James Campbell: January's Sustainability Champion

This month's Sustainability Champion is James Campbell. James is the custodial supervisor responsible for driving forward Rethink Waste efforts around campus to help the University meet its goal of 75% waste diversion by 2025. Read about everything that recycling at UR involves and how this job has changed James's understanding of sustainability in our full interview with him below. 

What roles have you worked at the University and what does your current job involve?
I have worked here for three years. During that time I've worked as a custodian, and auxiliary custodian, a custodial support technician, and currently I'm a custodial supervisor. As a custodial supervisor, I'm in charge of a team focused on recycling. We have one staff member totally devoted to recycling and two support technicians that help out with things like special events. Personally, I am responsible for supervising rolling out and maintaining Rethink Waste rooms and bins around campus, I do regular walk-throughs of buildings to make sure bins and signage are in the right place, I oversee ordering and delivering all the supplies that custodians use, I help coordinate support for Rethink Waste events, and I'm the point of contact between campus and Goodwill when the University has items to donate. 

How does sustainability play a role in your job?
Presently in my role, I'm coordinating a lot of donations and I'm always looking for ways to reduce waste, reuse, and recycle. I frequently work with faculty and staff to donate or recycle specialty items and I think it's very interesting and exciting to find a place for those things to go. Last summer, for example, we sent a trailer full of books from Boatwright Library to Goodwill. Later we got to tour the Goodwill facility and see the positive impact our donations were having on the community- Richmond Public School teachers were there and were able to select books for their classrooms out of some of the ones we had donated. We also donate a lot of things like leftover t-shirts from offices and events, furniture from around campus, and of course items that students want to donate during move-out.  

What part do you play in supporting move-out and Rethink Waste events?
My goal is to be a resource for every event possible. When we collect donations for the Big Yard Sale during move-out, my team places containers for donations in the residence halls and transports all the donated items to a central location. During other special events, like the Rethink Waste Basketball Game that's coming up, we gather all the bins and equipment needed and set it up in each location. We also coordinate composting when it's needed for an event. I always want to help improve waste minimization and reduce contamination at Rethink Waste events. 

What are some recycling challenges you see on campus?
The biggest challenge I see is contamination in recycling. The Rethink Waste rollout efforts — the new bins, the better signage, the training — have made a positive impact that I'm really excited about. But a lot of cups, chip bags, napkins, and paper towels still end up in the wrong bin. Our custodians look at every bag they pick up and they're trained to put recylables in a landfill bag if there's contamination. There's no way to take on this battle aside from continued education, and I know we need to be patient as we roll out new bins. I'm very optimistic that we will continue to improve so that we meet our waste diversion goal. Events like the Rethink Waste Basketball Game are a great educational opportunity. Every time I do my rounds I can see that recycling in our different buildings is improving. The biggest thing is for people to know where it goes when they're throwing an item away. 

What's the most interesting part of your job?
I love helping with specialty items that we donate. I also love going to different areas and seeing how we're improving with recycling and seeing how our staff are improving with handling recycling. I think people are learning more and thinking more about what they're recycling on campus. I'm very excited to be here at UR and partnering with Sustainability is a dream come true. My hope is to continue to grow, develop, and learn as Custodial Services and Sustainability work together. I'm always thinking about our 75% waste diversion goal and I think that goal has given us the opportunity to focus more since we all want to achieve it. 

How does sustainability impact your life outside of work?
This job has definitely changed my way of thinking. Since I've been here, I recycle more, I donate more, I think more about each of my purchases and the items I'm using. This position has made me more aware of so many things that I didn't pay attention to before. Now I think about  things like reducing water use, getting reusable items like metal straws, and saving energy by switching out light bulbs and making sure lights are turned off when I'm not home. I've learned that it only takes a couple minutes to make a better decision when you're throwing an item away, and I think recycling and sustainability can promote a better way of life.