THUNDER BAY — Lakehead University has launched a reusable container loan program it hopes will help put a lid on campus food waste.
The program allows students to loan out reusable cups takeout containers from food providers via a smartphone app called Cano, built by a Montreal-based start-up.
The reusable containers can be kept for up to two weeks, and students collect points toward free food and drinks when they return them within 48 hours, when they're washed and returned to use.
The program also rewards those who bring their own containers from home.
The transition to reusables comes with a stick, as well as a carrot: a new charge of 50 cents for disposable cups and a dollar for takeout containers, which university leaders hope will incentivize strong uptake.
The reusables program is currently on offer at its main, a la carte cafeteria and food services in the Agora. There are plans to expand the program to student union-owned venues The Outpost and The Study in the winter term.
Lakehead also hopes the system will catch on beyond its own campus, said Aynsley Klassen, the university’s sustainability coordinator.
“We're just one institution, [but] we're a pretty important institution here in Thunder Bay, and we can really be a trailblazer and a leader to bring our city on board,” she said.
“This is one step that Lakehead can [take] to contribute and also show the rest of the city this program is possible. We’re creating easy ways for people to do the right thing.”
Klassen called using the platform a win-win.
“It's really user friendly, it's free for users,” she said. “It moves us forward in our sustainability plan.”
“We're always looking for opportunities where we can increase sustainability. This is a fairly simple one – coffee cups are one of the most pervasive single-use items.”
The app estimates users’ savings in packaging and carbon emissions.
Lakehead did not have any estimates of what environmental impact implementing the program could make.
Klassen shared estimates that 1.6 billion disposal coffee cups end up in landfill each year in Canada alone.
She said the Cano program builds on other recent waste-reduction initiatives, like eliminating garbage cans from many campus offices.
Heleena Stephens, Lakehead’s acting director of food services, expects the new program to prove popular, in part because students tend to be concerned about the environment.
“I think once the word gets out, the student uptake will be really, really high,” she said. “It takes a few extra steps the first time, but after that, it’s just another app on your phone that you use to collect points.”
Varsha, a PhD physics student, was happy to give the program a try as it launched Wednesday, saying it’s challenging to consistently bring her own reusable cup.
“Most of the time, we forget. We have lots of stuff, and you just forget it somehow, so it’s very nice,” she said. “It will be a great step. Every day we use all those paper cups, and it’s just unnecessary.”
She called convenience crucial for uptake, since students are often on-the-go in between classes and assignments.
“Sometimes we don’t have that much time to scan and everything,” she said. “It needs to be very quick.”
Her friend Navneet, another PhD physics student, said she was pleased to see the university making strides on sustainability.
“I’m enjoying it,” she said. “It’s good environmental [progress] here, finally.”
The university has taken some previous actions to make its food system more sustainable, like a move to trayless dining in its residence cafeteria and a now-defunct composting program.
