Students and staff across Western's campus are leading initiatives to keep usable items in circulation and avoid excess waste.
"Building a culture of material circularity is a key focus of our sustainability efforts," said Heather Hyde, Western's director of sustainability. "It's inspiring to see students leading these initiatives and showing how creativity and collaboration can keep resources in use and out of landfills."
From a student-led holiday donation drive and a thriving circular market to a new platform to swap campus furnishings, these projects help promote a culture of "circularity" at Western - the concept of reusing, repairing, recycling or repurposing so materials stay in use longer and waste is minimized.
Fashion and Food Drive
The Fashion and Food Drive was launched in December, led by third-year Ivey student Enya Law and first-year Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry graduate student Peter Dani, in collaboration with Western Sustainability and Housing and Ancillary Services.
The drive engages students across Western's 12 residence buildings by collecting gently used items, which will be donated to Ark Aid Mission as part of the organization's Holiday Big Give campaign. Law and Dani hope the friendly competition between the three residence neighbourhoods will boost participation. Collections for the drive run until Dec. 22.
Law and Dani received a Western Climate Sustainability Award last year for launching the initiative. The idea emerged when they noticed how many usable items were left behind in residence rooms while working as residence dons.
"Some students bought bulkier items during the semester that they couldn't bring back home or didn't have a use for anymore," said Law.
Dani, a master's student in epidemiology and biostatistics, saw similar circumstances while working as a don in Bayfield Hall, home to many upper-year and international students.
In tandem with the donations, the students will host booths in each residence to share information about the initiative and additional ways to get involved with Ark Aid.
"For some first-year students, it's their first time in London, so this drive also encourages them to branch out and start contributing and supporting the community here," said Dani.
When students return to residence in January, there will be sorting events to organize the donations.
"Sorting and seeing the initiative from backend, students gain a more hands-on sense of sustainability and better understand its importance," said Law.
Anabada Circular Economy Market
The Anabada Circular Economy Market is another initiative aimed at building a community through zero waste practices. The focus is on swapping less-used items rather than consuming through buying new. First conceptualized by the 2024 class of graduate students pursuing master of environment and sustainability degrees, the market follows the Anabada philosophy - a Korean phrase meaning to conserve, share, exchange and reuse.
This year's Anabada market was organized by the current cohort of students in the same program.
The market proves that choosing to reuse or swap can be just as fun as buying new, especially at this time of the year, master of environment and sustainability student Caroline Ryan said. "We often get a dopamine rush from consuming and purchasing. We wanted to mimic that feeling in a circular way, focused around zero waste."
Despite a snowstorm on the day of the market, the event brought together vendors and more than 100 attendees. Local environmental nonprofits, thrift stores and cafes were part of the market. Events like these make it easy and accessible for anyone to engage in sustainability, Ryan said.
"Even the act of attending these markets is doing something good for the planet," she said. "We encouraged attendees to bring in clothes they no longer have use for and swap those items out for something we had on display."
The remaining items were donated to the Free Store on campus.
Supported initially by Western's Sustainability Impact Fund, the students hope to plan another market in the spring.
The Free Store
While the concept of circularity usually comes to the forefront during the holiday season, the Free Store on campus provides year-round access to donated goods.
The store began accepting donations from the campus community in April and has since seen over 750 visits since it opened for shopping in September. Staffed by student volunteers, the store has already prevented significant waste.
"We've had about 830 kilograms diverted from landfill through just the Free Store," said Laura Mantz, Western Sustainability's engagement coordinator. "It's been really well received by staff, faculty and students."
Community members can find a clothing, kitchenware, office supplies, bedding and books at the store. Western Special Constables have also been a big supporter of the initiative, supplying a significant number of donations.
Demand remains strong year-round, not just during holiday donation season, Mantz said. Many international students also return items acquired from the Free Store before leaving campus - another display of circularity in action.
The Free Store is open Wednesdays from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Arts and Humanities Building for both shopping and donations, with plans to expand store hours in the new year. Students, staff and faculty are asked to show their OneCards upon entry. The store accepts specific items and donations must be clean and in good condition.
Swapping campus furnishings
For larger items or furniture, Western Sustainability launched a Campus Furniture Reuse platform to help facilitate furniture swaps on campus for staff and faculty. Staff and Faculty can join this site on Microsoft Teams to request or offer university-owned furniture.
Since its launch in October, the group has grown to 80 members. Mantz said the goal is to support swapping office items such as tables, chairs, lamps and filing cabinets. Similar to Facebook groups, members can directly message each other to coordinate logistics.
For items that require extra measures to be safely disposed of or recycled, Western's Waste and Recycling Portal provides staff and faculty a straightforward way to manage items such as old light bulbs, hazardous waste and scrap materials. They work with 1-800-Got-Junk, a company that also finds ways to repurpose some of these items. In 2024, 130,000 kg of items were picked up with 80 per cent either reused or recycled.
The portal also allows campus community members to request green bins for catered events to support sustainability efforts.
Mantz explains that while focusing on waste reduction is key, it's also important to shift focus to explore how to keep items in circulation when they can still be used.
"This reshapes our thinking around our purchasing and consumption habits. For example, considering the life cycle of an item and asking yourself, how can I use this? How could someone else use this?" said Mantz. "Ultimately, the landfill should be the last resort."
Learn more about how Western is future-proofing our planet.
