Join us for The Loop’s Grand Opening on August 30th 11-6pm.
The Loop is GW’s free clothing exchange store on the Mount Vernon Campus, located in Academic Building Room 122. All clothing, shoes, and accessories are completely free for the GW community. Bring your clothing donations and exchange those old items in your wardrobe that no longer spark joy for a brand new-to-you outfit. Exchange is encouraged but not required. Click here for more information!
Fall 2024 hours to be announced soon.
A few weeks ago, GW Sustainability hosted their annual reuse market. Organized during move-in week each year, the Reuse Market redistributes student donations collected during the previous semester’s Green Move-Out and makes dormitory essentials items and desk organizers available at no cost to students in an open-air market setting. This year’s event served 750 students and kept almost 8,000 pounds of materials out of landfills!
The Office of Sustainability is pleased to share that in Fiscal Year 2024, the university diverted 27% of the total waste generated from landfill through recycling, composting, reuse, and donation. This represents a 7% increase in diversion from the previous year, marking an important step forward in GW’s pursuit of Zero Waste. This progress was made possible through the combined efforts of many university partners, with special thanks to Dining, Custodial, Grounds, and Transportation staff. Every individual involved in waste management made valuable contributions, and together, our efforts have achieved results worth celebrating.
Here’s how we got there:
We appreciate the ongoing commitment and collaboration that contributed to this achievement and look forward to continuing our efforts to improve GW’s waste diversion rate!
Join DSO’s Office of Sustainability on August 19 on U-Yard from 4 to 7 PM for their second annual REUSE MARKET!!! Last year’s Reuse Market was a HUGE success (shoppers scored some amazingly unique items) and we hope you can join us again this year to promote a culture of reuse and circularity on our campus!
Just like last year, everything at the Reuse Market is FREE and made possible thanks to your Green Move Out donations!!!
Composting on Campus: Visit GW’s new smart compost bin!
You may have noticed a new giant green bin in Kogan Plaza 
Sustainability is excited to announce that they have a new mobile app-enabled compost bin in Kogan Plaza (the first of its kind in all of DC!) allowing you to drop off compost at your convenience!
Click here to download the MetroSTOR app and get composting! You now have the chance to be your own compost educator: ensure that you double check your compost and avoid any contamination such as rubber bands, produce stickers, and other non-compostable items. Happy composting! 
Be sure to subscribe to the compost newsletter to stay updated on all announcements regarding the MetroSTOR bin and composting programs! If you need any assistance or have any questions about the new bin, please reach out to Sustainability via email (sustain@gwu.edu) or Instagram DM (@sustainablegw).
Check out the Sustainability website for composting tips and resources. Use this form to request composting services at on-campus events.
All GW staff and faculty are welcome to join Sustainability for a day of sustainable shopping at The Loop, GW’s free clothing exchange! At our thrift store, all clothing, shoes, and accessories are completely free for the GW community. Bring clothing donations and exchange them for a brand new-to-you outfit! The Loop is located on the Mount Vernon Campus, in Academic Building Room 122.
Interested in getting more involved with sustainability at GW? Stop by between 10-11am today to learn more about the Green Office Network, our office certification program and network of sustainability-minded GW staff!
Thurston Hall has been awarded LEED platinum certification and GW Today is all over this tremendous achievement. As our chief news source explains, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a widely used rating system to recognize “green” building. Check out the article for quotes from our very own Director of Sustainability Josh Lasky and Assistant Vice President for Construction Management and Campus Planning Adam Aaronson.
Josh Lasky:
“When I lived in Thurston, it was a much different space,” Lasky said. “I’m a little jealous that students today have such an incredible living environment to enjoy in one of the most progressively designed green buildings in the District of Columbia.”
Adam Aaronson:
“Being able to achieve the energy savings while reusing an existing historic structure is certainly a challenge. And the team really rose to the challenge. This really took the collective effort of the design team, the construction team and all of the dozens of people at GW that were involved.”
Recycling centers are raising their standards for the quality and cleanliness of the recyclable materials that are being processed at their facilities. Increasingly, truck loads of recycling that our drivers have brought for these facilities have been “downgraded” due to high levels of contamination with non-recyclables like trash and food waste. These downgraded truckloads are sent entirely to landfill, meaning we do not get credit for the effort our community members and staff took to sort and separate recyclables.
To increase the amount of recycling on campus and bring us closer to our Zero Waste goals, Colin O’Brien and the Sustainability Office are offering three simple tips. Read on below or watch the video!
Do Recycle: Clean and dry paper, cardboard, hard plastics, metal and glass.
Do not recycle: Thin plastic films, including chip bags and snack wrappers, styrofoam, small plastic items like straws and disposable utensils, and/or any recyclable materials that are contaminated with food waste residue.
Black bags will be considered trash at the Recycling Facility regardless of their contents. If there are too many black liners in a recycling compactor, the entire load can be downgraded and sent to landfill. Keeping black bags out of recycling receptacles increases our chances of a successful load.
Therefore: If you are lining a recycling bin, always use a clear bag.
If you are unloading a recycling bin that has been lined by another staff member with a black bag, remove those items from the bag and place in a clear liner before depositing in a recycling dumpster or compactor.
The presence of food waste or liquids in an otherwise clean load of recycling can cause it to be rejected and sent to landfill. If you encounter a recycling bag that contains clearly visible food or liquids, follow the rule of “when in doubt, throw it out.”
Questions? Feel free to email Colin and he’ll fill you in!
