11. CityStudio – Plastic Bag Reduction Killarney

Organization Information

Organization Name

City of Vancouver; CityStudio Vancouver

Mission and Vision of Organization

City of Vancouver: Create a great city of communities that cares about our people, our environment, and our opportunities to live, work, and prosper.

CityStudio: Our mission is to innovate and experiment with the ways cities are co-created, while teaching students the skills needed to succeed in today’s economy and inspire action in the community and government.

Guiding Principles + Values

Please the following:

• CityStudio Manifesto
• Zero Waste 2040
• Single-Use Item Reduction Strategy

Contact Information

• Primary Contact Person(s): Paul Gagnon; Ileana Costrut
• Email: paul.gagnon@vancouver.ca ; ileana.costrut@citystudiovancouver.com
• Phone: 604-874-6401
• Address: 1800 Spyglass Place
• Website: https://vancouver.ca/, https://www.citystudiovancouver.com

Preferred Method of Contact

• Best method(s) to contact: Email
• Best day(s) to contact: Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays
• Best time(s) to contact: Mornings, Afternoons

Project Description

The focus for the 2019-20 terms will continue the work of previous LFS350 student groups to research and propose ways to raise awareness and promote sustainable behaviour change to reduce the use of single-use food-related items, such as plastic grocery bags. Community centres are publicly accessible activity hubs for local residents. As such, the City of Vancouver sees the opportunity to develop public outreach and sustainability education in ways that are informed by broad research, but are also context-specific and neighbourhood-based. The focus of this term's project is Roundhouse Community Centre in Vancouver.

Students will conduct a literature review on barriers to using re-usable bags, including measures that other municipalities, businesses and organizations have taken to address these challenges.Based on findings from the literature review and observations taken at community centres to identify target demographics, they will create 2-3 taglines/slogans to motivate residents to bring their own re-usable bags and some creative samples of social media content that will be submitted to the City and could be used for outreach by the City. The research scope and approach will be collaboratively defined with Paul Gagnon from the City of Vancouver.

It is anticipated that LFS350 Term 2 students will carry this work forward, based on the findings and tools developed in Term 1.

What challenge or issue does the project aim to address?

A "snapshot" of the impact of plastic shopping bags:

• Around 2 million plastic shopping bags are disposed in the garbage in Vancouver each week (63% are reused as garbage bags).
• Plastic bags make up 3% of shoreline litter and 2% of large litter items in Vancouver streets, parks, and public spaces.
• Paper bags make up 1% of large street litter items.
• Plastic bags harm marine life and are made using non-renewable fossil fuels.
• It can take anywhere from 10 to 10,000 years for a plastic shopping bag to decompose.
• Paper bags actually cause more harmful greenhouse gas emissions over their lifetime than plastic bags because of manufacturing processes and they require more fuel because they are heavier to transport."

Student Assets and Skills (preferred or required)

• Collaboration
• An interest in sustainability engagement and social media
• An interest in municipal policy
• Literature and market analysis of individual and consumer behaviour

Student Assets and Skills (to be developed through the project)

• Teamwork -
• Professional communication, developing social media content
• Primary and secondary research

Is a criminal record check required? No

Project Location

Killarney Community Centre

Preferred Days of Week and Hours

We're flexible. It's helpful to know in advance the dates that they have available to meet with us, so we can save them in the calendar and book rooms.

Project/Partner Orientation Materials Students should review these materials prior to the first partner meeting:

• CityStudio Manifesto
• Zero Waste 2040
• Single-Use Item Reduction Strategy
• "Do plastic bag taxes or bans curb waste? 400 cities and states tried it out"
• Please request the relevant past LFS350 student reports from your TA

Additional Project/Partner Orientation Materials The following will be provided at the first community partner meeting:

• Visit to a community centre

Related Community Service Opportunities for Students

There are various Zero Waste events on the City of Vancouver calendar of events site, should the students be interested. Attendance is not required.