Managing our waste

The Banff Centre provides programs, accommodation, and/or food services to over 25,000 participants and 50,000 audience members a year. The Centre has identified numerous opportunities where waste can be reduced or avoided, and has reduced the amount of material entering the waste stream and going to landfills.

Waste audits

Waste Audits are performed cyclically by Banff Centre departments to establish benchmarks and identify possible improvements in waste reduction practices. These audits have successfully assisted in the reduction of waste on campus.

» In November 2005, Banff High School students worked with Rocky Mountain Flatbread and IRIS Environmental to conduct a waste stream audit at the Centre, including Food & Beverage, Staff Accommodation, Housekeeping, and Theatre. The inventory of the type and amount of waste created by the Centre was charted by IRIS Environmental.
Photo by Jessica Tse.

• Food & Beverage Waste Audit
  December 2006
• Banff Centre Waste Audit Program
  November 2005
• Banff Centre Waste Audit Program
  Summer 2005
• Banff Centre Waste Audit Program
  Spring 2005

Products

• The Food & Beverage department purchases food products in bulk whenever possible in order to avoid the waste that results from individual packaging. Much of the bulk food arrives in large plastic pails. These pails are reused in other departments throughout the Centre.
• Food & Beverage uses 100 per cent recycled napkins, and wooden instead of plastic stir sticks.
• The departments of Mountain Culture and Leadership Development no longer use bottled water for their programs and events. Participants are told about the environmental impact of using bottled water; they receive a Nalgene bottle to use for drinking water, and tap water is supplied at all events.

» All Leadership Development program participants are now receiving these Nalgene water bottles. Photo by Brandy Dahrouge.

• During the Banff Mountain Festivals, Mountain Culture offers a more costly Mountain Equipment Co-op PVC-free registration kit that can be used repeatedly by Festivals guests, rather than a cheaper alternative that is more likely to end up in a landfill.
• Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour draw prize Capilene ZIP-T shirts, supplied by Patagonia and Polartec, are made from 50 per cent recycled material, and are 100 per cent recyclable when worn-out.

Paper

• The Centre’s distributed printing fleet has been switched to use only 100 per cent post-consumer recycled paper.
• Staff are encouraged to reduce their use of paper by increasing their use of electronic filing and proofing, previewing all documents before printing, printing only pages required and scaling documents to fit, and printing pages double-sided.
• Mountain Culture’s Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour Magazine is printed on Ancient Forest Friendly 100 per cent recycled paper.

Managing the waste stream

The Environment Committee is actively working with the Town of Banff in order to participate in the Town’s new composting program which will be integrated with the Town’s water treatment system. The Centre is considering increasing our use of garburators and/or and separating compostable material out of the Centre’s waste stream. Learn more about Town of Banff environmental initiatives.