If you are working in or visiting the H Wing or J Wing at Davis Campus, you will notice the new Zero Waste (ZW) stations in the hallways and office common areas. Thank you to Gord Ide’s team at Facilities Services who assembled these stations and deployed them over the weekend. For Phase 2, the ZW stations will be rolled out to C and M Wings as well as the Student Centre at Davis and at all areas at HMC next week.
With these ZW stations collecting waste in three streams – Organics (green), Mixed Recycling (blue) and Landfill (black) – your help in putting waste in the correct bins can significantly reduce the amount of waste that is sent to landfill. When you are throwing out your waste, please take a moment to read the signs attached to ZW bins in the hallway. As well, for each of the ZW stations in office areas, a poster is provided to guide you to sort the waste according to the three streams.
Please note that the “Organics” bin collects more than food waste. Below are a few common questions regarding items that should go into this bin.
1. Where do soiled napkins and paper towels (hand-drying) go?
The Organics (green) bin.
2. Where do paper coffee cups go? How about the plastic lid?
The paper coffee cup goes into the Organics (green) bin. Remember to separate the plastic lid from the cup. The plastic coffee cup lid goes to Mixed Recycling (Blue) bin. As well, the “sleeve” also goes to the Mixed Recycling (blue) bin.
Without separating the lid, the coffee cup will become a contaminant in the bag of Organics waste. Another common contaminant item found in the Organics (green) bin is soft drink cups, which should go to the Landfill (black) bin instead.
3. Where and how is the “Organics” waste being processed?
The “Organics” waste collected in this green bin is being delivered to a power plant in London where the material will be converted to electricity and put into the grid.
As part of the ZW program, individual garbage bins in the washrooms and regular classrooms have also been removed. The ZW stations are located in the hallways outside the washrooms and classrooms. Your support in this program will help Sheridan meet its waste reduction and diversion targets. The Office for Sustainability strives to improve the program. If you have any questions or feedback, please don’t hesitate to contact Wai Chu Cheng, Sustainability Coordinator.
As a member of the Sheridan community, you are welcome to join one of the two following sessions of “Brown Bag Lunch ‘n Learns: Zero Waste Sheridan” to learn about this program and the updates on campus at HMC and Davis.
When attending the lunch ‘n learn session, please feel free to bring your lunch. Desserts will be served.
If you are planning to attend, please RSVP to Wai Chu Cheng at waichu.cheng@sheridancollege.ca as soon as possible.