CREDIT: ANGELA MCINNES
Fanshawe's Sustainability Fair, Oct.15 to 21, will teach staff and students about sustainability methods on campus, such as composting.

As part of Canada's Waste Reduction Week, Fanshawe is hosting its own Sustainability Fair from Oct. 15 to 21.

The fair will take place in the F building hallway and feature tables for various waste management representatives in the community. Vendors will include the City of London, Davidson Environmental, and The Miller Group, among others. Students and staff will be able to meet with the vendors to discuss sustainable solutions and possible career paths.

The first day of the event will see guest speaker Peter Boyd talk to the College about environmentalism and climate change. He will be at T1003 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. on Oct. 15. After the talk there will be a one-hour breakout session where students can meet with Boyd and representatives from Blackstone energy consulting.

There will also be giveaways of bamboo cutlery and stainless steel straws throughout the week.

Sustainability co-ordinator, Michelle Cong, said that the goal of the fair is to teach staff and students how to live a more environmentally- friendly lifestyle by reinforcing simple yet effective daily habits, and to see the long-term impact of where their waste goes.

“We are trying to tell people how to sort their waste properly,” Cong said. “For example, if you have a coffee cup with a lid and sleeve, you would have to put the lid into the landfill, the cup itself to compost and the sleeve to paper. We also want to tell people not only to sort their waste, but also to reduce their waste first.”

Cong said that this message is particularly important to impart onto Fanshawe as the College is one of the few institutions in London to have its own widespread composting program. Here, compostables are turned into energy sources.

This can be confusing since this means Fanshawe's waste management program differs from the rest of the city.

“The easiest way to understand [our composting program] is that all food waste goes to compost, and all the food-related paper product goes to compost. For example, your Smoke's Poutine container and sandwich wrap. Think of the stuff that contains food — it can all be composted, including the Tim Horton's and Starbucks cups,” Cong said.

The composting program and sustainability fair are smaller parts of the College's larger mission to set an example for positive change in world running out of places to dump its waste.

“If we are not pioneers, then nowhere else can be. If there's new technology, probably a higher education campus is the first one to test it out,” said Cong, referring to Fanshawe's green roof, solar panelling, and renewable energy courses.

Cong said that in addition to hosting the fair, she is open to integrating the skills of student volunteers, throughout the year, in whatever way they feel they can best contribute to supporting sustainability at Fanshawe. In the past, there have been opportunities for students in PR, event planning, and graphic design.

She said anyone wishing for more information on how they can lend their ideas or assistance should contact her at sustainability@nullfanshawec.ca.