DePaul Facility Operations changed office cleaning routines across campus over the summer. The new policy reduces general office and cubicle cleaning from twice a week to once a week. Individual trash cans in faculty and staff offices and cubicles also have been removed. 

DePaul officials say these changes are part of an effort to create a more sustainable campus, save money and reduce use of trash bags.

Cutting back “not only leads to small but meaningful wins for the environment, but also conserves financial resources,” said DePaul’s director of facility operations Josh Siegal.

In a letter to faculty and staff this summer, DePaul Facility Operations stated the decision to remove individual trash bins from offices will reduce the use of trash bags by 250,000 per year. Faculty and staff may submit a work order if additional cleaning is needed between weekly services. 

Community feedback seeking more on-campus sustainability led to the recent changes. During a Climate Action Plan listening session last academic year, speakers said cutting back on trash bins and cleaning is a common practice in modern offices.

Faculty and staff on campus are most affected by the changes, given their use of offices. 

Some employees are all for the new policy. Christie Klimas, a DePaul professor and chair of the environmental science and studies department, said she has not experienced any change in her work environment since the switch to once-a-week cleaning. She supports the removal of trash bins in offices because of the reduction in plastic bag waste.

“I was an enthusiastic advocate for removing trash bins from offices,” Klimas told The DePaulia in an email. “Trash bins have plastic bag liners, and these are changed (thrown out), sometimes even when there is no trash in the bin.”

But others — like Paul Booth, associate dean of student affairs and engagement in the College of Communication  — aren’t sure all the changes make sense. 

“When there’s no place to put trash, you either have to stand up and walk to the main lobby trash can every time you need to throw something away, or you have to keep little piles of trash in your office like a raccoon,” Booth said in an email to The DePaulia. “It’s unsightly and not what, for instance, I want students to see when they come to my office.”

Because recycling containers remain in the offices, Booth has seen some staff and faculty just using those as trash cans. 

“I support only having people clean out the rooms once a week,” Booth said. “What I don’t find realistic or functional is the idea that I can’t be trusted to empty my own trash can. And, it seems more wasteful to throw away perfectly useful items like trash cans, which doesn’t save us any money.”

These changes are one of the ways DePaul aims to cut costs and boost sustainability efforts on campus. Siegal noted in an email that the average landfill diversion rate at DePaul is more than 40%, meaning nearly half of the university’s waste is diverted from landfills. The President’s Sustainability Committee at DePaul also aims to implement environmental changes across campus and the broader community. 

Evelyn Ashburner, a student member of the committee, said she wants more focus on educating the campus community on how to properly dispose of waste. Specifically, she’d like the university to make time in Discover Chicago classes for incoming freshmen to learn how to properly recycle and compost on campus.

“In my eyes, everyone knows how to throw trash in trash bins,” Ashburner said. “People don’t know how to recycle.”

Ashburner also supports the initiative to reduce personal trash cans to consolidate waste. Since trash is now being disposed of in larger bins, she said, it’s crucial to think about reducing trash overall.

“It’s less about where you’re putting the trash cans and more about if you’re being mindful of the waste you’re creating,” she said.

Klimas, who is one of the faculty members on the President’s Sustainability Committee, said she also would like to see the centralized waste stations on each floor that incorporate a composting option for food waste.

Siegal said the university will look for more ways to trim costs and increase sustainability, which he said is consistent with DePaul’s Vincentian mission. 

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