Illustration by Hayden Carkner/The Griff

The new initiative promises lower waste and emissions, but student convenience is the decisive factor.

Recently, MacEwan quietly launched a partnership with Reusables, a new initiative designed to advance campus sustainability efforts. Reusables, founded in 2021, is a Canadian company that aims to make reusable containers “the new norm” in the takeout industry. The company offers a wide range of packaging systems, from reusable cups for coffee shops to a collection of bowls for soup restaurants. MacEwan has partnered with Reusables to bring reusable containers to campus through a seemingly simple rental-like program for the containers. 

So, how does it work? To prevent students from throwing the container in their bag, bringing it home with them, and adding it to their likely overflowing Tupperware stash, Reusables’ containers are trackable. To take out a container, students are required to either tap a credit or debit card on the Reusables machine to place a hold on their card until the container is returned, or set up a Reuser ID in the Reusables app. If a student opts to set up a Reuser ID, they have five days to return the container to a Reusables “Smart Return Bin” before being charged $7 for the container. Return bins are currently available at Takam Market (within their hours of operation, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday) and the Building 6 cafeteria. Students then have 30 days from the initial purchase to return the container and receive a refund of the $7 charge. Alternatively, if a student takes out a container without a Reuser ID, a $7 hold is immediately placed on their card, which will be refunded to the student upon returning the container within 30 days. 

Reusables offers an alternative method for renting a container that links the container to a student’s digital ID, which appears to be easier than using a Reuser ID on an alternative platform, considering MacEwan has recently rolled out digital IDs for students. 

This feature has not been implemented for MacEwan digital IDs. However, it could be a way to improve the program’s ease of use for students. 

“If Reusables is to become an impactful sustainability movement on campus, students need to be enticed.”

— Brooklyn Brown

Since the initiative was so quietly implemented on campus, there is uncertainty about how “revolutionizing” this partnership will actually be for MacEwan’s sustainability. According to the layout of the Reusables program, there is a “Bintelligence” feature that allows MacEwan to track the amount of returned containers in Smart Return Bins. The feature is primarily designed to prevent bins from overflowing, but also serves as a means to track the number of containers being taken and returned on campus. Since the program is relatively new and the people in charge of the partnership on campus are uncertain, specific statistics for the program’s use at MacEwan aren’t retrievable. 

So, yes, the program sounds great for eliminating single-use plastics. In fact, Reusables says their containers have a 60 per cent lower carbon footprint than most single-use containers. However, convincing students who are just looking to grab a quick bite to eat in between classes to rent out a reusable container and have to walk back to a return bin just to avoid being charged $7 is easier said than done, especially when there isn’t any actual incentive to use the program (other than maybe an ego boost). MacEwan gives students a $0.10-$0.25 discount on drinks on campus if they bring a reusable cup, which entices broke, caffeine-wired university students to contribute to the initiative. However, there isn’t any similar incentive to use Reusables, which is arguably more difficult to use than bringing a reusable cup to a coffee shop. 

Realistically, if Reusables is to become an impactful sustainability movement on campus, students need to be enticed. Placing more return bins around campus to allow for easier returns for students, rather than requiring them to walk back to either Takam Market or Building 6, would also make the program seem less of a chore and more comparable to disposing of a single-use container.

Reusables is here, and it’s a good first step to cutting single-use containers on campus. There are definitely areas for improvement, starting with spreading awareness of the initiative beyond the MacEwan Eats website. However, there is no doubt that Reusables is a step in the right direction. 

MacEwan did not respond to request for comment on the Reusables program in time for publication.