Can the University of Ottawa go to Zero-Waste – Reusing and Reducing to Make Change

 Apathy is climate change’s biggest enemy. When people don’t believe they can make change, they do nothing. The University of Ottawa has recently challenged itself to do away with the apathy and to make change by following a reduce-reuse-recycle model.

 This is in line with the province of Ontario’s Bill 151, also known as the Waste-Free Ontario Act. The bill alongside some other provincial alternatives are aiming at creating a ‘circular economy’, where waste is reused in the form of other goods, services, and/or processes. In a way, it’s making treasure out of trash.

 For the University of Ottawa, admittedly, a zero-waste target seems tough. Currently, the university only has a waste diversion rate of 64.5 percent in comparison.

 According to its campus sustainability office, the university has identified two areas where improvements can be made on its existing system. Firstly, its recycling program can arguably be simplified. Secondly, composting on a larger scale is something that can be further developed and simplified.

 In addition, the biggest barrier to meeting the zero-waste target is actually believed to be students failing to recycle properly on campus. As it is source-separated, this counts on the student throwing out a piece of waste to know the correct bin to deposit in.

 If a student is not following correct procedures, it can result in entire bags being sent to the landfill that wouldn’t otherwise need to be. It’s policy that any bag with a higher contamination than 15 percent is sent to the landfill.

 The University of Ottawa is encouraging students to follow existing recycling standards. Also, any students with unused belongings can donate these to the university’s ‘Free Store’. This is among the several resources across the city that allow students to reuse and recycle unconventional waste, such as clothing and furniture.

 Thirdly, minimizing the purchasing of any single use items (i.e. plastic water bottles) is also recommended.

 The waste disposal systems which we all use are a little unrealistic to maintain in terms of how a sustainable future may work. Today, waste is put in a bag and it’s magically taken away to a land far away where we never see it again.

 A zero-waste future will be about finding new, creative ways to get the most from our waste management and minimizing to the highest degree the garbage that is left to go into our landfills. There are major changes happening in the way that Ontario disposes of its waste and the University of Ottawa is one organization who has jumped on board without hesitation. More companies, organizations, and households should feel encouraged to do what they can to increase their waste diversion percentage.

 Moving towards a campus that is waste-free, the University of Ottawa is setting the tone in environmental protection and sustainability for other universities to follow. All things considered, the responsibility lies in the hands of the students, faculty, and management to make the changes that need to be made. Despite what may have been thought in the past, what’s clear is that a zero-waste campus has never been more achievable than it is today.