Green Initiatives at Grenfell Campus
In 2025, a waste innovation working group comprised of faculty, staff, and students came together to advance waste reduction initiatives on campus, in partnership with local organizations and with the support of undergraduate MUCEP students and Graduate Assistants. Efforts to date include:
- Supporting the launch of Sustainability@Grenfell, a new student club
- Piloting a “swap shelf” with the GCSU for second-hand items during Fall Orientation 2025
- Re-launching community composters on campus, in partnership with the Western Environment Centre
- Supporting a Custodial Services-led Bin-Free Space initiative to encourage faculty and staff to remove individual garbage and recycling bins from their workspaces and use communal sorting stations
- Increasing signage in residences and across campus to promote proper waste sorting, recycling, and composting
- Planning for new sorting stations across campus to increase waste and recycling segregation and reduce the amount of waste going to landfill from campus
- Providing shredded paper to a local artist making paper, including for Grenfell’s Horseshoe Press
- Applying to become a community partner for battery and cellphone recycling with the national Call2Recycle program
Priorities for the 2025-26 academic year include supporting the student-led club and initiatives, rolling out the new sorting stations, advancing the custodian-led “bin-free space” initiative, monitoring and promoting
composting, and engaging with additional stakeholders and partners in the community to improve recycling opportunities.
Details of how to participate in these green initiatives are outlined on this page.
To join the working group or discuss further, contact co-chairs Kaila Mintz, Innovation Coordinator (kmintz@mun.ca) and Dr. Josie Wittmer (jwittmer@mun.ca). To connect with the student-led Sustainability@Grenfell club, contact Victor Nwogo (vkobasi@mun.ca).
Sustainability@Grenfell
A new student club, Sustainability@Grenfell, is currently applying for official club status through the GCSU. They are planning initiatives such as a Swap Shelf for incoming residence students during Orientation 2025. To get involved, keep an eye out for their socials (coming soon) or contact Victor Nwogo (vkobasi@mun.ca).
Community composting
In Spring 2025, the Western Environment Centre (WEC) generously donated two composters to Grenfell Campus, adding to the existing two. Campus volunteers helped WEC build the new composters, and Katie Temple, WEC’s Executive Director, joined a community BBQ at the Backlot to launch the composters and explain composting best practices.
These modern composters are part of Grenfell's efforts to reinstate a composting program, which now includes four exterior compost bin locations:
- Residence Complex
- Grove Cafeteria
- Library Building
- Courtyard near the Arts & Science Building
We encourage everyone to participate by bringing compostable items to these bins.
Here’s a quick guide to what can and cannot be composted:
✅ Items You Can Compost
- Fruit & vegetable scraps
- Houseplants (non-diseased)
- Coffee grounds & coffee filters
- Tea & paper teabags
- Eggshells
- Bread, rice, pasta, and other grains
- Paper towels, tissues, and paper bags (small amounts)
❌ Items You Cannot Compost
- Meat, seafood, and bones
- Oil and sauces
- Dairy products
- Yard waste
- Pet waste
- Plastic bags (including “compostable” ones)
- Consult the list above or posters (on each composter!) to separate compostable items from other waste
- Collect compostable items in your residence room or workspace in either a reusable, washable container or a repurposed plastic bag (e.g. bread bags or other food bags).
- Note: plastic bags, even those labelled “compostable,” cannot go in the composters! Garbage cans will soon be placed indoors near all composters.
- Empty items into the composters regularly to avoid odours.
- Pro tip: store your bin in a sealed container in a fridge or freezer to avoid any smells!
- If you can, give the composters a quick spin afterwards to help the breakdown process along!
Members of the neighbouring residential areas are welcome to use the community composters.
Battery and cellphone recycling
Custodial Services has placed battery recycling boxes in the following locations:
- Arts & Science Building: Crossroads (main floor)
- Grenfell Campus Student Union (GCSU), Arts & Science Building
Both single-use and rechargeable household batteries, and well as old cellphones, are recyclable (under 5kg).
The campus is hoping to expand the program by becoming a community partner with the national organization Call2Recycle. Stay tuned for more details!
Bin-Free Space initiative
Custodial Services has developed a new waste collection initiative to minimize small single-use plastic bags. All faculty and staff are invited to participate during the pilot phase (ongoing through Fall 2025 semester). Participants volunteer to give up their small individual workstation garbage and recycling bins in favour of using shared office bins or centrally located disposal and sorting stations around campus. This initiative aims to significantly reduce our campus’ reliance on single-use plastic bags / bin liners and improve our recycling capacity through better sorting, while encouraging more movement.
Did you know: in the 2024-2025 academic year, Grenfell Campus used upwards of 55,000 single-use plastic bags in its offices, classrooms, and open spaces!
How to participate:
- In shared office spaces: deposit your garbage and recycling in central bins shared with your colleagues within the larger office area. Custodial staff will empty the shared bins at regular intervals.
- In independent workspaces: bring your garbage and recycling regularly to a shared central location close to your workspace (e.g. in a hallway or shared office space).
- For all workstations: add a “Bin-Free Space” label to your door or desk to signal to Custodial Services staff that you don’t need your bins emptied! (fun fact: the labels have been printed on recycled paper!)
- You may choose to surrender your bins or keep them to collect waste (note: no plastic bags will be provided).
- Leave your bins in the hallway outside your workspace if you don’t need them, and custodial staff will pick them up.
New sorting stations are being developed, with clear signage and maps, that will roll out in Fall 2025. Some of these sorting stations will have expanded space for beverage containers, paper, mixed plastics and metals, e-waste, batteries... and even one for used pens!
Waste Innovation Working Group members can come by to show units or individuals how the new sorting initiative will work and co-develop a plan for shared office bins. For example, group members worked with the Library to reduce the number of overall bins by half, which will now be centralized in 11 recycling locations.
Custodial staff will monitor waste and recycling accumulation regularly and make adjustments as needed. This pilot will be formally assessed each term.
For questions or feedback, or to schedule a consultation with the working group on shared office bins, contact Kaila, Innovation Coordinator, at kmintz@mun.ca. If you’d like to bring your bin back directly or pick up a Bin-Free Space label, visit the Facilities Management Office (AS280).
Resources