An Evaluation of the 3 / 4 Bin System at Dalhousie University
Date
2008-04Author
Carty, Jonathan
Coultice, Noel
Kesebi, Susan
Shields, Meghan
Metadata
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This paper is the final report of the research project for the Greenfoot recycling team for
the Environmental Problem Solving II class at Dalhousie University, supervised under Karen
Harper. The overall goal of the project was to assess the state of our current 3/4 bin recycling and
waste system in the Killam Library and SUB building, and to improve the efficiency of this
system. Using a questionnaire, a sign survey and a waste audit, we gathered information on
recycling and waste habits at Dalhousie and concluded there were a number of ways that
Dalhousie's system could be improved. These include: Providing signs that are more detailed
than the ones currently in place and educating students and staff about what materials are
allowed in each bin. Our findings showed us that there was a large disconnect between how
people claimed to know what waste/recyclables went in which bin in the survey but the waste
audit showed that much of the sorting was incorrect and a large percentage of garbage could be
diverted away from the landfill. Overall, we found that Dalhousie's waste and recycling system
could be improved with better signs and a greater awareness among users.