Discovering Vancouver’s Zero Waste Ambassador Program

On my walks around Vancouver I had been seeing advertisements for becoming a Zero Waste Ambassador. It took a few weeks of walking by the same sign for me to be curious enough, but eventually I went to the website to see what it was all about. I think my initial thought when I saw the signage that it was going to be a meaningless promotion where you commit to doing a weekly zero waste task with no accountability or something like that. Instead, it is quite an intensive program designed as a way to divert waste to reusable and recyclable streams.

What is Vancouver’s Zero Waste Ambassador Program?

Vancouver’s Zero Waste Ambassador program is organized by the City of Vancouver in an effort to reach the city’s goal of being zero waste by 2040. The program launched in 2024 and has trained over 100 ambassadors so far.

The Zero Waste Ambassador program aims to help increase recycling and waste diversion opportunities in multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs). As a Zero Waste Ambassador, you will be informing and motivating other residents to divert waste using your building’s recycling programs, helping them to reduce contamination while raising awareness about how to reduce the amount of waste being generated.

– Zero Waste Ambassador Program Handbook

Volunteers attend a four hour training session to learn about the program and then are provided with materials and support as they identify and work to solve problems with waste collection and diversion in their own buildings.

Why the focus on multi-unit residential buildings?

The City of Vancouver has done numerous waste audits and have found some shocking results. First, the 2023 waste audit found that 72% of items and material in the garbage didn’t actually belong there. That’s an incredibly high number! Previous waste audits have found that people living in multi-unit buildings recycle only 31% of their waste compared to people in single family homes where people recycle 62% of their waste.

With a substantial percentage of Vancouver’s population living in apartments, condos, and townhomes, it is vital for our planet that the waste diversion programs in these buildings and complexes are effective.

As someone who has lived in many multi-unit residential buildings and complexes over the years, I do agree that recycling programs in those spaces are more challenging than in a single family home. There is more accountability when the garbage, green waste, and recycling bins are your own and no one else’s. In multi-unit buildings I regularly see items tossed in the wrong bins and there is no way to know who is person doing so. That’s not to say it is being done intentionally or because people don’t care. It is just as possible that the waste diversion bins are not easy to understand or there is misinformation regarding what goes where.

What is the Zero Waste Ambassador’s role in all this?

The city is recruiting volunteers that live in multi-unit residential buildings, who want to make improvements to the garbage and waste diversion programs in their complexes. The idea is that ambassadors will be able to connect with residents and be able to make improvements to recycling programs that will reduce unnecessary garbage waste.

Ambassador responsibilities as suggested on the program website:

• Communicating diversion and zero waste information to residents
• Improving the garbage and recycling room to create a welcoming space for residents to sort their waste
• Engaging with residents and building management to identify barriers and implement solutions 
• Encouraging residents to take steps towards a zero-waste lifestyle 

Really, this is a take ownership and get creative type volunteer role. One case study the city shares about is the Spectrum builidng. The Zero Waste Ambassador at this building updated the recycling area so that the carts are now clearly organized and bold, colour-coded signage was put up to assist with proper sorting. She also added new in-house collection options for clothing donations, refundable containers, batteries, and light bulbs which helps make recycling these materials easier for residents–and it helps keep them out of the landfill.

How to participate

To become a Zero Waste Ambassador, you first fill out the information form on the website and then attend a four hour training session put on by the city. Once you do these two things, you will be able to access the resources provided by the program.

You will also need to speak with your building’s management and strata to gain permission to take actions within your building. Considering these waste diversion actions can help save the strata money, ideally it is a no-resistance agreement for your participation.

My experience with the Zero Waste Ambassador training

Since my multi-unit building could certainly use some help with waste sorting and waste diversion, I decided to attend the recent Zero Waste Ambassador training put on by the city. I set aside four hours of my Saturday along with about 16 other participants and settled in to learn about waste diversion in our city and the issues that multi unit buildings face.

The training provided some overviews of the history of recycling, the way recycling and waste collection works in Vancouver, what role the Ambassadors can play along with what challenges they may face, and the various resources available to each ambassador. While it would have been nice to connect more with the other participants, it was refreshing to be in the room with so many others that share similar values with me and care enough to step up and lead the way with their neighbours in an effort to create change.

The training is simply the stepping stone and a way to meet the waste diversion team for the city who become accessible for resources, questions, and support once you become an Ambassador. After the training, it is completely up to you how much you want to commit to doing. The training structured some basic first steps, such as putting up proper signage for recycling and sorting, then showed some possible future goals such as expanded recycling programs and zero waste events.

While I went into the training slightly skeptical as the pre-training materials felt very government-like and more like reading I’d do for a job introduction than a volunteer position, the staff that ran the training were engaging and seemed truly willing to support and equip the volunteers in a way that would bring them success.

I’m looking forward to connecting with my building management and strata council to see what next steps we can take to put better waste diversion systems in place. I’m hopeful that being a Zero Waste Ambassador will have a positive impact where I live and in our city.

Resources

Here are a few interesting resources I’ve come across while learning about the Vancouver Zero Waste Ambassador Program.

Vansort Recycling Game: https://vancouver.recycle.game/

Vancouver Zero Waste Ambassador Program webpage: https://vancouver.ca/people-programs/zero-waste-ambassador-program.aspx

Vancouver Zero Waste events page: https://vancouver.ca/green-vancouver/zero-waste-drop-off-events.aspx

Zero Waste 2040 Goal: https://vancouver.ca/green-vancouver/zero-waste-vancouver.aspx

Vancouver’s Waste Wizard: https://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/waste-wizard.aspx

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