The University of Pittsburgh is proud to participate in Campus Sustainability Month throughout October! Every year, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) hosts this event to celebrate higher education sustainability achievements and raise awareness of the value of sustainable initiatives in higher education.
This year, we're highlighting some of our waste diversion initiatives. We'll spotlight a few of Pitt's many recycling streams, ways to compost on campus, and upcoming events happening over the next month.
Reducing Waste at Pitt
The University of Pittsburgh began recycling in 1990 and our goal is to reduce landfill waste 25% from 2017 levels by 2030. Beyond single stream recycling and compost, Pitt offers specialty recycling for everything from batteries and electronics to textiles and lab plastics, giving the whole campus community more ways to keep materials out of the landfill.
Composting Food Waste
Since 2010, composting has expanded to more than 20 buildings across campus, all of which accept any kind of food waste and additional compostable materials. You can find the full list of buildings collecting compostables here. Rather than disposing of organic materials in landfills, composting is an innovative method of breaking them down into a rich fertilizer and reducing methane gas production.
Pitt also addresses food waste produced by its dining halls with two anaerobic organic recycling units, launched by Ecotone Renewables, located at Posvar Hall and Sutherland Hall. These systems use anaerobic microbes to digest food and other organic materials into nutrient-rich fertilizer, contributing to the University's broader waste reduction goals.
Recovering Surplus Food
Since 2014, student organization Food Recovery Heroes has recovered surplus food from Pitt dining halls and local restaurants, redistributing it through Pitt Pantry and community partners, like Jubilee Soup Kitchen and Street Medicine at Pitt. The group recently expanded to UPMC Presbyterian, now diverting about 200 pounds of food per month from the hospital. To date, Food Recovery Heroes has recovered over 300,000 pounds of food for food insecure students and community members.
Shrinking Our Paper Footprint
Pitt has tracked paper purchasing in its annual Greenhouse Gas inventories since 2008. Thanks to a University-wide shift to digital work and a recent printer right-sizing effort, paper purchases have dropped by 76 to 84% each year since FY19, taking paper's share of Pitt's carbon footprint from 1.14% in FY17 to just 0.13% in FY25. Pitt also rolled out a secure print release system, Uniflow, so departments can track and manage their own printing trends going forward.
Recycling Electronics
In Pennsylvania, it's illegal to throw electronics in the trash, since e-waste in landfills can leach toxic heavy metals like lithium, mercury, and lead into groundwater and soil. Pitt Surplus collects, repurposes, and recycles discarded electronics from across campus, diverting more than 31 tons of e-waste from landfills in FY26. Faculty, staff, and students can drop off small electronics at locations across campus, or arrange a pickup of University-related e-waste.
How We Track Our Waste Diversion
All of Pitt's waste diversion initiatives work to progress the University towards its carbon neutrality goals: reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50% from the 2008 baseline by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2037. For FY25, 167,192 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents were associated with the University's Pittsburgh campus, 38.8% below the FY08 baseline. This data, summarized in Pitt's 11th Greenhouse Gas Inventory, proves that Pitt remains on track to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030.
You can track this progress on Pitt's interactive Sustainability Dashboards, which include detailed views of landfilled materials, recycled materials, organics recycling, and renewable electricity.
Campus Sustainability Month Events
Upcycled Tee-Shirts
Through October 31
Front Desk, University Club
Brew & Bloom
Through October 31
Cafe 1923
From Tear to Flair: Visible Mending
Thursday, October 1 | 3:30 – 5pm
University Store on Fifth, C4C: The Workshop
Student Office of Sustainability First Thursday
Thursday, October 1 | 8 – 10pm
William Pitt Union, 548
2026 Day of Caring
Friday, October 2 | 10am – 2pm
Throughout Pittsburgh
Campus Birding Walks with Audubon Western PA
Monday, October 5 and Sunday, October 18 | 4 – 5:30 pm
Panther Hollow Parking Lot 2
How to Grow Your Green Lab
Tuesday, October 6 | 12 – 1pm
Virtual
How to Grow Your Green Office
Tuesday, October 13 | 12 – 1pm
Virtual
Sustainable Trivia
Tuesday, October 13
College Room, University Club
Soergel Field Trip (UClub Members Only)
Thursday, October 15 | 10 am – 12 pm
Soergel's Orchard
Planetary Health Day: Building Better Brains
Friday, October 16 | 11 am – 4 pm
Alan Magee Scaife Hall
Campus Sustainability Tour
Tuesday, October 20 | 12:30 – 1:30 pm
153 Benedum Hall
Autumn Harvest Dinner
Tuesday, October 20 | 6 pm
Fraternity Grill, University Club
Wellness Wednesday with the Student Office of Sustainability: Waste Reduction and Wellbeing
Wednesday, October 21 | 9 am – 11 pm
William Pitt Union, 510
Pitt Climate Action Town Hall
Wednesday, October 21 | 7 – 8 pm
Nordy's Place, William Pitt Union
Garden Party with the Student Office of Sustainability
Friday, October 23 | 12 – 3 pm
William Pitt Union, 510
Climate Change, Quilting, and PittCAP Connections
Friday, October 23 | 12 – 4pm
102 Benedum Hall
The What, Why & How of Pitt's Greenhouse Gas Inventory
Friday, October 23 | 2 – 4 pm
102 Benedum Hall
Fall Colors Campus Tree Walk
Wednesday, October 28 | 1 – 2 pm
Cathedral of Learning, Back Patio
Thriftsburgh Halloween Event
Friday, October 30 | 12 – 3 pm
William Pitt Union, Dining Room
The Green Beneath Our Feet: Pitt's Hidden Stormwater & Cooling Network
Friday, October 30 | 2 – 4 pm
Benedum Hall