Coming back to campus this fall, I noticed all the students holding blue reusable cups and boxes, and wondered why it seemed like everyone had one of these blue containers but me? No, it is not some new trend that has taken hold of the campus, instead, it is UBC’s ‘New Green Initiative’ to reduce waste.
I encountered Friendlier reusable containers throughout campus at various UBC establishments, including Harvest, Blue Chip, and Honour Roll. After some research I found this is way this system works: once I order something from one of these places, they will give my order to me in one of Frendlier’s reusable containers and take a deposit of around 0.50 to 0.85 cents, depending on the type of container, in addition to my payment. Once finished with the item, I can either keep it and reuse it at home and Friendlier keeps the deposit, or I could return it to one of the various “return” boxes and get my deposit back.
Steps to getting the initial deposit back:
Step 1
Download the Friendlier App from the app store.
Step 2
Scan the Friendlier App from the app store
Step 3
Throw the used container into one of the designated friendlier deposit boxes that are placed around the Nest or other locations that use Friendlier.
Step 4
After scanning the QR code it can take 1-2 weeks for the deposit to be returned to the user.
Step 5
Once the deposit is back, a choice can be made as to whether to transfer the deposit back into the bank account connected to the app or to donate the deposit amount.
I found UBC’s initiative to use Friendlier containers instead of single-use plastic containers to be a great way to make university a more sustainable place and help us all reduce our waste. Some statistics from the Friendlier website that I found to be very encouraging and which further motivated me to continue using Friendlier, include: they have reused 3,550,793 containers in total, saving over 596,533 kgs in greenhouse gas emissions, which is how much a commercial airliner releases after flying 6628 hours (Reusable Food and beverage packaging). So far, they have also saved 28,406,344 litres in water which is approximately 10 olympic size swimming pools (Reusable Food and beverage packaging, n.d).
I know that sometimes I feel that the impact of an individual on the environment is negligible but through using this app, I have realized that my everyday efforts do matter. Through Friendlier, UBC has given the community the opportunity to reduce our environmental impact smoothly and easily. Once the app is downloaded, it takes less than a minute to scan and toss the container into the proper box. So there’s still the convenience of to-go items but there’s also a waste reduction.
While Friendlier has started to be present at UBC, it’s not the only way to recycle. Let us know about some of the other ways that you reduce your environmental impact or recycle other to-go containers in the comments below.
References
Reusable Food and beverage packaging. Friendlier. (n.d.). https://www.friendlier.com/
