Meaghan Robson
Reuseful
How can we reduce waste through community engagement?
Reuseful started as a systems analysis project centred around improving resources for reusing materials at OCAD U, and soon developed into the opportunity to design for social change towards sustainability across campus. Through collaborative co-design with both staff and student stakeholders—from ODESI, the Learning Zone, Facilities & Studio Services, and more—this project worked towards improving many aspects of the system of reuse on campus. This included re-branding strategies, outreach events, social media presence, holding in-class info sessions, updating way-finding/signage, and building a new material swap spot (the Material Commons) planned for the Sharp Centre for Design. All of this effort was put towards the goals of reducing waste and engaging with the community to establish a circular economy.
Insight
Extensive research showed that not all OCAD U students were aware of the various resources for them to take and/or donate reusable materials across campus. This was partly due to outdated info online and on posters, plus the lack of association made between the many locations of resources as an interconnected system of material reuse. This exposed the need for a more convenient stream of info on these resources, and a way for students to identify them clearly. Additionally, there was a need to divert the large amount of material waste being generated by students in the Sharp Centre for Design.
Idea
The Material Commons was co-designed and built to divert waste in the Sharp Centre for Design and provide students a convenient way to create and prototype more sustainably. Additionally, it was also important to establish a visual identity that could be associated with the various resources for reuse on campus. By engaging with the community of students and staff both on campus and online through social media, there was a way to inform them and influence their habits towards more sustainable circulation of materials on campus—instead of discarding projects that could have been disassembled and their materials reused.
Impact
By developing a consistent visual identity, while also engaging in community outreach, and educating that community on the sustainability benefits of material reuse, the amount of material waste they generate can be reduced significantly. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, OCAD U campus was closed before the Material Commons was completed, which postponed its launch in the Sharp Centre for Design to Fall 2020. Regardless, this project was able to generate vast momentum towards social change on a community scale, all while reducing waste and improving the association between the various locations of resources for taking and/or donating reusable materials across campus.
