Laura Eggertson
When Jonathan Rausseo takes on a job, he gives it his all. That’s why, if you’re looking for the University’s sustainable development coordinator over the next few weeks, chances are you’ll find him stuffed head first in a garbage bin.
No, it’s not because Rausseo has angered any pro-development lobby. Rausseo, who has just completed his first year on the job, is combing through garbage to find out how much recyclable waste students and staff throw out.
He won’t be alone. Rausseo has a keen group of student volunteers donning latex gloves to help him audit waste.
“People love crawling through garbage for some reason,” he says cheerfully. “I can’t explain it.”
Rausseo is auditing waste to figure out why people are throwing out recyclable materials. He wants to increase the amount of waste the University diverts from landfill.
Currently, Rausseo calculates that about 50 per cent of what goes into garbage bins on campus should be recycled. His goal is to get the University to recycle 80 per cent of its waste.
What concerns Rausseo most is that the cans and plastic bottles that were clogging the waste bins of the offices he audited, are items that should go in the recycling box. He recognizes that part of the challenge is the lack of awareness that many University buildings have large recycling centres, including containers for plastics, metals and batteries.
The University’s challenge, he says, is to change the culture on campus so that students and staff alike make recycling automatic. Victor Simon, vice-president of resources, agrees that attitude is the biggest problem Rausseo faces.
“If we can sensitize our staff and our students, then that’s the most important dimension of this for all of us,” says Simon.
Rausseo wants to start his campaign by putting more recycling bins outdoors. He’ll work with individual departments, to encourage them to purchase smaller garbage cans and larger recycling bins for their offices, so people won’t stuff their garbage cans full of recyclable materials.
People are driven by convenience, Rausseo says. “If you make recycling the easiest thing for people to do, then that’s what they’ll do.”
In addition, he plans a general awareness campaign, using signs and highly visible audits – like one conducted in the cafeteria, as students were eating, to show them how much they use Styrofoam and other material that can’t be recycled.
With a growing sensitivity to environmental issues, many staff members are committed to recycling and actively look for opportunities to reduce waste and energy use on campus. Students also generally support Rausseo’s agenda. Many have let him know they are upset that the University doesn’t recycle or compost more, he says. “They do it at home and they’re used to it, and they feel frustrated,” Rausseo says.
One of the residence buildings — Brooks — has started a composting program. Rausseo hopes to increase that program, which would divert 15 to 20 per cent of all the waste the University generates. He’d also like to find ways to recycle the furniture and clothing that fill dumpsters at the end of the year when students move out. In the process, he’ll have to overcome challenges like the liability issues that keep the University from giving away its appliances when it upgrades residence rooms.
Ideally, Rausseo would like to see the University adopt a zero waste system, where everything that can’t be recycled is re-used.
Victor Simon believes Rausseo’s energy and commitment will go a long way to influencing the 6,800 staff and, in particular, the 34,000 students on campus. Once the “Sustainability Guy” gets through with them, “these are 34,000 future citizens who will be sensitive to sustainable development and environmental issues,” says Simon.
If you have any questions or suggestions about recycling on campus, contact Jonathan Rausseo at jrausseo@uOttawa.ca.
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