By: Sustainability Coordinator Jacqui Moy
Ever stood stumped in front of the waste bins at campus, not knowing how to sort your takeout container from Backstage Cafe? Or maybe you’re running from one class to another with an empty chip bag in hand, only to find that signs are too hard to read and you don’t have time to stop and squint at all that tiny text? Well fear no more! Emerson Sustainability is working to overhaul all the waste signage on campus based on feedback from YOU and your peers!
In February, the Sustainability team finished up our Waste Signage Focus Groups. We held these focus groups because we understand that waste signage can be confusing and we wanted to know how to best improve the waste sorting experience on campus. After an open call to the Emerson community to assess interest and availability, we held 4 focus groups with 2-4 people in each session. 1 was for faculty and staff and 3 were primarily for students. During these sessions, we projected pictures of current signage, old signage, and signage from other colleges and universities and asked participants their opinions and feedback.
Here are some of the common feedback we received from participants:
- Actual, colored photographs of items are better than iconography.
- Bigger text is better.
- Include items specific to Emerson.
- Muted colors were not liked.
- Signs at eye level and on top of bins were liked.
There was also some common confusion about which plastic numbers are recyclable, where pizza boxes should be sorted, items with multiple parts like coffee cups, and where to sort hard versus flexible plastics. You can read the full Waste Signage Focus Group report here. Using these insights, we are working with Marketing at Emerson to create new and improved signage to replace all of the current waste signs on campus and to generally promote and educate about waste. In the meantime, if you ever run into any confusion about waste sorting, our favorite tools to refer to are the Emerson Waste Guide and Recyclopedia (it’s as easy as just typing your item in a search bar).