July 17, 2009
Caitlin Olauson, a student intern with the Office of Sustainability, helps sort the recyclables, compostables and one bag of trash after the annual employee picnic.
FMD
The amount of waste generated at the President’s annual employee appreciation picnic has been drastically reduced over the past three years, but according to Kelly Goyer, waste prevention co-ordinator, there was plenty of room for improvement.
“In 2007 there was no recycling or sorting of any kind,” said Goyer. “Over the past three years we’ve tracked this event for waste prevention and we’ve made phenomenal progress.”
Facilities Management Division (FMD) and Food Services employees and volunteers set up recycling, composting and waste stations around the Bowl during the picnic on June 17 to help people sort their waste from compostable and recyclable materials.
This year, only one bag (19 lbs) of garbage was produced and the majority of that was from plastic food wrapping, contaminated compostable material and condiment food packets. About 216 lbs of garbage was produced in 2007 and that number dropped to 40 lbs in 2008.
Next year, Goyer says the goal is zero waste – a goal that other Canadian campuses are already reaching for with their events.
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