Reducing Dordt College’s Environmental Footprint

As part of its December service project, Dordt College, located in Sioux Center, Iowa, is ramping up the school’s recycling efforts by purchasing recycling bins that can be placed around campus.

The goal of this project is to “reduce Dordt’s environmental footprint,” according to Renee Ewald, student at Dordt and chair of the college’s Sustainability Committee. She sees opportunity to reduce the amount of recycling by half. “Right now, approximately 50 percent of Dordt’s waste could be recycled and we want to bring that down to 25 percent,” she said.

Dordt College administration has put more than $10,000 into the recycling infrastructure on campus. Ewald said that the college has also started an “institutional committee” that will continue to work on the impact that Dordt has on the environment and work towards a more “green future.”

Ewald says that the Sustainability Committee decided to do this project because “Dordt does not have a great system for recycling and students do not use what is available. By doing this as the December service project we were able to reach all of campus and emphasize the fact that protecting the earth is what God calls us to do as Christians.”