It's not easy being green, but Niagara College's Student Administrative Council is taking up the challenge.
SAC launched its green program yesterday afternoon to celebrate the move to environmentally-friendly products, including plates, bowls, cups and cutlery, within its student centres. All disposable paper and plastic products used in the centres will be replaced with products made from entirely compostable or recyclable material made by P&C Compostech Inc.
The new utensils that will be used in the centres are made up of cornstarch resin, which Clarke Bitter, president and CEO of the company, said are completely compostable.
Rather than wasting styrofoam plates which go straight into the trash, Bitter said the new containers and cups provided at the centres are made of bagasse, sugarcane byproduct left over from food processing, and bamboo. Because they are made entirely of plant material, the products are 100 per cent compostable and can turn into soil in as few as 31 days in ideal conditions.
The products can be placed in the green bin for pick up with other compostable items, rather than being thrown in the garbage.
Bitter said some products in the company's line of merchandise are more expensive than the average disposable items, but others are more cost-efficient.
SAC president Heather Minow said she was proud to introduce the student centres' waste reduction program. She said she's aware students' concerns for the environment are heightening now more than ever, showing that concern by SAC becoming one of the first Ontario college's to take on this initiative towards its student centres. The new compostable products will remove "hundreds of thousands of pounds of waste" from the garbage, she said.
The products will be sent to a waste recycling centre where they will be used to produce fertilizer and other products, said a press release.
Sean Kennedy, vice-president of student and community relations with the college, quoted the famous remark by muppet Kermit the Frog - "it's not easy being green."
He commended SAC for its efforts and said it's much easier to "go with the same old, same old" rather than make a change.
James Davidson, CEO of Davidson Environmental Organic Waste Specialists, said he has respect for SAC at Niagara College for "helping to make the world a better place."
