Reduce, reuse, Recycle-Mania
illustration by Devin Beauregard
Annual waste-awareness event aims to reduce campus garbage
SPRINGTIME BEING THE season of renewal, it seems altogether fitting that the University of Ottawa will participate in efforts to make campus waste useful again. Recycle-Mania, a 10-week competition between over 250 schools from Canada and the United States, began on Jan. 15 and will conclude on March 15 with a number of events promoting a greener campus and reduced waste.
In its first year participating in Recycle-Mania last year, the U of O placed 14th internationally among over 250 universities and colleges in the United States and Canada for waste minimization. This year, the battle to reduce garbage continued as organizers built on the gains from awareness events in 2009.
“People would be surprised how much waste they still produce and how much they throw out on a daily basis,” explained Brigitte Morin, U of O waste diversion and recycling coordinator. She pointed out that, last year, enough waste was monitored over the course of the event to have filled the Desmarais building three times.
“Often it is a pretty easy thing to do to be more waste-free and to do things which cut down waste, like using less paper and doing things electronically, for example,” she said.
Among the initiatives to reduce waste and improve environmental practices on campus this year are new composting efforts in the two major campus cafeterias at SITE and the Unicentre. Every week, U of O sustainable development coordinator Jonathan Rausseo monitors the amount of food and materials now being composted from the two locations. He estimates that 400 pounds of food is recycled each day, which translates into about one metric tonne of food per week that would have otherwise gone into the garbage.
Rausseo also noted that Chartwells Food Services has switched its plates and utensils to renewable plastic material, which can now be composted. While there are some logistical issues in terms of reminding students what items can and cannot be composted and recycled, Rausseo said many more items are being saved for reuse compared to last year.
Efforts to recycle have been made in other areas of campus as well. Rausseo explained that his group is particularly proud of addressing “e-waste” or electronic waste, including leftover computer equipment from faculty offices, which needs a proper outlet for disposal.
Overall, the objective of the campaign is to make students more aware of how much waste is created unnecessarily, according to Morin.
A number of events will take place in the coming weeks to promote waste reduction. These will include a thematic movie night on March 8 in the Unicentre couch lounge, where waste documentaries like Oliver Hodge’s “Garbage Warrior” and Andrew Nisker’s “Garbage! The Revolution” will be screened. There will also be “free stores” on March 8 and March 24 in the Unicentre, where students and faculty can bring materials they would otherwise throw out and freely exchange them for other items people have left behind.
A bottled water exhibit to promote the preservation of public drinking water and awareness of the practices of the bottled water industry will take place March 11 in the Unicentre, run by the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO). To further their efforts, none of the SFUO businesses or campus Food Services outlets will sell bottled water on March 11.
For more information about Recycle-Mania and other U of O green initiatives, check out www.sustainable.uottawa.ca.
