Many students living in Complex have noticed that there is an excessive trash problem in their building. “It is very messy,” Drew Olmen, sophomore elementary education major, said about North Hall. “You just learn to work around it. Literally, after Saturday night, only two showers work because the rest are full of trash.”

“It’s not just a trash problem, it’s a messiness problem. I’ve heard complaints about Complex being messy, like toilet paper and paper towels all over the bathrooms,” Sophomore Communication Studies Major Stephanie Swanson said.

Student Senate was notified of this issue a few weeks ago and the Housing and Health Committee was put in charge of looking into the trash problem in Complex and other residence halls.

“It was brought up by a senator at the meeting and his main concern was based on tidiness and cleanliness. If the problem becomes too big, I’m sure there would be a bigger issue with the fire marshal,” she said.

“The concern is focused in North and Sorenson Halls because their trash is right by the emergency exits,” Housing and Health Committee Chair Erik Bryz-Gornia, junior chemistry major, said.

“Other Senators chimed in about potential trash problems around campus, so my committee was charged with looking into this,” Bryz-Gornia said.

“We haven’t done anything  yet because my committee has been focused on the tobacco policy,” Bryz-Gornia said, regarding the progress made on the issue.

Potential solutions to this problem include working with Residential Life to encourage students in Complex and other residence halls to properly dispose of their room’s garbage down the designated trash chutes.

“The problem is the chutes are often overlooked [by students],” Area Coordinator and Head Resident of Gibbs and North Hall Andy Hagen said. “And it’s a problem of habit. If students see others using the hall’s trash cans to put their room’s garbage in they think that’s what they’re supposed to do.”

According to Director of Residential Life, Charlie Potts, Gustavus currently doesn’t have a policy regarding proper trash disposal for dorm rooms. “In terms of policy, if someone does it we don’t have a consequence,” Potts said.

The Housing and Health Committee meets weekly and addresses a range of issues on campus, “It is kind of a broad spectrum, [the meetings] can encompass many things,” Bryz-Gornia said. “Two years ago the Housing and Health committee worked on changing the marijuana policy. It can be anything from marijuana policy and then disability access and the Residential Life open house where students can tour the dorms and apartments before registering for housing.”

One of the potential solutions that the Health and Housing Committee is considering is placing more trash cans where needed.

“The plan is to look into what  Residential Life, custodial and the Physical Plant’s policies on trash and trash disposal and if I can find them online, great, but if not I’ll meet with Charlie Potts and people from custodial or the physical plant and find out those things first,” Bryz-Gornia said. “If there isn’t a policy we need to look into it, and find other solutions. It could be a variation of things as simple as adding another trash can or recycling bin or hiring more custodians to go through that building,” Bryz-Gornia said.

Students have provided input about how to curb the problem as well.

“I think if we had a hand dryer in our bathroom that would help cut down on waste,” Swanson said.

“Just be responsible for your own stuff. The thing that makes me mad is people don’t clean up after themselves,” Olmen said.

Other students commented on the number of students living in Complex compared to other residence halls.

“[Norelius] has a ton of people, but it’s less people for one garbage,” Junior Biology and Scandinavian Studies Major  Dawn Comstocksaid.

“What’s hard is there’s almost 500 people in one building,” Swanson said. According to the statistics on the Residential Life homepage, the buildings that make up complex—Gibbs, Sorensen and North Halls—have the capacity to house a total of 460 students.

According to the Gustavus Adolphus College Physical Plant, our campus produced 335.28 tons of “campus waste” (waste from campus buildings and grounds) in 2008. Complete Trash and Recycling data can be found on the Physical Plant’s website at https://gustavus.edu/physicalplant/