An average student will produce 294kg of trash in one year. Even in a small college this number has large consequences.
If we use Fleming College as an example, we can estimate that with 21,000 students the potential waste will equal to almost 6.1 million kg of trash. Can you imagine what a larger university would create or even, all the universities and colleges combined in just Ontario?
This waste, in most cases, will find its way into a landfill where it spends decades breaking down while more waste is added until the capacity of the site is full. This is a very old form of waste disposal and yet is still very commonly used. It is and never was a sustainable method of waste management and unfortunately, we can’t change this until we change how we buy, use and dispose of items in our daily lives.
Yes, we have recycling and the general idea of “reduce, reuse, recycle” is common knowledge. However, how often are these practices used and with what frequency?
Recycling has been the default that has given people an excuse to minimize change. While recycling is technically better than nothing, we also need to understand the process of recycling, and the “sustainability” of the act in order to see how much it helps.
Generally, the items that can be recycled are certain types of plastics such as water bottles, paper, cardboard, tin cans etc. These items will be shipped off to a factory to make new products out of old ones. This method is only useful to a certain extent as it is estimated that certain materials can only be recycled up to seven times before they eventually end up in the landfill. In addition, due to improper recycling and failure to clean out products before disposal, items also become un-recyclable, soon finding their way to a landfill.
There seems to be a disconnect between people and products. We have created a veil between us and what happens because our of choices. We forget that each coffee cup we purchase from the café is unrecyclable because of the inner plastic lining and we don’t realize when we order pizza, the cardboard box is unrecyclable due to left over pizza grease.
So where are the solutions? Where can students, schools and businesses change their individual waste input? The truth is, the solutions are endless, and they are right at our fingertips. It is just a matter of taking responsibility and making the change. Zero wastes initiatives should be introduced into every household, businesses and school to get people involved and educated in the “zero waste movement.”
Frost Campus at Fleming College has created great initiatives by offering options to mitigate the use of single-use plastic along with various events talking about sustainability and waste management. These same practices should be implemented everywhere in society with passionate people to fuel them – people like young, passionate students.
By pushing goals of proper composting, banning single-use plastics and replacing them with reusable kitchen ware, creating give away markets with donated or unwanted items, and creating events to educate employees on the principles behind reusing and reducing, organizations can greatly reduce their own impact.
Individually we can also make small changes every day. We can start by buying more bulk food and not buying excessively packaged items. We can mitigate the use of coffee cups by bringing reusable mugs everywhere we go. When getting takeout, when you can, bring your own re-useable containers with you. In terms of health and hygiene, use more bar soap and try to reduce the amount of product you buy in plastic bottles. In the end, your body doesn’t need that much extra product. If anything, it thrives more with less.
You can also take further initiative by just getting educated. Go to events, read books and talk to people. Get other people interested. Get excited. Finally, just buy less. You will find that you don’t need that extra shirt from H&M made with polyester and plastic-based materials.
We need to look at waste filling up our planet and its ecosystems as a national threat and start finding ways to involve people to combat it. As much as its up to the individual to make small changes, larger changes will happen when organizations create opportunities for people to learn and get involved. Also, when the consumer stops buying plastic-packaged goods, companies will be forced to think of new solutions to sell their product.
Change is still possible and it’s on the way. We can make the idea of reusing, reducing and proper and perfect recycling the most common and easiest practice. We can push harder and shout louder for a sustainable initiative in our schools, homes, businesses and communities. In the same way the use of small single-use products led to a global waste management crisis, small changes with how we use items and dispose of them can also create positive global change.
Emily Hall was born and raised in Guelph and is in her third year of the ecosystem management technology program at Sir Sandford Fleming College.