If you have noticed or used the mugs located near Tim Hortons and Degrees Coffee, you have the Borrow-A-Mug program to thank. The Borrow-A-Mug, or BAM, program has not only allowed students, faculty and visitors to save $0.10 on all campus beverage locations, including caffeine top-ups at Tim Hortons, it also allows us to avoid packing the (usually) plastic to-go mug in the first place. Unlike a lot of campus initiatives in colleges across Canada and the U.S. that focus solely on providing a discount with the presentation of a reusable mug, BAM goes one step further by letting you enjoy that fragrant java in a ceramic cup.

BAM was born in January 2012, and is the brainchild of Megan Zunati, an Environmental Studies student. While taking Introduction to Environmental Citizenship with Annie Booth in the Fall of 2011, Megan was spurred to action by the sight of single-use, disposable cups in the hands of those frolicking the halls of the university. The project took two months to get underway, with the largest obstacle being the requirement to meet sanitary requirements. According to Deanna Rach, one of this year’s volunteer heroines for the program, convincing the Thirsty Moose Pub to allow the group access to their industrial dishwasher was easy and the Moose was “super accommodating” - without much delay the project had the approval it needed to get started. The original funding was provided by PGPIRG (Prince George Public Interest Research Group) to cover the start-up costs including the most important component: the mugs. Since then the Green University Centre and the Alumni Association have both pitched in – the latter of which donated a much-needed cart in January of last year.

According to Angela Kehler, another champion volunteer, the student response to BAM has been very positive. Some dedicated users have even gone as far as to develop strong attachments to particular mugs.  The new overseer of the project is Min Norrie, who, along with her team of waste-fighting volunteers and the Thirsty Moose Pub, are responsible for the continued success of the program and most noticeable, the clean mugs, that are at our grateful disposal.
The future of BAM is bright. The volunteers have plans of growing the mug collection; developing  strategies to decrease the number of permanently borrowed mugs, and increasing awareness and use of the program. In an effort to keep the number of mugs stable, Min scours the university about once a month to pick up any mugs that seem to have adventured.

With BAM currently celebrating its second anniversary, the volunteers are encouraging everyone to help paint their mugs as part of the upcoming Green Day events happening on Tuesday, January 28th from 11-3pm in the Wintergarden.  Don’t miss your chance to customize your next favourite BAM mug!