Chulalongkorn University Promotes Waste Reduction with its Freshmen 

During this year’s CU 109 Freshmen Welcome Activity, Chulalongkorn University has implemented waste management practices to engage new students in university waste reduction activities and instill environmental consciousness through freshman orientation activities. The activity received overwhelming cooperation from new students across various faculties. 

Starting with the CU First Date event on Saturday, July 19, 2025, in addition to having waste sorting stations, there were also “Green Guides” or familiar waste disposal advisors, which are typically featured in almost every student activity. The Green Guides help guide students to correctly sort waste according to Chulalongkorn University’s waste management system. 

The Environment and Sustainability Division of the Student Government of Chulalongkorn University aimed for “reduction at source” by providing reusable cups for vendors at the event to sell beverages instead of using single-use disposable cups. This practice was implemented through a Deposit Return System (DRS) and helped ensure that used containers are returned to the system for cleaning and continuous reuse. 

Additionally, beverage vendors were prohibited from using single-use disposable cups, with reusable cups provided by the event organizers. When vendors sold beverages, they had to charge an additional container fee along with the beverage price while communicating that the deposit would be refunded when containers were returned at collection points. These points were located in the same area as waste sorting stations to make it easier to empty beverages before receiving the refund. This change, though seemingly minor, helped reduce single-use disposable waste by as much as 1,432 pieces* (cups and lids). The waste sorting system within the event enabled 50.9% of waste to be separated for beneficial reuse. 

For the Freshmen Festival 2025 on August 1-3, 2025, the organizer focused on reducing waste at the source by treating new students to meals within the cafeteria and organizing communal-style food serving from large pots instead of distributing traditional boxed meals. Although this couldn’t be implemented 100% due to the inconvenience for some houses, they managed to change from plastic boxed meals to meals on plates for as many as 5,415 plates. If the old plastic boxed meal system had still been used, there would have been as many as 21,660 pieces of single-use disposable waste (calculated from 1 meal including rice box, lid, spoon, and fork). 

In addition to reducing single-use plastic waste from boxed meals, many houses in the Freshmen Festival also used 2,075 reusable cups (the same type as in the CU First Date event) in this activity, along with 1,881 water bottles supported by the Physical Resources Management of Chulalongkorn University. As another way to conserve resources, the free bottles were distributed to students who really needed them through pre-registration, unlike in previous years when they were given to all students. Besides reducing waste at source, each house’s activities included waste separation by category according to Chulalongkorn University’s guidelines, enabling the Freshmen Festival 2025 to achieve 67% waste separation for beneficial reuse. 

The new student orientation activities serve as a good starting point for new students to live an environmentally friendly lifestyle, which will inspire students to reduce waste from various activities throughout their time within the Chulalongkorn University campus. 

(Information from Chula Zero Waste) 

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