Our Earth, Our Campus, Our Choice

In an effort to educate students about the impact that their waste has on our community and the world at large, the Green Society will be holding a Waste Management Awareness Week, starting this Monday, Nov. 25.

The goal of this event is to make students, staff and faculty aware of the implications that their waste has on the environment.

This week has been created as a result of the waste audit done on campus in 2011 and 2012. During this audit, the Green Society was able to measure precisely how much waste the university actually contributes. The numbers may astound you.

Instead of having to spend money every year on disposal, the university could actually be profiting close to $8,000 per year in bottles alone.

In addition, the school could use waste management as a source of income by utilizing all of the resources found on campus. Presently the university spends about $50,000 a year to send an estimated 20,000 large garbage bags to the landfill.

The results of the audit show that as a whole, we could be doing much more to help the environment. This includes using the recycling bins properly, disposing of paper and cardboard more appropriately and using reusable coffee mugs and water bottles.

Even our beloved coffee cups from Tim Horton’s are not compostable and greatly contribute to the waste on campus.

The theme for the Waste Management Awareness Week is Our Earth, Our Campus, Our Choice. This implies that it is up to the students to decide how they are going to treat the planet. The Green Society wants students to be aware of their actions and realize that they directly affect the future of the earth.

Despite a tremendous amount of effort to implement programs on campus, the society is still having difficulty getting people to understand the importance of recycling and composting.

The society reminds students that liquid and other garbage should not be thrown into the blue bins on campus.

This recent reduction in resources is directly affecting the green initiatives on campus and its implications will be felt in the near future. Recycling Coordinator, Jenna Donaldson, understands the importance of recycling and encourages students to do so. “Recycling is a small act that can cumulate to create a big impact on the environment,” says Donaldson, “the impact of not doing it can be devastating”.

As Waste Awareness Week kicks off on Monday, expect to see members of the Green Society out in full force. They will be encouraging students around campus to get involved with green initiatives and provide valuable information on how to make UNB Saint John a greener place to be. The small acts of individuals in the community can make a tremendous difference in the future of our globe.

For more information about the Green Society, check out their website at https://sites.google.com/site/unbgreensociety/