Marie-Eve Thérien
Day and night, a Physical Resources Service team roams the halls and roads of campus. Their purpose? To clean up… while recycling.
The University has already had a string of successes when it comes to sustainable development. For example, it has the lowest greenhouse gas emissions per student of any comprehensive campus in Canada (CSA Volunteer Challenger Registry Report© on Greenhouse Gas Emissions, 2007). Also, eight out of ten members of the University community use sustainable transportation options to travel to campus.
Recycling really took off on campus with the arrival of recycling bins in 1992. And according to Jonathan Rausseo, the University’s sustainable development coordinator, two major trends have taken shape since in waste management. Since 1988, there has been a reduction in the volume of waste and an increase in the volume of recycled material.
“Recycling is an environmental symbol,” says Jonathan Rausseo. “The more visual clues there are for recycling on campus, the more students and other members of the University community are aware of the good work that the University is already doing in recycling and the faster the recycling bins fill up. We have a good recycling program, but we can do even better.”
The University currently has close to 3,000 bins, including those that are beside employee workstations. Next September, the University will add 200 recycling counters like those found in the Desmarais Building. Counters will include bins for glass, plastic and metal. “In the short term, we want recycling bins alongside every garbage bin, Jonathan Rausseo explains. “We also want recycling counters in every building. People should pass at least one recycling bin before leaving a building.”
Claire Nadon, housekeeping and site supervisor with the Physical Resources Service, is also in a position to see the efforts of employees and students in recycling. “We collect around a ton of recyclable material per week,” she says. “It depends on the time of year, but for example, in September, when students are back, we can collect much more.”
“We have to do even better,” Jonathan Rausseo says. “We have to look at the contamination of material, particularly paper. Too often, people throw a full paper coffee cup into the recycling bins. The coffee contaminates the paper that is already in the bin and we can’t recycle it. So we have to be more careful if we want to recycle more.”
Composting is another project for redirecting waste. “We would like to launch a composting pilot project in residences and in the cafeteria for the beginning of the 2008 academic year.” Claire Nadon confirms that the University is already doing vermicomposting on a small scale—that’s composting using earth worms. Last year’s harvest provided 150 pounds of decomposed material to spread on the University’s plant beds.
According to Jonathan Rausseo, we have to continue to perfect the recycling system on campus. That means more bins, more posters, a better sorting system, more composting and an even greater awareness in the University community.
For further information on the University’s Sustainable Development Program, please contact Jonathan Rausseo.
