate composting at a statewide level and address and resolve the inherent issues of injustice and accessibility in the system as it is today.