Free Store McMaster
Mission Statement
- Support waste diversion practices by emphasizing and encouraging eco-friendly and sustainable waste management behaviours that resists norms of a “throw-away” society.
- Prompt the McMaster and Hamilton community in re-evaluating existing definitions of ‘waste’
- Challenge capitalist and consumerist frameworks by re-defining what constitutes as ‘valuable’.
- Build a culture of skill sharing and exchange.
- Support students in accessing resources which may otherwise be inaccessible for students experiencing financial barriers.
- Educating students about the politics of waste diversion and the intersectionality of sustainable living.
Our Core Values
- Refuse: practicing conscious consumerism by purchasing items and engaging in buying processes which reduce the negative impacts of consumption of the world. For instance, by purchasing locally or buying pre-loved items.
- Repair & Reuse: investing in the repair of owned items rather than buying new ones to replace them. This may also include upcycling items to give them a new function and life.
- Reduce: purchasing thoughtfully and resisting the urge to buy.
- Recycle: minimizing carbon footprints by recycling materials and items appropriately.
- Intersectionality:
acknowledging that an individual’s ability to live sustainability is impacted deeply by a number of factors, including existing power structures, historical legacies, socioeconomic status, race, culture, gender, and etcetera. As such, respecting that ‘sustainable living’ may manifest itself differently across different lives.
Our Initiatives
- Monthly Free Stores: a free-of-cost market aimed to connect students with a number of items, such as sporting equipment, books, home goods, clothing and etcetera, that have been donated by other students on campus.
- Free Repair Sessions: repair shops which provide students the opportunity to have their clothing repaired free of cost by student and community volunteers, as well as to learn how to repair their own clothing and other items.
- Reduce, Reuse and Recycle Workshops: workshops aimed to expand student knowledge and skills on waste diversion.
Book Giveaway Continues
Low Intensity Giveaway! We continue our book giveaway as we transform OPIRG's Resource Centre in MUSC 229; our collection of books cover a wide range of topics related to social change, so we hope these books go to a good home! We are leaving some books in the hallway outside the Resource Centre on the second floor of the McMaster University Student Centre [...]
Climate Rally, Dec 1
Climate rally. Keep Cootes Green. Thursday, December 1st, 1:00 pm, BSB field McMaster University "Climate rally. Keep Cootes Green. December 1st, 1:00 pm, BSB field. Help us stop the installation of fossil fuel-powered generators on Cootes Drive! Demands: Board of Governors: Stop the generator installation! City of Hamilton: Deny installation permits! Dundas Valley residents: Speak up! McMaster community: condemn the project!" [...]
Solidarity with CUPE 3906
OPIRG McMaster Statement of Solidarity with CUPE 3906 OPIRG McMaster stands in solidarity with CUPE Local 3906 in their efforts to secure a fair and reasonable collective agreement. CUPE Local 3906 represents over 2,500 Teaching Assistants (TAs) and Research Assistants (RAs) at McMaster University. We support their demands calling upon the university to table an offer that: Protects student workers from tuition increases [...]
Engagement and Reconciliation
Principles of Reconciliation with the Principles of Community Engagement in practice. National Truth Reconciliation Day is observed each year. A tribute to the victims and resilient survivors of residential schools, their families, and communities is held annually on September 30th. It is imperative to commemorate the tragic and painful history of residential schools and their ongoing impact on [...]
Better public libraries
Don't be quiet, speak up about the library! By Maia Poon, OPIRG McMaster As students, it can be really helpful to find a place to work and study away from home and campus. For many of us, that place is the Hamilton Public Library (HPL). Whether the local and convenient Westdale branch or the brightly lit and plant-filled Central branch just a [...]
Help envision the future of the Hamilton Farmers’ Market! (Engage Hamilton)
Click here to brainstorm ideas about the future of the Hamilton Farmers’ Market! By Rachel Fisman-Guarascio, OPIRG McMaster Although we as McMaster students may be in Hamilton for a relatively short time, we’re still valued members of the broader Hamilton community. And as part of the Hamilton community at large, we have the power to help shape the future of the city. [...]
