Working Groups consist of students who are passionate about tackling a specific issue. They receive support from OPIRG staff, and funding to meet their goals and ambitions. Each year OPIRG accepts new Working Group ideas. This year Eco-Friendly Mac was created, and their focus is on establishing a battery-recycling program at McMaster. The following is Q & A regarding the dynamics of this working group

Interview by ZAIN ABIDEEN

Who came up with the working group idea?

I (Daniel Wu) and Tanisha Sharma co-founded this working group. A while back, I had a plethora of used batteries and ink cartridges piled up in a box at home. Knowing that these things should be recycled, I looked up some of the E-waste recycling stations on campus from the McMaster sustainability website. What should have been a 10 min trip to the recycling station ended up taking more than an hour because the system is extremely outdated and most stations no longer exist. After talking to some OPIRG staff, I realized that reinstating the battery recycling stations could be the first stepping-stone for a bigger group, and thus Eco-Friendly Mac was born!

Why did you feel it was important and what do you hope to achieve?

The eventual goal of Eco-Friendly Mac is to provide an avenue for the student body to bring up sustainability concerns and solutions, as well as providing them with financial support and human resources.

“What should have been a 10 min trip to the recycling station ended up taking more than an hour“

What impact will the working group have on the McMaster and Hamilton community?

We are currently in the process of reinstating the outdated battery-recycling project. This will provide students with a convenient way to recycle their batteries without having to go through a pilgrimage across campus. Once this project has been completed, our working group will begin to openly recruit volunteers and tackle on other sustainability related projects.

What has been the most memorable experience been thus far?

Getting lost in downtown Hamilton trying to find the McMaster Continuing Education Center for one of our OPIRG meetings!

How can anyone get involved, what is the schedule like?

The best way is through email. Right now our working group is still in its “beta” phase – we are still in the process of learning the system and how things get implemented around campus. In short, we’re not openly recruiting volunteers at the moment. Once we feel like we have a good understanding of the system, naturally gathering volunteers is the next step.

Is there a big project coming up that you are looking forward to or planning?

We are looking forward to working with Chukky on his reusable take out container initiative!

LINKS:

Find Eco-Friendly-Mac on our (new) website https://www.opirgmcmaster.org/working-groups/eco-friendly-mac/