2017 Waste Audit
We conducted our third annual Waste Audit (AKA: Garbage on the Green) on October 18, 2017. In the past two audits, we were able to identify key factors within the audit that we wanted to focus our attention on:
- In 2015, we identified that many plastics were going into the garbage, and subsequently introduced a new recycling program to the organization to allow for the collection of mixed recycling. This was a success, reducing the amount of mixed recycling going into the garbage by 25%, and increasing the overall user compliance.
- In 2016, we identified that the amount of organic (compostable) material going into the garbage had increased, and we worked hard to implement a new Sustainable Waste Station system across the Chilliwack and Abbotsford campuses to counter this. These new systems provide users with the opportunity to dispose of waste into any of these four streams: Landfill, Refundable Beverage Containers, Mixed Recycling, or Organics.
In 2017, we audited all four of the waste streams that are now being collected on campus, whereas in years past we were only auditing the Landfill stream.
As you can see, the cumulative waste on campus was comprised of the following:
Over half of our campus waste is not going to the landfill!
The unique waste streams were all audited separately, and will continue to be in future years.
The full report can be accessed here: 2017 Waste Audit.
Waste Audit 2016
As a continuation of the trajectory toward sustainable waste management at UFV, our second annual waste audit occurred on October 6th, 2016. Considering the event had to be postponed for a week due to a power outage, then experienced pouring rain on the revised day, it was nothing short of a brilliant success. Over 20 students, staff, and faculty braved the elements, donned ponchos and gloves, and sifted through trash for the better part of a day. From the year prior, we saw a 25% improvement in compliance (from 20% to 25%), with the main area of improvement being in recycling. This was likely due to the mixed recycling program that had been introduced after the 2015 waste audit. This program allows users to recycle more materials, as well as receive better education on what can be recycled.
The key issue that needs to be addressed from this waste audit is that of compost. The percentage of compostable materials in the garbage from this audit actually increased from 2015 from 47% to 52%, which is likely due to an increase in compostable materials on campus. This comes on the heels of the introduction of a new food service provider, Dana Hospitality, which has taken many initiatives to serve all food out of disposable compostable containers. This finding has solidified efforts by SustainableUFV to prioritize the full restructuring of waste collection at UFV.
A new waste collection plan has been drafted, and the summer of 2017 will see the initial implementation of this audit, with two waste audits planned, one at the beginning of the roll-out, and a second audit after significant education and training has been afforded to the end-users. For more information on the plan we have developed a short presentation (link below) outlining the what, when, where and how.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh0xx17FcUg
Waste Audit 2015
UFV's first waste audit was held on October 7, 2015. 364 pounds of waste was hauled onto the green and sorted into 13 categories of diversion.
Sorting the waste on a rainy day
We found that approximately 28% of the material was actually true waste, while 72% of it was either compostable or recyclable. Check out this blog post for more information: http://blogs.ufv.ca/science/2015/10/19/ufvs-first-ever-garbage-audit-produced-some-interesting-results/
True waste on the left, recycling and composting on the right
How can you help? Take a few extra seconds when putting your waste away to ensure it is going in the right bin. We are always looking for volunteers to waste chaperone and make sure that students know how to use our compost and recycling bins.
We'd like to set institutional goals on waste diversion and continue waste auditing every year, making sure we focus on areas that need help.
Thank you to all our fantastic volunteers who braved the weather and contributed to this awesome event!
