SP0317: Organic Waste Collection in Downtown Residences

With support from the SPF, SHHS, MOOS, and the ERC will collaborate to implement an organic waste collection program across all downtown McGill student residences, at the start of the winter 2023 semester.

LOGISTICS: SHHS has purchased a year supply of compost bags. Countertop bins outfitted with a sticker outlining simple sorting tips will be purchased using some funding from SHHS and some from the SPF (Appendix 4). A roll of 50 bags and a countertop bin will be delivered to all residence rooms and apartments. Countertop bins will be added to the move-in/move-out checklist. Students will be asked to transfer organic waste collected in their rooms at least once every three days to compost bins in common areas (either dining hall eco-stations or large brown bins nearby).

Organic waste from common compost bins will be collected by Compost Montreal and processed at a city compost site in the Southwest borough of Montreal then redistributed to Montreal’s residents through horticultural projects.

EDUCATION & OUTREACH: To ensure the success of this program, a comprehensive education & outreach plan has been created. Prior to the delivery of the countertop bins and compost bags in January 2023, MOOS will attend an ERC meeting to brief the council on this new initiative, deliver a presentation to the floor fellows on November 26th, and distribute posters for the floor fellows to attach to their communication boards. Before the program starts, SHHS will send an email blast to all residents, residence life managers, and dining hall staff.

In January, SHHS will start displaying information about the initiative on screens in residences and dining halls. MOOS will brief the Zero-Waste Ambassadors on the initiative at their training in January so they can begin promoting the initiative during their tabling shifts in dining halls soon after. Zero-Waste Ambassadors will also enter students who are "caught" composting in dining halls in a prize draw for gift cards to local zero-waste grocery stores and thrift stores funded by the SPF. Throughout the winter 2023 semester, the ERC will host voluntary workshops for residents to learn more about how to sort waste and the importance of composting. Compost Montreal will provide compost free of charge (pending availability) for the ERC to conduct a plant potting event at one of the workshops. Other incentives, such as gift cards, purchased using SPF funding will also be offered to students who attend these workshops.

MONITORING: The ERC, with help from MOOS, will organize a survey to measure if this initiative has increased residents' tendency to divert their organic waste.

MOOS will conduct a waste audit to measure contamination of organic material collection in residences.