Brainstorm 02/12/2014
“Plastic and Paper Waste”
(10 attendees. 60 % students, 40 % employees)
On the 2nd of December the Green Office organized another Brainstorm Session, this
time hosted by the communication intern, Eli Knijff.
With this Brainstorm, GOU tried to raise awareness on the plastic and paper waste
issues at the Uithof. To make the Brainstorm more tangible, we connected the
Brainstorm to two of the projects GOU supports, relatively the Plastic Waste project
and the Paper Waste project.
We used the following approach to advertise the Brainstorm Session:
“To reduce plastic waste at the university, a couple of things need to
change. How can we ease the process of recycling for students and staff?
Students and employees often need a little push in the right direction when
it comes to waste separation. What kind of communication means should
the university use, to make people aware of recycling and waste
separation? (think about nudging).
Secondly, the university is getting rid of its writing paper due to a change of
logos. What can we do with this overload of wasted paper? A part of the
paper will be used by the Green Office to make notebooks. But what about
the other half? The Green Office doesn't want to waste a single piece of
paper!“
Presentation
Unfortunately the project groups that were supposed to present their projects and
ideas, were unable to come. The presentation was given by Eli. The presentation
gave an outline of the projects that are on, and what the main problems are
concerning recycling at the UU. It also included a TED talk in which the right
strategies for behavior change were discussed. One of the strategies for improving
behavior change is to make information
tangible, personal, and frame it around
social pressure/expectations. When
people see other people recycling in the
proper way, they are more likely to do the
right thing as well.
Brainstorm
The group was divided into three groups,
so that every group consisted of one
employee and two students.
The following ideas were formed:
Group 1:
- Encourage people to recycle through incentives and communications + sponsors
- Positive examples of students and staff that can encourage other students to do the
same (ambassadors).
Group 2:
- Shape the holes of the bins, so that recycling becomes clearer and fun
- Fun actions like cheering crowds when people recycle properly
Group 3:
- Make recycling fun by creating a happy atmosphere around the bins (lots of color,
signs, posters etc)
-
No lids on the bins, and they need to be see-through.
College tour to make students aware of the new bins the university is going to
place, and encourage them to recycle properly
Conclusion
We will take all ideas into consideration for our plastic waste project. However, since
the university already ordered new bins that need to improve recycling at campus,
we cannot change anything about the bins. We can however, change the
environment around the bins with posters and actions. Adding to that, we thinks it’s
good to have some ambassadors that give the right example and encourage other
students to do the same. This could be through posters, college tours and just by
walking around campus.
Follow up
After the Plastic Waste Project did all its plastic measurements in January, we can
start to implement the brainstorm ideas to improve recycling at the Uithof.
Next Brainstorm
The next brainstorm will be on the 6th of January and will be about the UIT 2015.
How can we organize UIT 2015 more sustainable?