Waste Reduction

Waste Reduction is a key program of sustainability. Wants and needs for different objects should be carefully considered when buying something. The lifecycle of a product is something that should be well understood from producing to disposing.

Most of us were taught about the three R’s of sustainability when in primary school (reduce, reuse, recycle) but that has since expanded to five 5 R’s of sustainability (refuse, reduce, reuse, rot and recycle). We have worked hard to implement waste reduction programs to allow you to have an easier time being sustainable on campus. Here is a quick list of programs we have implemented to help students use the five R’s:

Refuse: We actively encourage students who are able to use reusable items whenever able and possible. The Laurier Bookstore offers stainless steel straw sets, travel mugs, and reusable bags so that the next time you are out and about you can refuse single-use plastics wherever you go.
Reduce: We have worked hard with Food Services to provide you with great Food and Drink Discounts to encourage you to be more sustainable. This includes a $0.40 discount for bringing your own mug to any food vendor location (save even more at Veritas! (link to Veritas)) and an awesome Eco-Container Program that allows you to reduce your environmental footprint.
Reuse: Following a successful pilot in 2018, we now offer you a Freestore all year round, full of gently used items donated by the Laurier community! This helps you reuse items rather than creating new waste, and it’s free!
Rot & 5. Recycle: We understand that not everything can be refused, reduced or reused so we have worked with Waste Management to provide you with organics and commingled recycling waste streams to allow you to properly dispose of the little waste that you do produce.

Organics

Did you know that when you send organic waste to the landfill it produces greenhouse gases, particularly methane, as it decomposes? Methane is 20 to 30 times more damaging to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. This is as a result of the decomposing organic scraps not being able to get enough oxygen in compacted landfills.

If you dispose of that same organic waste into the organic stream, decomposition generates carbon dioxide instead due to special treatment that allows it to decompose aerobically (decompose with oxygen). While harmful, carbon dioxide is significantly less damaging than methane and has the potential to then be absorbed by different plants and/or trees as a necessary nutrient. The compost can then also be used to provide nutrient-rich food for gardens and crops.

We offer organic waste streams in every building on campus and actively encourage you to consider where you are disposing of your organic waste before you throw it away!

Fun Fact: In 2014, there were over 162 composting facilities in Canada

Organics in Residence

Over the past several years we have been working to bring organics to Residence buildings at Laurier. As a result of a successful composting pilot in the 2018-2019 academic year in MacDonald House (a double dorm-style residence) and Leupold Residence (an all-female double dorm-style residence) we have worked with Residence and Facilities to provide organic infrastructure (i.e. bins) to several residences (Clara Conrad Hall and Bricker Residence) for the 2019-2020 academic year.

Accepted Items

Not Accepted Items

Move Out

The Move Out Program at Wilfrid Laurier University has operated for over 5 years and has successfully diverted over 25 tons of waste from landfill (which is the equivalent of four elephants in weight)!

During Winter Term exams, bins are placed in residence to collect four streams: e-waste, textiles, textbooks, and non-perishable food. These line up with the items that can be donated and recycled through our partnerships with the Waterloo Region Food Bank, Textbooks for Change, Tech Wreakers and Diabetes Canada. At the end of exams, members of the Sustainability Office team and volunteers go to each residence and bag and move the bins and items to the curb. The Grounds team then pick them up and move them to a warehouse. Once at the warehouse, the group works for a few days to sort and bag/box everything for the partners to then come to pick up.

We are proud of the success of the residence Move Out Program in the past few years and the amount of waste that we have diverted from landfill. With this success, the initiative was expanded last summer to include an August collection and a week-long Freestore Program for students as they return to campus.

Recycling Program

We get it, recycling can be really difficult to understand. Rules vary from region to region and with China taking less contaminated recycling now, knowing how to properly recycle and what can and cannot be recycled it may feel like an uphill battle.

At Laurier, we offer commingled recycling, which means all recyclable materials are mixed together in the same bin, collected and then sorted at a separate location. This makes it significantly easier to dispose of your recyclable materials while still helping to save the environment. However, even with commingled recycling, there is still important things to consider and follow to prevent contamination when purchasing or disposing of items.

Purchasing

The next time you go to the grocery store consider the items that you are putting in your cart.

Ask yourself: Is there a more sustainable option for this (i.e. can I find the same or similar product in a reusable container?) Could I purchase this elsewhere by bringing my own reusable container? (Zero Waste Bulk and Bulk Barn allow you to bring your own containers and avoid the fee of the container that is included in most pre-packaged products).

Disposal

When disposing of items, make sure to properly wash out all containers! Scrape out all organic waste that is left in the containers into the organics bin and rinse out containers before putting them in the recycling. Recyclables that are not properly rinsed out can contaminate recycling, cause a whole batch of recycling to go into the landfill!

Look at the recycling guides.On-campus, we work with a company called Waste Management to dispose of on-campus waste. We mainly recycle plastics 1-5 and 7 on campus so be sure to check the plastic listed on your container before disposing of it!

Electronic Waste

E-Waste, or electronic waste, is the fastest growing waste stream in North America and it does not decompose. When put in landfills, heavy metals and plastics leach into the soil and contaminate our groundwater.

To avoid this, our Physical Resources department has a program to properly recycle and dispose of electronic items. The money raised is used to subsidize our fluorescents disposal costs and is also donated to The Nature Conservancy. There is a drop-off location for e-waste items at 202 Regina St. loading dock at the back of the building. E-Waste is also collected during our yearly Move Out Program.

Approved E-Waste Items: Monitors, towers, keyboards, laptops & computers, scanners, printers, computer mice, TVs, and fax machines.
Unapproved E-Waste Items: Microwaves, photocopiers, movies, and LCD projectors.

Battery Recycling

Most types of batteries are accepted for recycling, however, Lithium (Li) batteries must have their terminals taped prior to depositing into the bin.

Batteries can be dropped off at the following Waterloo campus locations:

Faculty of Science Room N1048
ICT Room BA313C
Accessible Learning Room 1C11
Library Admin Room L2-213

Batteries can be dropped off at the following Brantford campus locations:

ICT - RAC East RCE110
Service Laurier - Grand River Hall GRH202
Physical Resources - SC Johnson SCJ112

Recycle Your Cell

Our Office has partnered with the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) of Canada to responsibly recycle old cellphones on our Brantford and Waterloo campuses.

Why is this Important? Cell phones contain valuable minerals, including gold, tin, tungsten and tantalum (coltan). This program aims to reduce the impact of mining on great apes by removing mobile phones from the waste stream by remarking them for reuse or breaking them down for recycling. Phone refurbishment helps to reduce the demand for coltan mining in critical chimpanzee and gorilla habitat.

As Canadians, we create demand for these minerals by frequently upgrading our cell phones. As consumers, we can make a big difference by recycling our phones and reducing the demand for minerals.

What Can You Do? Drop off your old phone in the collection boxes at the U-Desks (Waterloo: first floor, Fred Nichols Campus Centre; Brantford: second Floor, Student Centre).

What Happens to Your Phone? Functional phones are refurbished and redistributed in developing markets. Some of these phones are also donated to hospitals in North America for patients who need access to emergency 911 calls. Phones, batteries and accessories that are not reusable are broken down and recycled according to the highest industry standards.

Textbook Recycling

At the beginning and end of each semester, the Laurier Bookstore collects used textbooks from students to re-sell.

Laurier also has a partnership with Textbooks for Change. They collect any post-secondary textbooks from the past 15 years. To date, the program has collected over 25,000 textbooks for over 220,000 students in East Africa – Which is valued at over $500,000 USD! Find a Dropbox on campus to donate your textbooks!