UofT’s Trash Team and MealCare inspire change in community and campus
This week, I sat down with Mary Long, a fourth-year double major in biology and global health and a dedicated member of the UofT Trash Team and MealCare Toronto, two student-led initiatives at the forefront of sustainable practices and community service on campus. The UofT Trash Team is a science-based community organisation that focuses on increasing waste literacy in the community and reducing plastic pollution in our ecosystems. MealCare is a key player in tackling food insecurity by redistributing surplus meals to those in need.
The Strand: What specific projects or initiatives is the UofT Trash Team currently working on?
Mary Long: We work in three main areas: community outreach, education, and solutions-based research. One big program is called Fighting Floatables and that is around the Harbourfront and Tommy Thompson Park, which includes Seabins, skimming, and litter traps that capture and divert macro and microplastics. We then have research students that categorise and quantify the plastics caught in these traps.
Another example of our solution-based research is on wet wipes, which are made of plastic, but there is not a lot of awareness on that. One of our researchers, Simran [Hansra], is doing a project to increase awareness and auditing grocery stores to see what kind of wet wipes products are being sold and how they’re being labelled. About 80 percent of wet wipes she sampled were made of polyester or polyethene that don’t degrade in the ecosystem and have been clogging up our draining systems.
You mentioned that your summer research project was with the UofT Trash Team. What was it about?
That was a project I did this past summer where we installed recycling receptacles for cigarette butt recycling around high-rise buildings in St. James Town. We wanted to see what effect this would have on the ground cigarette butt litter. So, we quantified the litter on the ground nearby the receptacles before and after installation. We did observe a decrease in the amount of litter we found on the ground after the receptacles were up. Over the course of the summer, which was around 12 weeks, we collected around 1,938 cigarette butts and everything was sent to recycling.
What challenges does the team face in their work, and how do you overcome them?
One challenge I’ve noticed is how we collaborate and coordinate with all the different organisations that have jurisdiction over different aspects of our work. How we navigate those challenges is by making sure to always keep up clear communication and have regular meetings with all our stakeholders to make sure we are on the same page.
How can students and the broader community get involved or support the UofT Trash Team’s initiatives?
You can go to our website and join our mailing list to get notified of volunteering opportunities and stay in the loop about our work.
Could you share any success stories or notable achievements the UofT Trash Team has had in recent years?
One thing that’s been super cool is the growth of the team. The UofT Trash Team was founded only in March of 2017 and has really grown into a multidisciplinary group. In terms of our impact, this past summer, we diverted over 73,000 microplastics through our trash trapping program and in 2022, the organisation got the UofT Sustainable Action Award in recognition of the sustainability impacts that we’ve had.
What is your favourite part about working at the UofT Trash Team?
It’s the people! Everyone I’ve met there is super nice, and it’s a really fun and positive environment!
Let’s talk about MealCare. How does MealCare Toronto go about collecting surplus food from events, and what is the process of distributing it to community organisations?
We have a rotating team of volunteers who are on call every other week. We have a Google Form on our Instagram, and you fill it out a week before your event to reach us. Volunteers on call for the week are responsible for getting that food and delivering it to nearby shelters.
How do you ensure the safety of the donated food?
We pick up the donations right after the event ends to make sure it’s not at room temperature for too long and drop it off right away. We also have a partnership with Chestnut Residence and the UTSU [University of Toronto Students’ Union] Food Bank, and we package leftover food from Chestnut Residence and deliver it to the food bank. Also, all our volunteers are food-safety trained, and we track everything to comply with the UofT food safety standards.
How do you choose which organisations to give food to?
A lot of it is places that are close to UofT because we go by TTC or we also have drivers. Places that we’ve donated to in the past are the YWCA, Margaret’s—just places around downtown and we call them beforehand to see if they’ll accept the donation. It’s not only geographical but it’s also based on who needs food at the moment.
Can you share a memorable part of your experience at MealCare?
One memorable event from last year was when we did a pickup from a sorority and so we delivered that via the subway. The subway was super crowded, but everyone who saw us was super nice and offered us their seats and said thank you for doing this kind of thing. That was very heartwarming. The people that were living at the shelter were also happy about having dinner that day, and it was nice seeing how happy they were for it. It also drove home the fact that I was very grateful that I personally didn’t have to worry about not having food on the table.
What challenges have you faced in your work and how does the team work to overcome these challenges?
I think one challenge is working around all our schedules because it’s all student-run but having different people rotate made it easier to do the volunteer commitment.
More to that point, how can individuals who are interested in supporting MealCare Toronto’s cause, get involved or contribute?
If you are running an event on campus and think you might have leftovers, you can go to our Instagram and fill out the form in our bio. We will be hiring volunteers at the start of next school year, so I encourage you to sign up for that!
Looking ahead, what future goals or projects is MealCare Toronto excited about pursuing to further its impact?
The execs’ goals are to ensure a sustainable model of operations since they will be graduating. Another goal is to hit 20,000 pounds of donated food by the end of the year. To date, the organisation has rescued 15,000 pounds of food. For future projects, one thing that’s very early in the works is getting a community fridge. So we would have event donations come to the community fridge, and students and staff can just drop by and take [food] if they need it.
