GGAA 2013 - Student Inititiatives - University of Adelaide - Highly Commended

Waste Watchers – Bin Monsters Come Alive

The “Waste Watchers – Bin Monsters Come Alive” programme, was a campaign designed to teach correct recycling behaviours to students in response to high contamination rates in cafeteria recycling bins.

The “Waste Watchers – Bin Monsters Come Alive” programme, was a campaign designed to teach correct recycling behaviours to students in response to high contamination rates in cafeteria recycling bins in Hub Central, a large student space on the North Terrace Campus. The programme was both for students and by students, with numerous groups being involved in implementing various stages of the programme. Personalities were developed for landfill and recycling waste streams (bin monsters “Larry Landfill” and “Rosie Recycling”) and working with catering retailers, the programme utilised storytelling, social media, colourful imagery, signage and incentives to instruct, reward and reset expectations about recycling. By the end of the programme, recycling rates had more than doubled in the Hub, to an average of 99.65kg of recycling per day, compared to a baseline average of 33.99kg of recycling per day. The diversion rate is equal to avoiding approximately 21 tonnes of CO2 per year. This initiative was also a finalist in the Skills for Sustainability Category.