A science-based program to prevent plastic pollution
For scientists, it’s thrilling when carefully designed experiments yield new insights but anyone can have that experience with a program to reduce personal contributions to plastic pollution.
A group of ecologists from the University of Toronto Trash Team (U of T Trash Team) recently produced an easy-to-use Home Waste Audit program to help people identify ways that they can help to reduce plastic pollution in ecosystems. This science-based outreach group combines, science, education, and community outreach in local regions to increase waste literacy and reduce plastic waste.
Labconscious applauds their project to translate plastic pollution research into practical insights!
Please enjoy reading our interview and then use their project resources to identify your own best practices. You may be surprised what you discover!
Interview with Susan Debreceni, Program Lead, Volunteer Engagement, and Community Programs and Co-founder of the University of Toronto Trash Team
1. Can you please describe the types of research that the U of T Trash Team works on, as well as your background including your role in the Volunteer Engagement and Community Programs?
The U of T Trash Team is a science-based outreach group made up of undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs, researchers, local volunteers, and staff all working together with a common goal to increase waste literacy in our community while reducing plastic pollution in our ecosystems
We do this through community outreach, education, and solutions-based research. Our research programs are data-driven projects to help inform solutions, such as our Home Waste Audit that we hosted in July 2020 for Plastic Free July and January of this year to get the year started off with waste reduction.
In my role, I connect volunteers within our team to meaningful opportunities within the community all with the goal of waste literacy. This ranges from community cleanup events, presentations, and all sorts of public programs.
2. Why are ecologists concerned about landfilled plastics?
Plastic is ubiquitous and has become part of our everyday lives. While there are examples of useful applications of plastic, such as in healthcare, many of the plastics used on a daily basis are single-use items made from non-recyclable plastics, which are eventually sent to landfills. Although landfills reduce the amount of waste in the environment, sending plastics to landfills is not a sustainable solution. Landfills are filling up fast and space will eventually run out. Waste sent to landfills also produces greenhouse gas emissions such as methane and carbon dioxide as it degrades. What’s more, plastic waste in landfills leach harmful chemicals that can contaminate soil and groundwaters. Many of these chemicals are known toxins that threaten the health and survival of surrounding ecosystems. Instead of sending plastics to landfills, we should focus on reusing what we have, and prioritizing the use of recyclable materials instead.
3. Is there evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the waste volumes people are generating?
In response to the COVID-19, there has certainly been a rise in consumption of single-use plastics, namely PPE items such as masks and gloves. It has been estimated that COVID-19 has triggered an estimated global use of 129 billion face masks and 65 billion gloves every month (Prata et al. 2020). In addition to this, results from our July 2020 home waste audit showed that people are also producing more of other forms of waste at home, such as packaging from online orders, and takeout containers.
Although the pandemic certainly hasn’t helped, the volume of plastic waste generated was high even before COVID-19. Previous estimates were that 8 million tonnes of plastic waste enter our oceans every year (Jambeck et al. 2015). We now know this number is likely a lot higher when we consider waste from inland sources, increased production, and the plastic that ends up on land, and in rivers and lakes. In a study published by members of our team, we estimated that up to 23 million metric tonnes of plastic entered aquatic environments (oceans, rivers, and lakes) in 2016 (Borrelle et al. 2020). What’s more is even with all current efforts to reduce plastic pollution, if we keep producing and using plastic at current rates, this number could reach 53 million tonnes per year by 2030.
4. Why do plastic mitigation strategies need to be local?
Plastic pollution is a global issue and change on a global scale is required to tackle it. Unfortunately, there is no ‘one-size-fits-all approach, so a combination of both local and global action will likely be the most effective solution. Globally, we have a problem of over-consumption and reliance on single-use plastics, but every country, city, and even town has its own challenges and specific solutions related to the issue. Smaller-scale changes can often work up the chain and lead to country-wide policies and legislation. For example, we have seen single-use plastic bag bans spread from country to country. By focusing on what we can change within our local communities we also demonstrate how individual actions matter, and that anyone can have a positive impact and protect the environment.
5. What is the purpose of a home waste audit?
As we are all spending more time at home, we took the concept of a waste audit and adapted it for home. It is designed to increase waste literacy among participants regarding their local waste management systems and how local residential waste impacts the global waste footprint.
By taking part, participants are able to learn about the waste stream in the municipality where their live (the bins they have and what goes in each of them). With this being hosted online, it was wonderful to have participants from all different regions, really highlighting the variation that can exist.
The ultimate goal is to track your waste to be better informed about how to reduce the amount heading to the landfill – which lies at the bottom of our solutions hierarchy.
Home Waste Audit in progress
6. How does it work?
In our project, we chose a 4-week period for participants to audit their waste, though you could adapt this for a shorter or longer period. It can be done as an individual, with an entire household, or even as a challenge between friends, family, or colleagues. Once you decide to start, you’re provided with datasheets to track your weekly waste, both landfill, and recycling. We also have accompanying surveys to fill out to help learn a bit more about your own local waste systems and the resources to support you.
The feedback from participants has been really positive. We have had lots of participants report that they found it an eye-opening experience and that they learning something new, even those who are very conscious of their day-to-day waste before taking part in the home waste audit. -Susan Debreceni
7. What was the feedback like from participants?
The feedback from participants has been really positive. We have had lots of participants report that they found it an eye-opening experience and that they learning something new, even those who are very conscious of their day-to-day waste before taking part in the home waste audit. Participants also noted that taking part in the waste audit was a great opportunity to take notice of just how much they were throwing away, in fact, the majority noticed they underestimated the amount of waste they generated within a week. 90% of participants in our July audit said they will be permanently adopting some of the behaviour changes they made throughout the audit, which is amazing!
8. Can our readers participate in the Home Waste Audit project?
Yes absolutely. Although we have led Home Waste Audit’s through the U of T Trash Team, our resources are available online for you to organize or complete your own home waste audit at any time! If you want to download and use any of our datasheets, you can find all the instructions and details on our website. If you do, let us know what you discover!
9. What is the most important thing you want our readers to know about this project?
Individual actions matter. We take a positive approach to waste reduction and encourage anyone taking part to know that change can start with a single step. Conducting a home waste audit is a really easy way to document your waste habits, take note of where you can make realistic changes to how you produce waste, and start there. It can be overwhelming to learn about recycling guidelines in your local area or know where to start in making conscious choices as a consumer. If you are interested in reducing your waste at home, we are here to help!
10. What other types of solution-based projects is your team working on?
We have many ongoing projects, targeting forms of plastic pollution in aquatic ecosystems., from tracking floatable litter in Lake Ontario to inform waste-capture devices, a pilot project to study washing machine filters to divert microfiber from entering the Great Lakes, and a sampling and outreach program to monitor plastic effluents and inform the industry on best practices. Details and findings so far can be found on our website: https://uofttrashteam.ca/
