Sustainability

Recycling, compost, trash and more

Let’s work together to divert 80% of SAIT's waste from the landfill annually.

Recycling the right way and composting correctly takes practice and patience — and some knowledge. Get to know what goes where.

Not sure? When in doubt, use the trash/landfill bin. Putting the wrong thing in the wrong bin leads to contamination and to the whole load going into the garbage.

Mixed recycling ♻️ 

Use the mixed recycling bin for paper, clean cardboard, plastics marked #1 to 7, glass and metal cans. 

Sort it out

• you don't need to take the labels off your mixed recycling, just rinse your cans, tubs and jars
• check your to-go container — look for the recycling or compost symbol and toss any leftovers in the compost bin before you recycle
• dry paper coffee cups can go in mixed recycling at SAIT; plastic coffee cup lids go in the trash
• clean tin foil can be wadded into a ball and put in mixed recycling
• mixed recycling can't be bagged

What definitely doesn't go in mixed recycling?

• chip bags and snack packaging
• batteries
• black garbage bags

Beverage containers 🧃

Use the beverage containers bin for refundable cans and bottles, milk cartons and tetra packs.

Compost 🥪 

Use the compost bin for fruit, vegetables, meat, coffee grounds, tea bags (remove any staples first), eggshells, food-soiled paper/cardboard containers (wet paper coffee cups, pizza boxes, etc.), compostable packaging, and used napkins, tissues and paper towels.

What definitely doesn’t go in compost?

• paper towels soaked with cleaning solution
• rocks and stones
• liquids

Trash/landfill 🗑️

Use the trash/landfill bin for plastic cutlery, snack packaging and black garbage bags — and for anything you're not sure about. 

Batteries and e-cycling 🔋

Batteries and small electronics (phones, hairdryers, etc.) can be recycled in the bins on the main floor of Aldred Centre. Battery bins for individual offices can be requested through Helpline.

For big things like computers or printers, contact the ITS Service Desk.

Furniture 🪑

Facilities Management makes every effort to repair broken furniture for reuse, recycle component parts when furniture is beyond repair and to donate unwanted furniture. Contact Helpline for furniture repair or removal.

Used clothing and household items 👕

Used clothing and household items can be donated to the Cerebral Palsy Society via the bins located on the main floor of both residence buildings.

Our campus

Bee City Campus

Nearly 60,000 honey bees have been calling SAIT home since 2014. Spending their time between the three rooftop beehives found on top of the John Ware building, instructors from SAIT’s School of Hospitality and Tourism along with students from the SAIT Beekeeping Club and SAIT staff members have been instrumental in maintaining their hives and habitat.

SAIT’s commitment to the health and protection of pollinators and their habitats has been recognized by Bee City Canada has named SAIT as an official Bee City Campus.

Fun fact: Each beehive can produce up to 75 lbs of honey each year. This honey is then used by students in SAIT’s culinary programs.

Indigenous plant species biome

Created in honour of SAIT’s Centennial anniversary in 2016, the 11,000-square-foot garden is a beautifully diverse meadow of drought-tolerant, pollinator-friendly plants — all native to Alberta’s foothills biome.

ALUS Canada helped select and also contributed some of the plant species important for the ecosystem, including Alberta wild roses and sweetgrass.

The garden is culturally significant for First Nations communities and also benefits the beehives kept by SAIT’s School of Hospitality and Tourism and SAIT’s Beekeeping Club.

Our schools

Our schools are proud to participate in working towards a greener campus by creating in-house initiatives and programs that help to educate students on sustainability and ecology.

• The School of Manufacturing and Automation recycles materials such as scrap metal to help reduce waste. The revenue received from the recycled materials goes back into program budgets to aid in the purchase of more materials. In 2018 approximately 270,800 lbs of scrap metal were recycled.
• The School of Construction provides an in-house recycling program for extra waste materials such as sawdust.
• MacPhail School of Energy assists in green education by offering full-time programs that will aid students in responding to global environmental issues including:
  • Water quality monitoring and inspection
  • Pollution and contamination identification
  • Protection and conservation of the natural environment
• With many different programs focused on the automotive industry, extra materials such as tires are the leftover result of training and education. The School of Transportation has implemented a tire recycling program to help mitigate the number of materials brought to a landfill.

Our buildings

Green Building Technologies Lab and Demonstration Centre

As Calgary's first commercial Net Zero building the Green Building Technologies (GBT) Lab and Demonstration Centre integrates construction, green technologies and renewable energy. The building includes a solar lab, rainwater harvesting technology, passive heating and charging ports for electric cars. The GBT Lab aids in the advancement of applied research and development at SAIT.

Aldred Centre

Named after John and Cheryl Aldred, the Aldred Centre is one of the three buildings that make up SAIT's Trades and Technology Complex. The unique wavy roof provides different sustainable benefits to help reduce our carbon footprint. The waves reflect energy and air handlers redistribute heat helping to reduce the amount of energy used to heat the building. Exterior gutters collect rainwater, which is redistributed into the stormwater system during dry weather.

John Ware building

The John Ware building provides SAIT's culinary students with access to labs and venues to achieve excellence within the industry. Building renovations are ongoing. With sustainability insight, the dream is to create a garden space to help educate students on the benefits of organic growing. The John Ware building is not only occupied by students, employees and visitors but also by three bees colonies housing over 60,000 bees.