SP0206: Sign Better, Sort Better

The McGill community does not sort their waste well; despite having recycled and organic waste collection, 86% of on-campus waste still goes to the landfill. The lack of proper waste sorting creates major environmental impacts and GHG emissions. A contributing factor is that signage on waste and recycling bins differ widely between buildings and even within buildings, making it difficult for users to properly sort their waste and develop good habits. 

Visually standardizing waste sorting stations has been demonstrated to allow users to develop "mental shortcuts" to proper waster sorting habits. This would immediately increase the amount of material that is properly recycled and composted, and reduce the chances that these streams are landfilled due to contamination. Recyc Quebec, a crown corporation, has developed a provincial standard for bin signage which McGill should align with. Their uniform colours, fonts, pictograms and wording have been adopted by many actors across the province. Many higher education institutions have adopted this standardized bin signage quickly and cheaply by replacing all signage with high quality stickers directly on their existing waste bins.

These high quality bin stickers, uniform across all campus buildings and aligning with the provincial visual standard, are therefore a fast, relatively inexpensive low-hanging fruit to immediately encourage the McGill community to better sort their waste. The goal will thus be for all bins to have a sticker (or vinyl sign) installed, replacing all existing signage. 

Resources from the SPF will be used to purchase all signage and materials.