Concordia Journal Home > Archives > March 19, 2009 issue >

R4 Waste Audit 

Laura Beach holds up a mysterious piece of something during the fifth annual waste audit. Over three days, students and volunteers sorted the contents of garbage receptacles to gather general information about our habits in regards to waste.

R4 collected waste from 115 sampling points (classrooms, hallways, labs, etc.) from both campuses. The waste was sorted into 20 different categories of waste (organic waste, coffee cups, water bottles, etc).

Different from 2008’s audit which measured only glass/metal/plastic recycling habits across the university, organizers decided this year’s audit should be broader in scope to provide information for the renewal of Concordia's Ici on Recycle designation in 2010.

“We want to know how much we’re improving, how we’re performing and how much we’re diverting from the landfill,” says R4 Environmental Coordinator Louise Hénault-Ethier.

The water bottles recovered from the audit will be built into a 'tower of consumption' to be displayed on the Sir George campus as part of World Water Week, March 20 to 27. TAPthirst, a McGill/Concordia QPIRG joint project, will be holding a series of events to raise awareness about water use. For information, email Laura Beach at tapthirst@gmail.com.