UTM s Dirty Problem. By Karen Sue. UTM has a dirty, stinking, rotten problem. And a team of UTM students are

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1 UTM s Dirty Problem By Karen Sue UTM has a dirty, stinking, rotten problem. And a team of UTM students are wrist-deep in it as they sort through garbage from the bins in the South Building meeting place. Known collectively as the Green Team, these students are employed by UTM s Environmental Affairs Office to conduct eco-projects around campus. Today s trash audit leads to a simple finding: UTM does not know how to recycle. Situated next door to the trash pile is Bill McFadden s office, located within the newly renovated space in the former library. As director of UTM s Campus Hospitality and Retail Services, Bill is in charge of all the food services provided on campus, including the newly inducted Booster Juice. Booster Juice, a smoothie and juice franchise that recently opened a store in the South Building, uses polystyrene cups, commonly referred to by the brand name Styrofoam. Booster Juice has posted a list of facts about their polystyrene cups at each of their locations to expel the myths of Styrofoam. According to Booster Juice, Styrofoam is more environmentally friendly than paper cups, because it s recyclable, doesn t contribute to ozone depletion, and uses less energy to make. Sitting behind his desk, Bill defends Booster Juice in the classic debate of paper versus plastic. Booster Juice is a cold product which requires insulation. The heat transferred from your hand to the cup changes the consistency of the product. Booster Juice has compared Styrofoam to different types of plastics, and this one worked best. I would argue from the research I ve done, that paper cups are just as bad, or worse than Styrofoam, Bill says, gesturing to the stack of paper printouts on his desk. Everyone thinks paper is biodegradable, but when you put a wax coating on it like they have at some places, it s not. And paper needs trees. One 24 oz. Booster Juice cups

2 uses just three of these little baggies he says, holding up a small baggie with about a dozen tiny plastic pellets in it. Bill promises that UTM is doing its best to resolve the polystyrene problem. They have been working with a Mississauga agency, the Canadian Polystyrene Recycling Alliance (CPRA) to have them recycle all their collected polystyrene waste. He says that UTM will be touring the CPRA facility soon to discuss how to streamline the process. When asked how soon, he replies, We don t know yet, but soon. He says soon, but soon never happens! Aubrey, sustainability coordinator of UTM s Environmental Affairs Office, exclaims from her office just around the corner from Bill s. Despite their physical proximity, they stand on opposite ends when it comes to campus sustainability issues. Aubrey sits casually on a couch, speaking freely without any pellet samples or paper printouts. While she agrees that paper cups are not an environmentally friendly option, she doesn t think that polystyrene is a good option either, because in the end it s still disposable. Yes, Styrofoam is recyclable. Once. Then it sits in the landfill forever. But that s a mute point, because we re not recycling it anyways! Before Booster Juice even opened, Bill came to me and asked for my advice. I gave him three points if he wanted to bring Booster Juice onto campus. First, get them to agree to a discount for customers who bring their own reusable mugs. Second, don t offer any lids. And third, recycle the Styrofoam. He agreed to all three points and none of it is happening, Aubrey says. Don t tell me this is an issue, and not do anything about it. On the issue of the reusable mug, Bill is against students bringing in their own containers. Booster Juice comes in a 24 oz product. We don t want students to bring their own reusable container because if we give students less than 24 oz of what they paid for, they will see it as a reduction in value. Booster Juice has sold reusable mugs

3 in the past, and Bill insists that they are working on bringing it back. Booster Juice is working on a reusable mug that s currently on backorder. But it s coming soon. I have a friend who works in a similar position as me at Guelph University, Aubrey says. They have a Booster Juice too, and she thinks it s the worst company. Guelph students agree. Guelph Students for Environmental Change (GSEC) is the University s leading student-led environmental organization that is currently lobbying Booster Juice to change their Styrofoam packaging. Their Styrofoam Awareness Group (SAG) lobbied Hospitality Services to rid the campus of Styrofoam. They report that all other Hospitality Services have complied, except for Booster Juice. However, Booster Juice has allowed Guelph students to use their own reusable containers. Listening to Aubrey and Bill s perspectives, while they argue from different sides, both acknowledge the most powerful agencies for change are in the hands of two campus groups: the students and waste management services. Last year Pizza Pizza had switched from using trays to personal boxes. This resulted in seven times more waste. The problem was quickly addressed because of protest from students and waste management services. The garbage cans were filling up faster, so caretakers had to work more. It became a justice issue, Aubrey explains. It s the trickle-down effect. There are assumptions made about waste, she adds. Because Styrofoam weighs very little, people think it doesn t contribute that much to the waste problem. And because it s not adding extra work, the caretakers don t care. The student group Roots and Shoots that headed the Pizza Pizza campaign last year haven t expressed any interest in Booster Juice. Aubrey says, I think they re collecting winter jackets for charity this year. According to Bill, it s all about what s convenient for the students - whether or not they ll carry around reusable mugs, or sort their garbage responsibly. Of the ten things

4 Canadians are most proud of, Tim Horton s is like number one or two. Does this reflect the sad state of Canadian culture? Bill asks. I don t know. Point is disposable cups are not going away. When speaking of alternatives, Bill doesn t believe the answer is in biodegradable plastics made from plants such as corn, because it diverts food resources. How sustainable is this to humans? he asks. Aubrey concedes, adding that biodegradable plastics still need oxygen and specific conditions to biodegrade. It s basically plastic with starch, she says, the plastic is still there on a cellular level and it s not going to biodegrade in a landfill. It s clear that UTM needs to change their waste streaming approach, because right now there s no effective way to separate polystyrene from other trash. It will require the cooperation of everyone on campus to create a holistic solution. Aubrey offers one last piece of cautionary advice. The answer is not recycling. It s energy and water intensive. You need a buyer for the recyclable material, so it s market driven. The answer is reducing and reusing. We learned this in kindergarten, Aubrey says, Recycling is the endpoint. The Green Team sorting trash in the South Building

5 The sorting bags On Wednesday November 26 th, Students from the UTM Green Team and volunteers sorted through recycling and garbage collected in the South Building, from 10am until 12noon. The objective of the audit was to identify what items are being thrown away most, and what students are recycling correctly, or not. Of the waste that was collected, sorted, and measured by weight from the SB meeting place: 24% of all material from recycling bins consisted of actually real garbage and should not have been placed in recycling bins at all 9% of all material from recycling bins consisted of Tim Horton s cups and lids which are not recyclable and should not have been placed in recycling bins at all 30% of all material from garbage bins consisted of compostable food waste and biodegradable waste 20% of all material from garbage bins consisted of paper bags, and boxboard mostly included Pizza Pizza boxboard, and recyclable Tim Horton s paper bags 12% of all material from garbage bins consisted of paper towels and tissues, many of which were unused The next steps for the Green Team is the implementation of a campaign intended to target the outcomes of the audit. This campaign will end with a year-end waste audit similar to the one conducted on Wednesday. Whether the campaign has any effect or not on students waste disposal habits will be seen next spring.