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Clean Up the Dorm Kitchens
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Many people use the kitchens during the school year, and everyone is forced to during the summer. As with any heavily-used public space, things become a bit messy. We wanted to encourage and enable students to be better stewards of this important shared space; here are a few ways we came up with to move toward that goal.
Many people use the kitchens during the school year, and everyone is forced to during the summer. As with any heavily-used public space, things become a bit messy. We wanted to encourage and enable students to be better stewards of this important shared space; here are a few ways we came up with to move toward that goal.
Dish Towels
From the first day in East Hall for the summer, it was clear that the kitchen was seriously in need of dish towels. As it was, people had two options: leave dishes in the drying rack and return later (unlikely) or dry the dishes with paper towels (unsustainable). To fix the resulting massive pile of dishes, we acquired dish towels and a towel rack; this caused the number of dishes that actually made it back to the shelves to rise sharply. To further encourage ownership of kitchen cleanliness, we also put a volunteer sheet for washing the towels up on the pantry door. People who already intend to do laundry can grab the dirty towels as well and sign off that they have them, making an important and visible contribution to maintaining this shared space.
Compost Bins
At Olin, all pre-consumer food waste from the Dining Hall is composted and used in a campus garden. We want to extend this practice to the dorms. Dorm composting has been tried before, but never caught on due to poor labeling and lack of education. We placed an airtight bucket (pictured at right) beneath the counter by the sink in the East Hall kitchen. We hope this bucket catches attention, as it does not look like a trash bin, so it cannot be confused for garbage. In addition to this placement, we have placed a sign above the bucket, showing a simple picture list of what can and cannot be placed in the bin. Attached to the bucket is a second sign, clarifying the types of food that can be composted, including examples. Each week, we weigh the bucket for our records and then carry it to the compost heap (on the Parcel B access road by the fields). Hopefully we will have a second bucket in the West Hall kitchen soon. We'll need volunteers to help us empty the bins in the future, so if you're interested in helping out, contact us right away!