Villanova’s Student Sustainability Committee is making strides toward a greener campus

From thrift stores to zero-waste events, Villanova’s SSC is focused on reducing waste.

At Villanova University, students are taking the lead in promoting sustainability through the Student Sustainability Committee (SSC), an extension of the university’s Sustainable Leadership Council. The SSC provides students the opportunity to drive sustainability initiatives and waste reduction projects across campus.

Lily Herron and Colleen Stroud, both Villanova seniors, have been involved with the SSC since their freshman year after meeting at an orientation event.

One of the most popular SSC initiatives is the Wildcat Thrift, a pop-up thrift store held once a semester. Students and organizations sell clothes, helping to reduce the waste stream while promoting a circular economy.

“It’s a great way to reduce the amount of clothes being put into the waste stream and promote a circular economy,” said Herron. Stroud also sees the event as a community builder, as students will come from across campus to exchange clothes with each other, “It’s in the middle of campus, so everyone gets excited at the idea of not wasting clothes.”

Herron also highlighted an upcoming initiative to build on the Wildcat Thrift’s success: a donation station in the university library’s basement, where students can get clothes, furniture, and other items for free.

In the past year, the SSC has led efforts to improve Villanova’s recycling program after a switch to a new vendor. “Now we can recycle more items, like plastic wrap and food packages,” Stroud said. Additionally, a new recycling search engine helps students learn how to dispose of waste properly.

The SSC also wants to increase the frequency of zero-waste events after a successful launch last year during NOVAdance, a 12-hour marathon to raise funds for pediatric cancer. The SSC helped divert 97% of the event’s waste to trash, recycling, compost, or liquid waste, making it qualified as a zero-waste success.

“When we weighed the trash and found out the exact proportions of everything we saved, it was monumental,” said Stroud. “It gives me a lot of hope for events we can do in the future.”

Despite improvements to sustainability on campus, there are still roadblocks, like securing funding for uniform waste signage to clearly outline where to dispose of waste and bringing new bin sets with labels for recycling and compost.

“It’s tough to sell the idea of spending money on trash bins,” explained Herron.

Despite their obstacles, Herron, Stroud, and the SSC continue to set an example for how other universities can continue to practice sustainability.