The dumpsters near Ziv Quad have recently become a topic of contention between students and administration. On Tuesday, Sept. 6, residents of Ziv Quad, Ridgewood Quad, and Village received an email from Montana Epps, area coordinator of 567 South Street, Village, Ziv, and Ridgewood, with the subject reading: “Please Read: Dumpsters & Water Station Survey.” In the email, Epps expressed her frustration that students had left bags of garbage and recycling on the ground around the dumpsters rather than putting them in the dumpsters. “Rain, snow or shine, you are expected to place your trash inside the dumpsters and maintain a healthy living environment for yourself and your community,” she said, after noting that she was “deeply disappointed and frustrated.” 

The dumpsters in question sit behind Ziv 128; one is for garbage and the other is for recycling. Residents of Ziv, Ridgewood, and Village are expected to dispose of their trash and recycling in those two dumpsters; the nearest dumpsters after those are in the Theater Lot and by the Slosberg Music Center, but signs are hung up in the dorms instructing students to take their trash behind Ziv 128. The Department of Community Living declined to tell the Justice how many students live in those residence quads, but the dumpsters are designated for ten buildings in total: four in Ziv, three in Ridgewood, and three in Village.

In many buildings on campus, there are designated trash rooms for students to dispose of their trash, but they have all been locked since the pandemic began and have not been reopened. This has caused some students to assert that the Ziv dumpsters would not be constantly overflowing with trash bags if the trash rooms in each building were in use again. 

Epps warned the residents that individual residents will be charged by Community Living “for ‘community damages’ if trash and/or cleanliness become an issue,” which she informed students of at the beginning of the semester, according to the Sept. 6 email. DCL is currently monitoring the cleanliness of the area and will post “charges to individual accounts” if the problem persists. 

Dumpsters on campus are emptied a couple of times a week, but they tend to fill very quickly due to the number of students residing on campus during the school year. Some students have pointed out that trash ends up on the ground surrounding the dumpsters when there is no more room in them for additional trash. Because the Ziv dumpsters in particular collect the trash from several different buildings, residents of those buildings are unsure of where to put their trash when the dumpsters get full. 

-Editor's note, Editor Cameron Cushing '23 is a Community Advisor. He did not contribute to or edit this article.