University of Guelph - Reusable Mug Campaign

This project was done in collaboration with the University of Guelph (U of G) Chapter of Engineers Without Borders.

The U of G engineering building has a coffee shop 'Tim Horton's' that sells coffee in disposable cups and lids. The engineering building also has many common spaces. Students and faculty purchase coffee and drink it while working in these common spaces, then dispose of the waste before leaving the building and filling the garbage and recycling bins with these coffee cups.

We conducted a week-long survey to collect data about the number of cups disposed daily from Tim Horton's and other franchises on campus. This data was analyze as part of creating a proposal which would be submitted to the U of G hospitality services and outline ideas to divert this waste. The main ideas outlined in the proposal include hospitality services implementing a bring-your-own-mug initiative or an opportunity for people on-campus to buy into a reusable mug share program.

The project is still underway as we encourage hospitality services to make changes to Tim Horton's operations, and hopefully other on-campus franchises in the future.