MAKING HIGHER EDUCATION LESS WASTEFUL: A leading Canadian University is improving Waste Collection Practices by adding more EarthBins® on campus.

Western University, situated in London, Ont., is the quintessential post-secondary campus, with 1,120 acres of sprawling green fields and snaking footpaths amid ivy covered Gothic-style academic buildings and residences. Founded in 1878, the school’s located on what is widely considered to be one of the most beautiful university campuses in Canada.

With more than 33,000 students, approximately 1,400 faculty and nearly 2,600 full-time staff, it can be challenging to maintain all of that pristine property, notes Mary-Lee Townsend, Manager of Sustainability and Compliance at Western. “Our campus is full of 18-year olds that are out of their home for the first time. 

Townsend has worked in sustainability and waste management her entire career, and since she started at Western in 2020, she’s been paying close attention to which waste solutions are the most successful. While the first EarthBin was installed in 2019, before she joined the university, she’s seen first-hand how much better they perform. In fact, EarthBin was reviewed by a Western committee in which they compared similar products on the market, and selected them as a “Vendor of Record” for three years.

“If you put an old ratty garbage bin with no signage, toss it in the corner, it’s going to get very little attention,” she explains. “People are going to walk by it and just chuck whatever they want into it without much thought.” A strategically placed waste station, Townsend continues, that looks nice and has proper signage, tends to attract more attention and encourages people to use it more effectively.

Believe it or not, the aesthetic appeal has been an important deciding factor as the University has increased the number of EarthBins on campus over the past three years, with 42 installed throughout residences and at various administrative and academic buildings, and more to come in 2023. In the past, typical dumpsters have been an open invitation for students to throw anything and everything at them. This not only made waste collection a challenge, it also created the perfect environment for dumpster diving, which was a safety hazard on a campus filled with thousands of teenagers.

Ease of use is also an important part of encouraging those on campus to place their garbage in EarthBins, but Townsend says it goes beyond just the students. “Our caretakers definitely prefer them, from an ergonomics standpoint. They’re easier to open because the EarthBins themselves are lower to the ground, the lids are lighter and they can be propped up for multiple trips.”

Beyond the functionality of EarthBin containers, what has made the biggest difference on campus is the company’s commitment to fast, reliable service. No one thinks about waste until it’s not picked up or something isn’t working, explains Townsend, and on a university campus, that can spell disaster quickly. Now, it’s something she doesn’t have to worry about. 

“Waste and recycling in public spaces is one of the hardest things to manage. EarthBin definitely makes it easier.”

UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO INSTALLATIONS:

2019 - First EarthBin was installed at the University

40+ Total EarthBins installed on UWO campus to date

3 Years that EarthBin was chosen as a Vendor of Record for UWO