TAKIN’ OUT THE TRASH
Taking Western from one Zero Waste building to a Zero Waste Campus
GETTING THE WORD OUT Summer interns take the
sustainability message to the rest of campus. Facilities Management’s co-op students, Stefanie De Adder and Katie Wall worked together this summer to promote environmental sustainability on campus. They developed a Sustainability at Western presentation and poster that can be presented to a wide number of audiences in the Western community. The presentation aims to communicate information about global environmental issues, as well as sustainability practices and resources at Western. The presentation highlights the importance of energy and water conservation, as well as sustainable waste management practices. It also outlines Western’s initiatives including the installation of efficient lighting, low flow shower heads and faucets, water bottle filling stations, and new multi-stream waste bins that give everyone the opportunity to recycle on campus. Stefanie and Katie can be seen at a number of events on campus, displaying their poster and engaging the community in sustainability activities. One of their favourite activities is a sorting challenge that encourages participants to sort items into the correct recycling bins under a time constraint. “Everyone has a lot of fun doing the challenge and they learn a lot about sorting waste at Western,” Katie commented, “A lot of people don’t know that batteries, electronic waste, and ink and toner cartridges can be recycled at Recycling Stations on every floor of most buildings.” Katie and Stefanie will be working with Facilities Management for the Fall 2012 semester and are hoping to provide a number of outreach programs in the community. If you are hosting an event and would like to see a presentation on sustainability at Western, contact Katie Wall at kwall9@uwo.ca or at extension 80530 on campus for more information.
This past summer, Facilities Management welcomed two new temporary employees; Stefanie De Adder and Katie Wall began their co-op placement for their Masters of Environment and Sustainability program in May, taking on the roles of Environmental Project Coordinators. One of their primary tasks this summer was to develop a Zero Waste Action Plan for the university. In order for Western to become a Zero Waste University, its staff, students and faculty must successfully divert 90% or more of the waste generated on campus from the landfill, either through recycling or composting. In order to reach this goal, the Action Plan was created to identify key areas in which Western’s waste diversion practices are currently lacking, and how they can improve. For example, the signage describing proper recycling on campus was out of date and unclear, leading to the disposal of many recyclables into the landfill stream. Stefanie and Katie worked to completely overhaul the Green Boards on campus this summer, redesigning signage and providing information and tips on proper waste diversion at Western. Some other ways in which the Zero Waste Action Plan will be implemented is through information sessions about recycling and composting, the distribution of a Zero Waste Checklist, and potentially through the integration of campus-wide composting in the future.