The last days of autumn fell quickly and just before the snow landed, ACC baking students joined our Grounds Department to assist with this year’s Grow-A-Row harvest. Led by Grounds Gardener Shivcharan Sandhu, the team broke the RRC record with 4,270lbs of carrots, beets, onions, pumpkins and potatoes.

The Grow-A-Row initiative started here at RRC in 2013 and has since helped to support the greater community by providing over 17,376lbs of RRC harvested produce to Winnipeg Harvest, which supplies over 64,000 Manitobans a month with emergency food. The hard work planting, harvesting, digging, trimming, scrubbing, and all the behind the scenes work made this year a massive success thanks to Sandhu, Brady, Charles, Ron, Alexis and Bryan.

While the majority of the produce grown on campus is donated to Winnipeg Harvest and the Students’ Association Food Bank, Food Services also uses herbs and vegetables from the garden all year round as well as the ACC baking students. You may have even had a pumpkin pie made by ACC baking students this thanksgiving from our garden.  Click on a photo below to see the full gallery of the 2019 Grow-A-Row Harvest.

Red River College’s community garden initiative has really grown, and so has the amount of produce we’ve donated to Winnipeg Harvest.

A key ingredient in the growth of our gardens on campus is nutrient-rich compost from our onsite windrows right on campus. This compost is full with fruit and veggie scraps from our cafeteria kitchens and coffee grounds from food services locations (also making a great stride in reducing our organic waste going to the landfill)!

Since the 1950’s 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic has been generated globally. Only 23% of those plastics have been recycled, and it is estimated another 12 billion tonnes of plastic will end up in the landfill by 2050.

About 40% of all waste produced at RRC is diverted from the landfill through reuse, recycling or composting. This is our chance to mindfully take a look at our behaviors, actions and habits and evaluate what we are doing well and what we need to change.

Join in on our events this Waste Reduction Week to learn more about yourself and your consumption habits, and make some easy changes with a BIG impact. RRC offers a variety of waste reduction programs available to all staff, faculty and students, so take a look and make sure you’re using them all!

Here are a list of the events happening:

Get Caught in The Act – Use your Reusables!

Monday, October 22 – Friday October 28^th | Mystery | NDC & EDC

Get Caught in the Act reducing your waste by using reusable materials such as reusable cutlery, water bottles, coffee mugs, bags or containers, and WIN! The Sustainability Office will be trolling the NDC and EDC hallways between Monday October 22 and Friday October 26 waiting to catch you using your reusable items and handing out some great prizes. But why wait, start now! #CaughtInTheActMB

Zero Waste Challenge – Live Waste Free for a Week!

Monday, October 22^nd |Registration 11:00 – 12:00 pm | Library Hallway (NDC)

Do you know how much waste you create a day? Challenge yourself and your colleagues and try to do everything you can to live as waste free as possible and collect ALL your waste generated on campus in ONE jar for a week. Register and enter to win both a great prize pack AND office bragging rights. Here’s how it works:

1. Register at our Zero Waste Challenge table and receive your free mason jar and be entered to win a great waste free prize pack. Use #ZeroWasteRRC to show off your efforts!
2. Start with using less. Make conscious decisions on the products you purchase and consume. How much packaging is there? Can this be avoided? Minimize what you send to the landfill as much as possible. Check out our resources below for ideas, tips and inspiration.
   

   The journey to Zero Waste starts with using less

3. Recycle what you can. Take a good look at our Pitch-In signs and see what goes in the Container bin and Paper bin.
4. Compost what you can. Collect and drop off all organic food waste DAILY in our designated compost drop off location (location provided when registering).
5. Collect ALL landfill waste you create on campus in your mason jar over the one week period.
6. Take a good hard look at what you’re consuming — and what you could do without. Could it be reduced even further? What changes can you make to send less to the landfill every day?

Want to extend this to your home or family? Check out these resources for tips and food for thought:

• Zero Waste in 5 Steps, Top 10 Tips, On Campus, On a Budget, Reducing Plastic, When Shopping
• Food Waste in North America – Discussion Paper

Pop the Top and WIN! – Reduce, Reuse, Recaffeinate

Tuesday, October 23^rd | 7:30 – 8:30 am | Tim Hortons NDC & Friday, October 26^th | 7:30 – 8:30 am | Tim Hortons EDC

Every year, RRC sends around 40,000 disposable coffee cups to the landfill. Let’s reduce this and buy your RRC ecomug or reusable straw for only $5. To make the deal even sweeter, pop the top and see what prize awaits inside. Prizes include vouchers for Campus Store items, including an Under Amour hoodie of your choice!

Already have an ecomug? Remember, you save 10 cents at all RRC Food Service locations when you use it. That’s almost $30 a year, and a ton of cups NOT piling up in the landfill.

Pulp Non-Fiction – Come check out the life-cycle of paper!

Wednesday, October 24^th | 11:00 – 1:30 pm | Library Hallway

Did you know that a piece of paper can only be recycled between 4-7 times? Join us in the Library Hallway to find out more fun facts about how pulp becomes paper, and what happens to your paper after you throw it in the recycling bin!

E-Waste Drive* – Recycle your e-waste from home and work!

Monday, October 22^nd to Friday October 26^th  | Shipping and Receiving at NDC and Roblin Centre (Please note Shipping & Receiving closes daily from 12:00-12:45PM. Collection closes on Friday at noon)

Electronic waste ready to be picked up for recycling.

Now’s your chance to properly dispose of electronic waste from home and work in an environmentally responsible manner. Allowable items include: computers and computer equipment, printers, stereos, speakers, cellphones, microwave ovens (for a complete list click here, or contact us).

Please note: College assets must be accepted by someone at Shipping and Receiving to ensure they’re disposed of properly.

* Please ensure that private data is removed prior to dropping off personal equipment that may contain confidential information. Red River College and Powerland do not accept liability for data or any other digital content left on your device.

Last week we assembled an enthusiastic crew of students and staff (including our Prez, Paul Vogt) to join the Grounds department in the harvest. Once all the digging, trimming, scrubbing and boxing was complete, we were thrilled to donate a whopping 3,100 lbs of carrots, beets, onions potatoes to Harvest, with a portion going straight to the RRC Students’ Association food bank. Click here to see the full gallery of the 2018 Grow-A-Row Harvest.

Spearheaded by our green-thumb gardener Shivcharan Sandhu, the College first participated in Grow-A-Row in 2013.  Since that time, the initiative has really grown, and so has the amount of produce we’ve donated to Winnipeg Harvest.

In addition to the vegetables donated to Winnipeg Harvest, our garden grows other goodies like pumpkins and herbs, many of which end up in the ACC baking students pies and jams, to the pesto in your sandwich in the Voyageur Cafeteria. You may be wondering why are our pumpkins are so big, and our basil so lush.

Well, another neat fact – the garden is fertilized with nutrient-rich compost from our onsite windrows right on campus. All fruit and veggie scraps from our cafeteria kitchens and coffee grounds from food services locations are broken down and recycled back into our earth, avoiding the landfill, and creating the beautiful bounty of produce to support the greater community and RRC students in need.

Thank you again to all our volunteers, we couldn’t have DUG it without you.

Congratulations to Brady Barron for receiving this year’s BRAVO Award for Sustainability Leadership. This award is a recognition of his dedication, innovation and commitment to sustainability here at RRC.

Brady has been a valued part of the College community for nearly 10 years, first as a graduate of the Greenspace Management Program (2012) and then as a Groundskeeper at the Notre Dame Campus. Brady’s up at the crack of dawn tending to the College’s grounds and parking lots in rain, sleet and snow. Throughout his work, Brady maintains a keen eye for sustainability, often going above and beyond.

Brady plays a vital role in the College’s pre-consumer compost program. Since 2002, fruit and vegetable food scraps from the cafeteria kitchens and coffee grounds from our NDC Tim Hortons locations are collected daily and transported by the Grounds crew to compost piles located at the back of the campus. This program has kept an average of 34 tonnes of food waste from the landfill every year, diverting a record 48 tonnes in 2017. In addition, approximately 2 tonnes of yard waste is collected annually from the College grounds and added to the compost pile, ensuring the proper balance of carbon to nitrogen. In addition to that, Brady monitors the temperature, moisture and density of the pile to make sure conditions are just right to create a safe, nutrient-rich compost. Mixing the pile every 3 weeks until done, he then proceeds to screen the material and finally using it for landscaping and in flower beds throughout campus.

Composting is an important part of a sustainable campus, as it reduces the amount of organic waste going to the landfill turning it into a rich, nutrient-dense, valuable product that we use here on our grounds and gardens in landscaping. By composting, we are not only reducing our costs in waste hauling and turning our waste into a usable product, but we are also showing our commitment to sustainability by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing hazardous leachate production at the City landfill. Through Brady’s dedication, RRC operates a safe, healthy and successful pre-consumer compost program, with hopes of expansion in the future.

Congratulations Brady on this well deserved award. The College is lucky to have you!

This year we are tackling food waste and disposable packaging! During Waste Reduction Week we want to encourage you to take action, rethink, reduce, reuse and recycle  – this week and every week on campus!

Here’s a few ways to participate:

“Just Eat It” Film Screening October 16th at 7pm

• Check out the “Just Eat It” film trailer
  • Hosted at Tech Voc Vocational High School – the 1555 Wall St.
  • Tickets $15 and available at: www.fruitshare.ca
  • A partnership with RRC, Technical  Vocational High School and Fruit Share Manitoba.

Lug your Mug and WIN!

Get spotted lugging a reusable mug October 19-23 and you could win FREE coffee for a month!

Regional Campus staff can participate as well. Send us a picture of you and your EcoMug and you’ll also be entered to win!

Eco-Container Sale 

Reduce your Foodprint!

• Staff and Students can purchase a reusable food container for only $2.
• Fill up at RRC Food Services – and save $$ every time you use your reusable container.
• Oct 20 NDC Library Hallway 11am-2pm
• Oct 22 Roblin Centre Atrium 11am-2pm

E-Waste Drop-off

Drop off old, broken or unused electronic equipment or small appliances sitting at home or in your office. Oct. 19-23 from 11:00am – 2:00pm

Electronic waste or (e-waste) can be dropped off at:
Notre Dame Campus (Shipping and Receiving)
Roblin Centre, (William Building, near Shipping and Receiving)

Confidential e-waste (RRC equipment and digital media with personal or confidential information) can be dropped off for recycling at designated recycling bins:
Notre Dame Campus: Room F102 (IT Solutions) – Contact, Neil Fog at (204) 632-2041 for access. Roblin Centre: Shipping and Receiving area, W101.

Check out Green Action Centre for more waste reduction ideas at work and at home.

Are you wondering what can be recycled on campus, what to do with old office equipment or where your shredding or battery bins are located?

Visit RRC’s NEW Sustainability SHARE site and you will find those answers and much more. You can also save the NEW Recycling 101 card to your desktop for easy reference!

View our site and complete our SHARE Site Search Quiz between May 11-31 you will be entered to win a Camelbak water bottle, value $25.

During our fall e-waste round up, staff and students recycled more than 2.3 tonnes of electronic waste. Everything from home computers, printers, microwaves and overhead projectors were responsibly recycled.

Eight composting enthusiasts signed up to make their own worm bin for the office. Vermicomposting is an easy way to eliminate food waste and produces a nutrient-rich fertilizer that can be used in office plants or the garden.  Did you know that Red Wiggler composting worms eat roughly half their own weight in organic waste every day?   This means that our new worm bins will compost a 1/4 lb. of kitchen scraps each day.

You can watch the presentation on the eTV On-Demand Stream and learn how to make your own worm bin!

Finally, hundreds of staff and students stopped by our EcoMug display to learn about the environmental benefits and the cost savings of using a reusable mug. Most people were surprised to learn that Tim Horton’s coffee cups can’t be recycled and that only 7% of staff and students use reusable mugs. During the week we spotted 178 EcoMug users on campus and gave away a $150 dollar Red Card (donated by RRC’s Students’ Association) to one lucky “red ticket” holder (233282), just for lugging a reusable mug!

Thanks everyone who participated in these events and for continuing to practice the 4 Rs (rethink, reduce, re-use and recycle) year round!

At Red River College we tackle waste reduction every day!  In fact, we collect and recycle over 9 tonnes of paper, food and beverage containers and cardboard each month.  We can also proudly say that our College’s diversion rate is over 50%.  This is a huge accomplishment considering that Winnipeg’s residential diversion rate is about 28%.

During Waste Reduction Week, we want to encourage you to take action, rethink, reduce, reuse and recycle this week and every week on campus!

Here’s 3 ways you can participate:

Lug your Mug and WIN!
Disposable cups can’t be recycled and create a mountain of waste!
Get spotted lugging a reusable mug from 9:30am to 11:30am at these locations and you could WIN FREE coffee for a year!
Roblin Centre: Oct. 21 & 22 (Tim Horton’s)
Notre Dame Campus: Oct. 20 & 24 (Tim Horton’s – Mall)
Oct. 23 (Otto’s)
Regional Campus staff can participate as well. Send us a picture of you and your EcoMug and you’ll also be entered to win!

E-Waste Drop-off
Drop off old, broken or unused electronic equipment or small appliances sitting at home or in your office.
Electronic waste or (e-waste) can be dropped off at:
Notre Dame Campus (Library Hallway)
Roblin Centre, (William Building, near Shipping and Receiving)
Oct. 20-24 from 11:00am – 2:00pm

Confidential e-waste (RRC equipment and digital media with personal or confidential information) can be dropped off for recycling at designated recycling bins:
Notre Dame Campus: Room F102 (IT Solutions) – Contact, Neil Fog at (204) 632-2041 for access.  Roblin Centre: Shipping and Receiving area, W101.

Vermicomposting at work – Build your own worm bin!

Vermicomposting is easy and turns your food waste into worm food.
Join RRC’s Greenspace Management staff Dwayne Sayers and Ruth Rob to get the “poop” on vermicomposting and make a worm bin for your office. Sign up as an individual or attend the workshop as a staff team of up to 3 people.
Oct. 23, 12:05-12:55 pm
ETV studio, (GM33), Notre Dame Campus
Cost: FREE for those making a bin for office use
$20 for individuals making a worm bin for home use

RSVP on LEARN or by emailing shayduk@rrc.ca

Check out Manitoba’s Waste Reduction Week calendar for other events and activities happening for families, communities and businesses.

Gord McLeod shows off the budding bounty! Red River College is pleased to be participating for the first time in Winnipeg Harvest’s Grow a Row Project.

Grow-A-Row’s roots date back to 1986 when Winnipeggers Ron and Eunice O’Donovan produced more potatoes in their backyard garden than they could consume. Their vegetables were so well received by Winnipeg Harvest the O’Donovans encouraged friends and neighbours to donate their surplus produce too. Since then Grow-A-Row has yielded millions of pounds of fresh fruit and veggies.

At the College, the project is being led by Gord McLeod and his Pavement & Grounds team. In between weed-whacking, mowing and their other regular duties, Sandhu, Brady, Rob, Ron and student employees take time out of their day to tend to the garden.

The 30′ x 60′ plot is located between the West Parking Lot and the old Greenhouse. “Six weeks ago this was just a grassy area. We tilled it and added 12 cubic yards of compost from our on-site compost pile to get the soil nice and healthy,” Gord explained. The team planted russet potatoes and carrot seeds and in a matter of weeks the garden has sprouted.

From food waste to plant food. RRC’s on-site compost was used to get the garden started.

The harvest is expected to take place around late September. We’ll be inviting staff to participate in a harvest-picking-party, so keep an eye on All Staff News (green thumbs not required).

Some healthy looking potato plants.

“This is a great project for many reasons. It supports the College’s values of sustainability and wellness and strengthens our connection to the community. I want to thank Gord and his team for their work on “grow-a-row” and look forward to expanding the project in years to come,” said Nancy Alexander, Vice President of Human Resource Services and Sustainability.

Students and staff who’ve spent the summer months tending to their own gardens can participate in Grow a Row by dropping off fruit and veggies at Winnipeg Harvest from Mondays – Saturdays.

Happy gardening!

Well, we’ve been at it for 6 months and we’ve got some exciting news to share. Check it out!