‘Balloons’ made out of tissue paper at Fanshawe’s Job Fair on Wednesday.
Fanshawe’s Job Fair on Wednesday saw J Gym packed with students with resumes in their hands, and potential future employers at display booths.
Outside the gym doors stood two sets of “balloons” as decorative pieces.
But those could not be popped, because they’re made out of colourful tissue paper pom-poms instead of rubber and latex.
“This year, we’ve made quite a few changes to our events,” said Brigitte MacKinnon, an events relations representative at Fanshawe’s Career Services.
“This include beverages and food served on recycle and compostable materials, which includes compostable bamboo cutlery.”
MacKinnon said she and her team gathered together a few months ago and decided they wanted Fanshawe to go greener.
Removing traditional balloons and replacing them with a reusable and recyclable option was one of their first steps.
“[The goal] is to significant decrease the amount of waste [produced] at our large events,” explained MacKinnon.
Business student Thomas Reyes says the idea is “pretty sweet.”
“Balloons are nice… but it’s just decoration, so if we can be less wasteful, then that’s great.”
Accounting student Arjun Shah was shocked when she was pointed to the new ‘balloons.’
“Wow, I didn’t even notice there weren’t [any] balloons at [this] event!” laughed Shah.
“This is a smart idea, because I don’t think anyone would remember how nice the balloons were at an event. They’re going to remember the event for what it was…. I think I might even get some [tissue] paper balloons now, because they’re so pretty!” chuckled Shah.
X FM News has reached out to Fanshawe’s sustainability department for comments.
More to come.
